VDI Use Cases: Top 6 Real World Benefits and Applications

Although beneficial, traditional desktop environments are now slowly outliving their usefulness. They have a flawed security system, poor administrative control, and are not remotely accessible. However, with the advent of cloud computing and its applications, such as VDI, many organizations are now redefining how they manage their desktop infrastructure and embracing its newer form. 

VDI, or Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, is a virtually accessible desktop environment. It carries numerous benefits like remote accessibility, a quality security framework, and improved administrative visibility. While you can always set up your VDI in which you and your IT team will have complete control, availing it from a VDI provider is also an option (known as hosted VDI) where the provider will manage everything. 

So, let’s have a look at the various use cases of VDI. 

Weighing Up VDI Use Cases 

• Easy BYOD Implementation 

Organizations worldwide have seen a significant rise in the BYOD trend in recent years. Employees, rather than using office devices, are more comfortable with their own devices. In return, they show much better workplace productivity and improved employee satisfaction. However, letting them use their devices has security and configurational concerns. 

For instance, an employee may have a Chromebook, but his applications are only compatible with Windows OS. So, what to do? How can you overcome this specification barrier? The answer is VDI. With VDI, you can easily access the configuration setup of your choice. Since all you need is proper internet connectivity and valid authorization, you can access the required desktop without worrying about the configurational design of your end device. 

• Remote Workers 

Before COVID-19 struck the world in 2020, the organizations, although familiar, were opposed to the idea of WFH (work from home). With the number of permanent remote workers estimated to be doubled in 2021, it is pretty clear where the paradigm has now shifted, as more and more people are willing to work remotely. However, for your organization to operate remotely successfully, it is necessary to have the required tools. While many applications will aid you for the same, hosted VDI is essentially a game-changer for being more remotely capable. 

Let’s understand this with the example of the accounting industry. Accountants require a particular configurational setup for processing complex data. VDI can easily make it available to them as the end-device configuration doesn’t matter with hosted VDI. The end device acts as a medium to access the cloud-hosted VDI system, and the users can access the required desktop specifications from their homes and work comfortably. 

• BCDR 

Industries like e-commerce heavily rely on their data to sort vendors, orders, and customer behavior and build a predictive inventory using data analytics. Yet, many e-commerce businesses lack credible Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery (BCDR) plans to regain their data in case of any mishap. So, their business suffers dramatically when a disaster like an earthquake hinders office access. They cannot carry out their regular organizational operations, which may tarnish their reputation and cause them to lose customers. 

However, with hosted VDI, you get infrastructure redundancy. For example, if the power supply fails from one source, you will get an instant power supply from another source and carry on with your work. You can efficiently serve your customers and fulfill your work commitments. VDI service providers offer credible disaster recovery plans as well. The reputed VDI providers also regularly back your data. They maintain several data centers with multiple copies of your data and provide on-demand data backups to retrieve the data quickly. 

• Regulatory Compliance 

Across the world, different industries have different regulatory requirements that must be fulfilled to ensure optimum quality, legal compliance, and data security. For example, let’s look at the healthcare industry. The healthcare sector must follow HIPAA regulations to preserve its patients’ privacy and safeguard personal data. However, using local desktops carries serious safety issues. Most of the data is not securely encrypted and can be easily accessed by unauthorized individuals. 

However, with the VDI, you can monitor administrative visibility and prevent illicit access to medical data, as data security is in your hands. You can also adhere to HIPAA regulations and other compliances. However, if you wish to adhere to multiple observations without any hassle, opting for a third-party VDI provider is a better option. This is because providers offer services to numerous industries and comply with PCI DSS, SOX, and more. 

• Designers and Engineers 

Accessing or providing exorbitant systems with the latest tech specs to each and every employee of your organization can put a dent in your finances. Designers and developers need high-specifications and fast-processing workstations that can handle feature-rich development engines like CAD, Adobe, 3D modeling software, etc. 

VDI offers a comfortable, scalable, and flexible solution that is designed and optimized as per the enterprise’s needs. Such VDI solutions are easy to operate, deploy and execute while paraphrasing the intricacy of multi-vendor technology. With efficient VDI implementation, you can streamline the delivery of 3D design and development. Rest assured, your VDI solution will be optimized for performance and density. 

• Application Virtualizations 

Virtual Mobile Infrastructure, similar to emulators, provides virtual applications access to users. Unlike emulators, these applications can be accessed on any platform or device. Application virtualizations give a similar experience as an application available in its native environment, yet it is traditionally not installed on the system. It is made available through VDI architecture and executes just like a traditional app. 

App virtualizations in systems are effective in a manual testing zone where a tester has to perform testing operations on the app using multiple tools. Moreover, VMI architecture also allows you to create a virtual environment or windows, Linux, or macOS operating systems on mobile devices, providing new meaning to remote working and making the apps truly platform independent. 

Leverage VDI Use Cases To Maximize ROI 

The biggest issue with remote working environments is security, which drives businesses toward adopting Virtual desktop solutions. More than 90% of the IT industry is relying on cloud solutions one way or another. 

The three most prominent use cases of using desktop virtualizations, as per our understanding, are “anyone who is looking to regulate data compliances,” “anyone who wants to promote a remote-first strategy for employees,” and “anyone who is looking to enhance their business continuity scheme.” In the case of server virtualization, storage virtualization, or even network virtualization, this technology delegates enterprises to do more with less. 

VDI is a unique way for multiple industries to gain an edge over their competitors as it offers various benefits. It streamlines multiple processes and saves the hassle of the IT team interacting with each endpoint individually, saving time and money.