The PC revolution of the 1980s and early 1990s led businesses of all stripes to adopt desktop computing. It was a great opportunity for organizations to increase efficiency and gain a competitive edge by leveraging this new technology.
However, desktop computing also presented some challenges for IT departments. One of the biggest was managing and deploying software updates and patches across hundreds or even thousands of PCs. This was often a time-consuming and challenging process that was prone to errors.
Enter virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI). VDI is a technology that allows businesses to host and manage their desktops in a virtualized environment centrally. This can provide many benefits over traditional desktop computing, including:
Remote Working
VDI enables organizations to provide staff with secure remote access to their work desktop, applications, and data from any internet-connected device without a VPN. The VDI uses Citrix vs VMWare to create a centralized pool of virtual machines that can be accessed by multiple users concurrently.
This can be particularly useful for organizations with mobile or remote workers. Working remotely has several benefits, including increased flexibility and productivity and reduced costs. This helps explain why an increasing number of businesses embrace remote working.
Increased Security
Desktop computing can introduce security risks, as data is often stored locally on each PC. This can make it difficult to protect sensitive information and ensure that only authorized users have access. You can mitigate these risks by using VDI to store data centrally in the data center, where it can be more easily protected.
In a VDI environment, data is stored on a server in the data center and accessed remotely. This means that it can be more effectively protected from unauthorized access and potential security threats. Additionally, VDI can control which users have access to which virtual desktop images and applications. This granular level of control helps reduce the risk of unauthorized access to sensitive data.
Improved Compliance
Businesses are subject to various regulations that dictate how they must handle sensitive information. For example, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires companies in the healthcare industry to take specific measures to protect patient data.
The centralized nature of VDI can make it easier for businesses to comply with these regulations by allowing them to track and manage access to sensitive information more easily. Additionally, VDI can help prevent unauthorized access to sensitive information by providing the ability to control which users have access to which virtual desktop images and applications.
Simplified IT Management
With VDI, businesses can more easily manage and deploy software updates and patches. Additionally, VDI can simplify other aspects of IT management, such as user provisioning, application deployment, and desktop image management. VDI can also help reduce the need for on-site IT support. By centrally managing virtual desktops in the data center, businesses can provide remote access to users, which reduces the need for on-site support.
This also applies to maintenance and troubleshooting. Setting up new users or troubleshooting problems with individual PCs can be time-consuming and difficult. With VDI, businesses can more easily provision new users and quickly resolve issues with virtual desktops.
Increased Flexibility
VDI can provide businesses with increased flexibility by supporting various users and devices more easily. For example, VDI can help companies accommodate employees who use mobile devices or work remotely. Additionally, VDI can make it easier for businesses to deploy applications.
VDI allows businesses to easily roll out new applications or updates to a select group of users for testing before pushing them out to the entire organization. This helps ensure that new applications or updates do not cause any problems before being deployed to all users.
Improved Disaster Recovery
In a disaster, VDI can help ensure that business operations can continue with minimal disruption. Virtual desktops can be quickly spun up in the cloud or on-premises to access critical applications and data. The centralized nature of VDI also makes it easier to back up and restore virtual desktops.
Additionally, VDI can help improve the speed and efficiency of disaster recovery operations. This is because virtual desktops can be easily backed up and restored. Additionally, businesses can use VDI to create a “golden image” of a virtual desktop that can be quickly deployed in a disaster.
Lower Costs
VDI can help businesses to lower their costs in several ways. For example, VDI can help companies reduce the need for on-site IT support and hardware. Additionally, VDI can help companies save money on software licenses by allowing them to use floating licenses. Floating licenses are not assigned to a specific user or device.
This means that businesses only need to purchase as many licenses as they need at any given time, saving money compared to buying licenses for every user and device. Additionally, VDI can help businesses reduce energy costs by consolidating physical devices into fewer data centers. This is because each server can support multiple virtual desktops.
Improved User Experience
VDI can provide a better user experience than traditional desktop computing by enabling single sign-on (SSO) and profile management. SSO allows users to access all their applications with a single set of credentials. At the same time, profile management ensures that each user has a consistent experience regardless of their device.
Additionally, VDI can provide users with access to their virtual desktop from any location and device. This flexibility can be a major advantage for organizations with mobile or remote workers.
Increased Business continuity
In a disaster, businesses need to recover and get their employees back up and running quickly. VDI can help improve business continuity by storing virtual desktop images and data in the data center, where it can be more easily backed up and recovered. Additionally, VDI can quickly spin up new virtual desktops if physical PCs are lost or damaged. VDI is a versatile technology that can benefit businesses of all sizes. If you’re considering VDI for your organization, carefully weigh the costs and benefits to ensure that it’s the right fit for your needs.
As more and more businesses move to the cloud, VDI becomes an increasingly attractive option. VDI provides many benefits for businesses, including increased security, simplified IT management, and improved user experience. If you’re considering VDI for your organization, carefully weigh the costs and benefits to ensure that it’s the right fit for your needs.
