For businesses to succeed today, it is vital that they implement remote working strategies for their staff. But they can’t just introduce any remote strategies – there needs to be a focus on security. And if they can reduce infrastructure costs at the same time, then that’s a bonus.
One way of doing this is by using our CSq Managed Windows Virtual Desktop infrastructure. Users can access a virtual desktop remotely, from a PC, tablet or mobile.
What is Windows Virtual Desktop?
Windows Virtual Desktop runs on Microsoft Azure. It can be accessed from any device; with applications, you can use it to access remote desktops and applications. Using a personal laptop, the Windows 10 operating system doesn’t run directly on the device. Instead, it accesses it via Azure. A user will have their regular personal applications and company applications deployed to their virtual environment.
An Introduction to Windows Virtual Desktop
For businesses to succeed today, it is vital that they implement remote working strategies for their staff. But they can’t just introduce any remote strategies – there needs to be a focus on security. And if they can reduce infrastructure costs at the same time, then that’s a bonus.
One way of doing this is by using the virtual desktop infrastructure. Users can access a desktop remotely, from a PC, tablet, or mobile. It’s connected to the host server via a connection broker – a software layer that acts as the intermediary between user and server. Virtual desktops are deployed and managed by an organisation’s IT team and can be hosted in the Cloud or on-premise. Cloud-based virtual desktop environments can help reduce infrastructure costs.
What is Windows Virtual Desktop?
Windows Virtual Desktop runs on Microsoft Azure. It can be accessed from any device, with applications you can use to access remote desktops and applications, such as multi-session Windows 10 and Microsoft 365 Apps. Windows Virtual Desktop is easier to deploy than traditional remote desktop services or virtual desktop infrastructure. It doesn’t require the provision or management of servers and server roles.
Using a personal laptop, the Windows 10 operating system doesn’t run directly on the device. Instead, it accesses it via Azure. A user will have their regular personal applications and company applications deployed to their virtual environment. If one of the virtual apps is Microsoft Word, the icon that displays will be slightly different – with a Windows Virtual Desktop logo visible. That way, it’s easier to see which are business apps and which are personal apps.
Benefits of Windows Virtual Desktop
User Experience
Windows Virtual Desktop offers full Windows 10, Windows Server desktop and app virtualisation, with Teams and Office application integration, so users can stay connected and productive with a desktop experience they’re used to. Azure supports the most regions of any Cloud provider, over 60 regions worldwide.
As a result, you can have desktops close to users’ locations to establish a fast connection. Again, users can stay productive without long load times. On sign-in to the virtual environment, the user profile container is dynamically attached to the computing environment. The profile is available immediately and appears on the system exactly as a local user would.
Improved Security
Data and applications are separated from local hardware and are run on a remote server. This reduces the risk of important company data being left on a personal device. It also isolates user sessions in both single and multi-session environments. This provides better security than a VPN because it doesn’t give users access to a full subnet. Windows Virtual Desktop uses reverse connect technology to provide a more secure connection type to traditional remote desktop protocol. There’s no need to open inbound ports to the session host VMs.
Because it runs on Azure, Windows Virtual Desktop uses industry-leading security and compliance offering to protect user data. Security solutions include Azure Security Centre and Microsoft Endpoint Manager. This helps protect your infrastructure and Azure Active Directory allows you to enable conditional access policies and role-based access control.
Simplified Deployment and Management
Windows Virtual Desktop manages the entire virtual desktop infrastructure, so your IT can focus on the user, apps and operating system images needed.
Since it’s in the Cloud, it is scalable to suit your business needs. It can provide tools to automatically provision additional VMs when an incoming demand exceeds a specified threshold.
You’ll get access to other monitoring services, such as Azure Monitor, which allows admins to identify issues and get alerted through a single interface; and Azure Service Health, which provides personalised guidance to help mitigate downtime and prepare for planned maintenance.
Reduce Infrastructure costs
Regularly upgrading your infrastructure can be expensive. But with a Windows Virtual Desktop environment, you can reduce spending on infrastructure by making the most of its cloud capabilities – where you only need to pay for what you use.
With the multi-session capability of Windows 10, you can have multiple users connected at the same time to maximise your virtual machine utilisation. It offers flexibility so you can have the virtual machine like and tweak it to suit your business needs.
Windows virtual desktop offers a number of great benefits to your business such as allowing for more secure remote working for your end-users, quicker deployment, and simplified management, with reduced licencing and infrastructure costs.
If you are interested in setting up a Windows Virtual Desktop environment for your staff, get in touch with Charles Square today.
