The shift towards VDI is very much a modernisation of technology to adapt to the needs of the workforce and the business. Laptops and PCs are powerful tools, but they need better management to provide reliability for the user and security for the organisation. Here are five ways VDI helps organisations.
Agility
More than a trendy buzzword, agility is a value which businesses need to live and breathe in order to be successful – because business changes all of the time. Sometimes those changes can be predicted and sometimes they can’t. With a VDI, it’s far easier to add new users and new devices – and to manage updates to those devices. Changes can be rolled out across an entire organisation with ease, after being tested in a safe and dependable environment. It’s also easier to monitor system and control software licensing. When the business needs to move in any way, an agile VDI makes the whole process a lot, lot easier.
Security
For many organisations, increased security is the number one draw for VDI. With every client machine virtualised, data, applications and operating system can be managed dynamically – with updates rolled out seamlessly, without any user input or even awareness. Environments can be locked down to what they need to be, and nothing more. Data can be safeguarded with confidence. Employees do what they need to but can be prevented from doing anything else – and the whole infrastructure is safeguarded from outside attack. VDI maximises security.
Flexibility
VDIs enable organisations to have a more flexible approach to computer hardware, via a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) strategy which is both secure and well managed. People can work on their own device, in the office or at home, loading up their virtual desktop when doing so – without interfering with their own personal files. Better still, anything on the user’s personal computer account can’t cross over to, or access, the virtual desktop. This delivers incredible flexibility as well as simplifying systems monitoring and applications licensing.
Compatibility
We live in a world where applications and operating systems change quickly. Most of that change is good, but when – for example – an organisation wants to roll out 64-bit technologies but depends on a 32-bit application, VDIs solve the problem, allowing support to continue for legacy applications while the organisation still moves ahead.
Control
After security, control is usually the biggest win for organisations moving to a VDI. Yes, control and management are usually thought of as organisation-wide benefits – and this is true. Patches and updates can be applied with ease. Applications can be rolled out uniformly. But the benefits are there at an individual or team level too. If a change is needed to one desktop or a group of them, it’s not a problem. And when a device is stolen or lost, there’s nothing to worry about.
Oh, and COVID-19
Our five benefits (and there are far more) are ones which are true all of the time. But it’s worth mentioning the 2020 pandemic – as this drove a lot of change very quickly indeed. For some organisations, VDIs moved from something they were thinking about to something they needed. And those organisations which already had a VDI found that they could pivot the business far more easily. COVID-19 is driving a lot of workplace and social changes which is likely to stick – more flexible working being high on the list. People need to be able to work from home; organisations want to support that but don’t want to lose their grip on security and may not want to invest in new hardware. Using a VDI to respond to COVID-19 isn’t just a 2020 thing – it’s something that’s here to stay, even if the coronavirus was the catalyst.
Get in touch to find out how your organisation can benefit from a virtual desktop infrastructure.