Working remotely has made much of the global workforce get used to a different way of working. The familiar routine of commuting to and from your 9-5 has been replaced by flexible working from the comfort of your home.
Whether you prefer working from home or would rather go back to the office, there’s one constant across both – security has never been as important as it is now. One of the ways you and your staff can work securely is by using a virtual desktop.
What is Virtual Desktop?
A virtual desktop is a computer that you access over the internet. Virtual desktops are set up with images of operating systems and applications, but are separate from the device you access them from. Any endpoint device, tablet, mobile, laptop etc, can be used to access a virtual desktop.
Virtual desktops have everything you would need from a regular computer (hardware, operating system, processing power etc) and makes them available via the cloud.
What are the Benefits of Virtual Desktops?
Thinking about virtual desktops for your organisation? Here are 5 benefits you need to consider.
1. Security
Perhaps the most important reason to consider a virtual desktop is security. Unlike ‘normal’ work computing, all data is stored in a secure data centre, rather than on endpoint devices. If a device is lost or stolen, it won’t contain any data thieves can access. And whenever you shut down your virtual computer, any temporary files are removed. This helps prevent malware and viruses from infecting your network.
2. Access your ‘Computer’ from Anywhere
Having a virtual desktop means you can access your applications, files, and data from any endpoint device. If you use Microsoft 365 applications, you’ll know how handy it is being able to access your Word documents and Excel spreadsheets from any device you log in to. If you’ve got applications stored locally, and something happens to your computer, you run the risk of data loss, if it isn’t backed up regularly enough. If you’re moving to a new device, you simply have to login to the virtual desktop environment and everything will be there as you need.
3. Easy Management
A useful feature of virtual desktops is that they can be easily managed by your IT provider – internally and externally. Virtual desktops can be managed from a central data centre. Many organisations have chosen to move to virtual desktops, as it eliminates the need for updates and new application installations on individual machines. Your IT team can do any updates when it is convenient, and they can all be done at the same time. This removes the risk of users having different versions of software installed, if one has security vulnerabilities.
4. Cost saving
If you move to a virtual desktop, you won’t have to pay high prices for a high-end laptop. The majority of the computing takes place on the cloud (in a data centre), so it really doesn’t matter what device you use to access the virtual desktop. If users need a new device to access their virtual desktop, a lower spec computer would work absolutely fine. Another aspect for cost saving is that you won’t have to manage a physical network of computers.
5. Storage & Scalability
Using a cloud-based desktop infrastructure makes it easy to add devices to your virtual network. As your company grows, and you have more staff needing more devices, you can easily increase the number of desktops in order to meet the needs of new staff, wherever they are located. And by using the cloud, users will get much greater storage space for applications and files than they would have on a hard drive on their device. Cloud storage isn’t infinite, but it isn’t far from it.
Having a cloud-based virtual desktop infrastructure allows you to achieve a more efficient energy use, improve the centralized management of the company or improve employee mobility. If this is something you’re interested in, get in touch with ACUTEC today.
