What are the Top Use Cases for Desktop Virtualization?

As an IT service provider, we get asked this question quite often. There are several reasons why a company might look towards virtualizing their environment.

For our customers, the biggest case is Mobile Productivity. All our customers want to offer their users the ability to work in a dedicated enterprise environment from anywhere at any time. This is especially critical for companies who have employees who work from home, or in remote offices.

In the Washington DC metro area where Zephyr Cloud is based out of, commuting is one of the biggest challenges for employees and employers. So much time is wasted on the road, and for many the stress of commuting leads to loss of productivity. Employees who are given the option to work from home, have time and again shown to be happier and more productive, and this is where a virtualized desktop environment can play a huge role.

When we migrate users to our virtual desktop environment, users get access to a fully featured enterprise Windows environment, that runs all the essential tools such as MS Office, Outlook, Skype for Business, and much more. The best part for companies that migrate to this platform, is the standardization that comes with the desktop, the assurance of data security, and the ability to access work tools from anywhere, at anytime.

Virtual desktops also open the door for a Bring Your Own Device environment, where companies no longer need to furnish costly equipment. An employee can simply run their office desktop from any HTML5 enabled browser. This also means having the ability to access their office environment from any modern smartphone, or tablet.

For clients where security is important, the use of virtual desktops brings several benefits. Logging on to the virtual desktop happens only through an SSL encrypted website. This ensures that user data is protected from theft, and man-the-middle attacks. In addition, data that a user accesses is not stored on their personal machine. This means that if their device is lost or stolen, that information is already protected and stored in the data center, with several layers of data-protection in place. Finally, access to data can be granted to, or restricted to users depending on their roles or permissions.

Finally, the simple act of deploying virtual desktops to users enables companies to simplify their IT needs, and at the same time save significant costs. Companies typically need to manage hardware, software licenses, as well as on-boarding (adding) or removing users. Zephyr Cloud handles all of that for companies by deploying desktops to the exact number of users without a company having to deal with new hardware or software. The best part is knowing that all this happens with a simple monthly fee, that grows or shrinks as needs change.

To give an idea on the potential cost savings that a company might see with a virtual desktop deployment, Citrix offers a savings calculator. Check it out, and see if migrating makes sense. Zephyr Cloud is both a Microsoft and Citrix service provider, and can offer several options when it comes to virtual desktop deployments.