There’s nothing like figuring out a complex problem on an emergency basis. But that’s exactly what many IT teams are doing as they scramble to support stay-at-home employees. With most if not all employees suddenly working from home, IT teams are faced with the monumental challenge of giving them access to the tools they need.
Organizations that have implemented desktop virtualization have a decided advantage. Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) allows IT to host the entire Windows desktop in the data center and deliver it to users as a service. Users gain secure access to their desktop resources anytime, anyplace, using virtually any device. All they need is an Internet connection and proper user credentials.
VDI clearly is a valuable tool for supporting stay-at-home workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, VDI has been touted for pandemic planning for 15 years! And with today’s public cloud platforms organizations can rapidly scale their VDI capabilities to meet emergency remote work needs.
Why VDI
VDI has been a mainstream technology for almost two decades now. For years, the focus was on reducing the costs and operational overhead associated with managing traditional desktop hardware. VDI provides relief from those expensive, time-consuming operations by enabling centralized deployment and management of the desktop environment.
Today, however, organizations are viewing desktop virtualization primarily as a means of achieving workplace flexibility and business agility. VDI allows organizations to meet the demands of an increasingly remote and mobile workforce without forcing users to give up the familiar Windows desktop environment. Easy access to applications and data allows users to quickly make business decisions to improve profitability, customer service and time to market.
Faster, more agile IT processes also speed time to value for strategic business initiatives and expedite the opening of new business units and branch locations. Centralized management and online support tools eliminate the need for IT personnel to be deployed to new locations, reducing overhead. New employee onboarding is dramatically simplified because resources can be provisioned to new users in a matter of minutes.
Security is improved through the ability to distribute patches and software updates in a centralized and simplified manner. Other benefits include simplified backup operations and faster problem-resolution capabilities.
Scaling VDI on Demand
Organizations that have implemented VDI for in-office desktop delivery may find that they lack the data center and network resources to support large-scale work-from-home strategies. Technologent has developed a VDI bursting solution that leverages the public cloud and on-premises resources to help organizations scale their workload capacity.
The engagement begins with a one-day discovery session to understand the current VDI environment and to discuss the desired business and technology outcomes. Technologent’s consultants then design a cloud-centric architecture to augment existing VDI capabilities. The Technologent team can also assist in the implementation of a solution to meet immediate remote work needs and develop plan for ramping up additional remote work capabilities in the future.
Desktop virtualization can simplify the sharing and securing of applications and data for a remote and mobile workforce. Its value for pandemic response is clear but few organizations have the on-premises resources to rapidly scale VDI capabilities to meet exploding demand. Technologent’s VDI bursting solution combines existing on-premises infrastructure with the public cloud to give stay-at-home workers access to the tools they need.
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