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- November 11, 2020
Deliver the perks of working “in-office” to your home-office
In 2020, many businesses had to make the sudden and dramatic switch to a primarily remote workforce. Though the remote working spike was initially viewed as a short-term solution due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the data is becoming very clear…widespread remote working is here to stay. Remote working is preferred by 99% of surveyed employees, it saves companies money and can even increase productivity.
Most people are comfortable working in an office setting and enjoy the convenience of having everything (and everyone) they need in one location. Employees don’t want to sacrifice the benefits of working from an office when they transition to working remote, they want to have access to the same resources and people while working from home.
Business productivity apps that need to run in the cloud, like Office 365 and line-of-business (LOB) apps, are usually the first thing that comes to mind. But let us go beyond that and review some of the other options available to your business to help you deliver the “in-office” experience when your employees work from home.
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
VDI is a cloud-hosted Windows desktop that is hosted, operated and managed by an IT service provider (like NexusTek).
In a traditional office setting, you may have several computers that all access a server for files and applications. What if you have employees working from home? Imagine your employees being able to remotely access a Windows desktop being managed in a datacenter, that has all your business data and applications. Not only can the virtual desktop be accessed remotely, but you can do it from several devices…including a cell phone! VDI is basically like having a physical office desktop available on-demand.
The primary benefits of using VDI include reduced IT spend, increased scalability and productivity, security and business continuity.
FUN FACT – These benefits are not only for the remote workforce. Many businesses also use a VDI solution for in-office setting to utilize these benefits and provide enhanced security by having all the operating systems housed in the cloud. In other words, the devices that your workers are using are just a gateway to access your operating system in the cloud. If that device gets a virus or other harmful malware, it will not affect the VDI platform…they are essentially separate.
Since the hardware is managed in a datacenter by a service provider, you pay predictable monthly subscription costs versus owning the hardware. This will help transfer some of your IT spend from a CAPEX to OPEX. With VDI your applications and data are centralized, therefore they can be accessed at any time from several devices. If you are working on something and need to change devices or stop and continue later, you are granted that flexibility. If your mobile device is hacked or stolen, you can take comfort in knowing that your business data and applications are safe because they are housed in the data center and not on your device. With a replacement device your business will not miss a beat because your IT environment is still intact
IT Hardware
To gain access to end-of-year hardware promotions from industry-leading manufacturers or learn more about how VDI can help your business, contact NexusTek below.