The modern workplace has evolved significantly from the traditional office settings of the past. Many employees and contractors perform their jobs from multiple locations, often accessing cloud resources on various devices. The days of primarily working from a cubicle using a desktop computer are rapidly becoming as outdated as rotary telephones.
Companies face significant challenges in supporting a mobile workforce with secure and reliable access to corporate resources. Traditional desktop solutions often fail to meet the scalability and agility requirements of modern businesses and their remote workforces. Desktop-as-a-service (DaaS) offers customers an effective and efficient method of connecting employees to cloud resources.
What is Desktop as-a-Service (DaaS)?
DaaS is a cloud-based service that provides users with virtual desktops delivered over an internet connection. Virtual desktops offer an alternative to physical machines running desktop operating systems such as Windows or Linux. The desktops are hosted on cloud servers by third-party cloud service providers (CSPs).
A DaaS solution provides users with an operating system and a suite of applications that can be customized to meet business requirements. The CSP offers security and access controls to ensure only authorized users can use the desktops. The provider also furnishes cloud storage to eliminate the need to store data on individual devices.
Three key components are utilized in DaaS solutions.
- Virtual desktops are cloud-hosted instances that replicate the functionality of traditional desktop operating systems.
- The cloud provider hosting the desktops maintains the infrastructure to ensure security and performance.
- Users can access the desktop over the internet with virtually any type of device.
What are the Benefits of a DaaS Solution?
Organizations adopting a DaaS solution can expect to realize the following benefits.
- Flexibility and scalability – DaaS offers the flexibility required to fully leverage cloud resources. Users can access their cloud-based desktops from any location with an internet connection using any device, including laptops, tablets, or smartphones. Companies can easily scale the number of desktops up or down and utilize on-demand provisioning to address a fluctuating workforce size.
- Cost-efficiency – DaaS solutions lower upfront cost by eliminating the need for companies to invest in physical infrastructure. The desktops are typically offered via the pay-as-you-go model, minimizing waste and optimizing the IT budget. Additional savings are accrued by the CSP assuming responsibility for maintenance and support costs.
- Simplified management – Cloud desktops are centrally managed and administered by the CSP’s technical staff. The technical team applies system and security updates, as well as monitors and tunes performance. The customer’s IT staff is relieved of routine maintenance and can concentrate on value-added activities.
- Robust security – Organizations enhance security by storing data in the cloud rather than on local devices. Centralization enables consistent security policies and reduces the risks of data loss or theft. DaaS solutions typically support multi-factor authentication (MFA) and encryption to protect valuable data from unauthorized access.
- Enhanced business continuity – DaaS desktops are hosted in CSP’s secure data centers and are supported by built-in redundancy. In a disaster, employees can access the company’s cloud resources from any location and on any device to maintain business operations.
- Consistency in a BYOD environment – Organizations can support a bring your own device (BYOD) environment while ensuring consistency for all users who access the cloud desktops. Companies can reduce hardware costs, increase productivity, and boost employee satisfaction by allowing the use of personal devices for business activities.
- Deployment speed – New DaaS desktops can be provisioned in minutes rather than the days it typically takes to furnish an employee with a traditional, hardware-based desktop. Companies can leverage fast deployment to onboard new employees quickly and address evolving project requirements.
Are There Any Drawbacks to DaaS?
Organizations adopting a DaaS solution need to be aware of the following potential drawbacks so they can maximize the benefits of the cloud-based desktops.
- Users need a dependable, high-speed internet connection or risk downtime, unacceptable lag, and loss of access to cloud resources. Most DaaS solutions offer minimal capabilities for working offline.
- Ongoing subscription costs can add up and may be more expensive than traditional desktops for large environments.
- Companies may be limited in the degree of customization available in the provider’s standardized desktop offering. The cloud desktops may not support some resource-intensive applications.
- Teams must fully understand the cloud provider’s shared responsibility model to ensure they are taking the necessary measures to protect their data.
- IT teams may have to navigate a learning curve of new tools and procedures to provision and use the virtual desktops.
Typical Use Cases for DaaS
Companies can leverage the benefits of DaaS to address the following use cases that are essential to support modern businesses.
- DaaS offers a secure and consistent access method for remote and hybrid employees.
- Teams can quickly provision new desktops to handle temporary employees.
- Companies can use virtual desktops to facilitate user education and training.
- DaaS supports agile disaster recovery and business continuity by allowing employees to access resources from anywhere using any device.
What is VAST’s DaaS Offering?
VAST is addressing the needs of today’s businesses to modernize their workplace with a flexible desktop environment accessible from any device. We offer secure, scalable, and cost-optimized virtual desktops leveraging the power of Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD). Our solution is designed for seamless functionality of Microsoft 365 environments and your company’s business applications.
Our offering includes the following key features.
- Custom-branded virtual desktops are aligned to your organization’s requirements, delivered and managed by our expert technical team;
- Optimized management streamlines deployment, optimizes costs, and right-sizes desktops to meet user needs. The solution scales to varying requirements from light Microsoft 365 usage to high-performance computing demands and can be tailored on a per-user basis.
- Dynamic pricing is aligned with actual usage to provide cost transparency, eliminating surprises that can disrupt your budget.
- Microsoft’s Azure backbone provides enterprise security and regulatory compliance.
VAST’s DaaS solution meets the needs of various customers, including:
- Companies migrating from physical desktops to cloud-centric environments;
- Businesses supporting hybrid or remote workforces;
- Organizations looking for an alternative to AWS desktop solutions;
- Microsoft 365 customers expanding their Azure footprint.
VAST has proven experience with DaaS solutions across cloud platforms. Our unique blend of technical expertise and cost-management tools enables us to provide our customers with a scalable solution to meet their business objectives. Contact us to learn more about how our DaaS solutions can help your company modernize and thrive in today’s business landscape.
