Virtual desktops are essential for many businesses. They allow the creation of desktops that can be used in a flexible and powerful manner, with use cases that are required for reasons from security to performance. With so many great solutions out there for virtual desktops, taking advantage of their power is a no brainer.
However, actually understanding where you can use virtual desktops is another story. After all, these powerful use cases are going to be able to unlock a ton of new possibilities for your business, and are definitely worth knowing about.
That’s why in this article, we’re going to go over the top three common use cases for virtual desktops, as well as how you can take advantage of them to be able to benefit your business and easily unlock new ways to be able to use virtualisation throughout your business.
What Are Virtual Desktops?
A virtual desktop is a digital workspace that can be accessed from any device. Essentially, these desktops act like their own separate computers, and are streamed onto a device to be controlled remotely. For all intents and purposes, they are their own workstations, just stored within a server rather than in a physically accessible component.
Every user can access a login portal and use their desktop as they normally would, but all of the power happens remotely. These desktops are located on a server, or in the cloud, and so all apps, files, and data are stored securely on it, and all applications can run smoothly no matter the device using them.
To put it simply, virtual desktops are a perfect solution to many issues companies experienced with remote working over the early 2020s pandemic; any updates or changes to the user’s desktop can be made effortlessly, and users can run any applications they need even if their device can’t. This also means that there’s no downloading or transporting of files required, ensuring all your business data is entirely secure. Whilst the pandemic may seem like a distant memory, virtual desktops are still the best solution for remote work.
Importantly, virtual desktops are incredibly cost-efficient. As no data is stored on the device the virtual desktop is accessed from, employees can user lower-cost devices, allowing companies to dramatically cut costs on technology expenses. With this, you can redistribute those resources elsewhere and more effectively use your money to develop your business rather than pay for components.
Use Case 1: Full Remote Desktop Access for Employees
One common way virtual desktops are used is to allow employees to safely access their work desktops digitally, allowing hybrid and remote employees to work efficiently from wherever they’d like with no fuss. This makes it far more simple for business to be able to facilitate flexible working, and a more flexible workforce over multiple offices around the nation or even home.
Employees can access the same applications and content whether they’re in the office or working from home. As all their data will be located on the desktop’s server and not a specific device, hybrid and remote employees will be able to easily pick up where they left off, allowing for a smooth workflow and continuity between different devices and locations. This is far better for productivity and enabling a better, more interconnected workforce.
This ultimately means that all users, anywhere, will be able to access the same applications and work data, making collaboration between remote and on-premises employees easier than ever; to the point that there are no limitations to what remote employees can do, increasing group productivity and work quality while also improving morale and interconnectivity.
Use Case 2: Secure Remote Access to Applications
Another common use for Virtual Desktops is to allow users to access applications that they would otherwise be unable to run due to security concerns or device incompatibility. Remote access allows the ability to create sandboxes for incompatible or suspicious applications, and a safe way to access those in a way that wouldn’t affect any physical symptoms.
User profiles for virtual desktops can be accessed at any time, allowing admin users to control and monitor access to certain permissions or applications with ease, users can be granted temporary access to any applications required, without need for any user-input or an in-person IT meeting.
Similarly, applications that require a high amount of processing power to run can be ran in a digital workstation, meaning that you can easily increase the power available at hand without having to invest in lots of new hardware and components to make a physical workstation that can handle those specifications.
Use Case 3: Supporting Contractors and Temporary Workers
The third use case for virtual desktops is to allow temporary or contracted workers access to your company quickly. This reduces the security risk, as it isolates them from the rest of your system while also giving access to the files that they would directly need to be able to access to complete their work.
Virtual desktops can be set up quickly and seamlessly, allowing users to have access to your company instantly, and begin work. This is great for quick onboarding, as well as the fact that they can be easily discarded. Moreover, contractors’s virtual desktops can be customised depending on their current job, and have access to applications applied and removed with ease depending on when they’d need to access them.
With this, it’s easy to be able to use a virtual desktop to be able to integrate contractors and temporary workers with the rest of your business, while also being able to keep them at arm’s length due to their lack of actual status in the company.
How We Can Help
Virtual desktops are a great way to be able to unlock a number of possibilities for your business, from remote working to application sandboxing, and even for supplying computers to temporary workers. With this, it’s easy to see how virtual desktops are massively helpful for any business.
If you’re looking to get started with virtual desktops but don’t know how, reach out to us today. We’re here to help and will make sure you have everything you need to be able to take advantage of the power of desktop virtualisation, with all the support required every step of the way.
Get in touch with us now and see how we can help.