The Time for Desktop-as-a-Service is Now

Virtual desktops are not a new concept. The ability to provide users with a virtual desktop experience has been around for a few years now thanks to technology from companies like Citrix and VMware. But actual adoption, prior to 2012, has been limited at best as scalability, performance, and infrastructure concerns have loomed. Additionally, enterprise IT staffs have had concerns around user acceptance, cost to deploy, impact on IT, and availability of connectivity. These barriers to adoption will soon be a thing of the past thanks to several key technology trends.

Consider the concern around connectivity which is obviously required to actually access a virtual corporate desktop. While not long ago this was a huge barrier, today much of the world is approaching the point of ubiquitous connectivity so it’s becoming a moot point. Now there aren’t too many places, including more and more airplanes, that don’t have WiFi available. In addition, many devices have 3G or 4G connectivity capabilities built-in meaning the time an employee would be completely without connectivity is minimal. 

The phenomenon known as BYOD (bring your own device) is another huge catalyst causing corporations to take a hard look at virtual desktops solutions such as DaaS. Smartphones, tablets and even laptops with mobile connectivity are more readily available at economic prices and employees want the flexibility to work off the devices they’re most comfortable using – both while at work and at home.  This leaves IT struggling to figure out how to keep corporate data secure while giving their employees the flexibility they require. IT departments are constantly forced to deal with this ever increasing group of employees who not only want to bring their own devices to work, but who also set their own rules on how and what technology they need to do their jobs, thanks to the versatility of many consumer cloud-based applications like Dropbox or Google Docs. 

Thanks in large part to the acceptance and availability of mobile solutions, cloud computing, and cloud-based applications, virtual desktops are now much more enticing than ever before. They also provide IT with a solution to the consumerization of the enterprise by allowing IT to retain total control of corporate data and applications which never leave the confines of the data center. The devices become a means to access the information required for an employee to do their job. IT no longer has to be in the end user hardware business, reducing capex costs as well as limiting desktop support.

It is this perfect storm of technology advances, cultural shifts, and business needs coming together that make 2012 the time to consider DaaS. It is the right solution for your business to provide employees flexibility and choice, while significantly reducing corporate costs, freeing up IT from time consuming, tedious support tasks, and protecting corporate information.