How is Desktop Virtualization Changing the Workspace Environment?

In light of the pandemic and the need to work from home, many companies have seen desktop virtualization as one of the foremost effective ways to enabling remote working for their employees.

The past few years have seen significant growth in the virtual desktop sphere. The virtualization market is expected to grow continuously at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of approximately 24% by 2025.

Desktop virtualization and its deployment models

Desktop virtualization is a software technology that helps you create a virtual desktop environment on any server kept in your office or any remote location. There are three primary models of desktop virtualization:

VDI

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) segments the server into different virtual desktops that the end-user can access directly from a personal device. The virtual desktops can be accessed from any remote location. These servers are either kept on office premises or at any remote location.

HVD

A Hosted Virtual Desktop (HVD) is a type of VDI solution given by managed service providers in which your virtual desktops are built on the providers' cloud servers. Providers entirely manage all your IT work, including app installation, desktop provisioning, upgrading and management.

RDS

The Remote Desktop Service (RDS) is a little different from the above two models. It creates a multi-user environment where many users work on different desktop sessions but on a common Virtual Machine (VM). RDS helps you decrease hardware and infra-utilization in an office premise.

Now that you have an understanding of virtualization technologies, let's see how they’re positively changing the workspace environment.

Increased flexibility

Employees can often be stressed upon arriving at the office for work. Much of the time and energy in their day is wasted in travel, making them exhausted and meaning they’re not able to deliver high performance at work.

Virtualization has helped companies adopt remote working, and employees feel more comfortable working from home as they can maintain a healthy work-life balance.

Now employees have more flexibility of location and can work according to their desired timings too. Companies have seen that employees have delivered better results due to the flexibility in work.

Workspace mobility and portability

Companies provide physical workstations for employees in their offices. Often employees face compatibility issues in the desktops due to the regular change in the workstations. This leads to loss of productivity, poor performance and impacts the growth of the company itself.

Desktop virtualization eliminates these compatibility issues, helping employees work on Windows apps from personal devices like laptops, phones or tablets via a browser. With technologies like VDI, many companies have successfully integrated BYOD policies.

Integrated security approach

Security should be a significant concern for every company. Unsurprisingly, working with traditional desktops has seen a rise in cases of cyber threats and data breaches.

Virtual desktops focus on a high-security approach, whereby admins get more control over their data. They can set permissions for accessing the files or folders, meaning employee negligence won’t lead to data loss.

Moreover, if you’ve taken a hosted virtual desktop from a Managed Services Provider (MSP), they protect your data under multiple security safeguards like TLS 1.3 encryption, OS hardening, real-time intrusion detection and mechanism, multi-factor authentication and end-to-end data encryption.

Reduced infrastructure

Companies have always faced challenges in handling massive servers, multiple desktops and hardware devices as they have to spend huge capital in maintaining and installation of the servers and waste significant time updating desktops.

As companies start opting and implementing different virtualization models, they reduce their office infrastructure. With VDI in the office, companies have seen a decline in hardware, desktops and cabling.

In HVDs, as the providers host the desktops on the cloud servers, the workspace has been free from bulky server space and massive LAN cabling. Also, companies are free from the endless cycle of purchasing and updating desktops.

Easy scalability in workspace

In large companies, it’s problematic to increase or decrease desktops with the changing workforce. This is why companies waste a lot of time and energy setting up desktops according to different specification requirements.

The virtual desktop methodology has reduced the time and energy in creating new desktops. If services are taken from MSPs, they can increase or decrease the number of desktops in no time so that you don't have to pay extra for desktops sitting idle.

Proper desktop optimization helps you only pay for those desktops consumed at that particular moment. Therefore, none of your storage space or memory gets wasted.

Final thoughts

Desktop virtualization is the present and the future of the modern workplace. Companies choose different deployment models according to their requirements. Choosing VDI solutions saves your business expenses and offers a flexible working environment.

Enterprises are embracing this shift towards desktop virtualization and are regularly modifying their workspace accordingly.