If you are one of the vast majority of businesses today that’s running a hybrid or remote workforce, you know the myriad of IT challenges that can follow. Many of these challenges arose during the global COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 when companies rapidly shifted to a work-at-home model, and employees started using personal computers to access work-related systems. The IT department was suddenly thrust into managing unfamiliar desktops and laptops as well as losing control over governance and security issues. As a result, DaaS (desktop-as-a-service) grew quickly in popularity.
DaaS providers can deliver cloud-based platforms with complete governance and security for subscribing companies who can then grant visibility access to any number of authorized users. These providers also offer data storage, maintenance, updates, backup, desktop applications, and security to all subscribing customers.
If you’re ready to find a DaaS (Desktop as a Service) provider for your organization, you’ll want to begin by evaluating vendors to find the right partner. Be sure to take into account the following considerations:
Now that you’ve selected a DaaS provider, how do you get the relationship off on the right foot? Like most partnerships, setting measurable goals and establishing reliable communication channels will be important.
You’ll want to meet with your DaaS partner and lay out your goals as well as share networking requirements. Decide whether you’ll want to move everything to the cloud immediately or operate a hybrid system that manages some aspects on-premises with migrating other portions to the cloud. Your provider should be able to optimize the performance of your system regardless of the cloud and on-premises combination.
Be sure to communicate any special requirements of your particular industry, especially in terms of compliance and regulations. For example, a healthcare organization will need to keep HIPAA requirements in mind as it migrates data to a DaaS.
It’s likely that one of your biggest concerns will be how your employees see and interact with the new DaaS offering. Talk with your DaaS partner about optimizing images for the cloud versus simply duplicating on-premises images, as that tends to negatively affect performance. In addition, it’s important to understand the benefits of keeping images as simple as possible because that will improve performance and ease management concerns for your team.
You’ll want to discuss whether you prefer personal persistent or pooled non-persistent desktops or some combination of the two. Persistent Personal desktops allow users to experience the same virtual desktops regardless of when or where they log in. It’s a much more consistent experience, mimicking what they might be more used to on a personal computer or laptop. On the other hand, non-persistentpooled desktops essentially host multiple user sessions at the same time, offering a more rigid experience useful in many businesses. eliminate everything from each log-in session, saving nothing. The advantage of the latter is that fewer images must be managed, resulting in long-term cost savings, and potentially greater security.
Finally, you’ll want to discuss support expectations. Ideally, this conversation occurs before you select your DaaS partner. Some organizations may offer day-to-day problem resolution while others may only focus on delivering operations and value-added services. Ideally, you’ll want a partner that can help you maximize the value and capabilities of the solution so your employees can remain productive and successful.