While the rapid rollout of the vaccination programme has provided hope of a return to a pre-2020 world, the move to remote working due to the Covid-19 pandemic will be a mainstay for many organisations. In fact, 98% of people want to work from home for at least part of their working week for the remainder of their careers, according to a survey by the World Economic Forum. But to continue with a long-term strategy of a dispersed workforce in place and to reap the benefits it brings, businesses need to fully optimise the management and maintenance of their desktop platforms to support their employees.
In-house challenges
Deployment, configuration and management of desktop solutions can be a complex process, with considerations such as patch management, user support, updates and minimising latency between applications based in the data centre. Not only that, but the resultant ongoing maintenance of networking, storage and servers can prove to be an overwhelming responsibility for in-house IT teams. 45% of IT professionals who leave the industry do so because of stress, undoubtedly exacerbated by the pressures associated with the pandemic.
So what are the options on the table to help ease the burden on IT professionals while continuing to support the dispersed workforce? There are plenty of cloud desktop solutions on the market that can ease some of the burden, such as hosting a desktop solution with Azure, but this still involves comprehensive in-house management of the technology and specialist knowledge to ensure that it is fully optimised, which is where a managed Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) solution comes in.
The benefits of a managed solution
Opting for a managed solution with a service provider means that IT teams don’t have to worry about rack space, hardware breakdown or maintenance. Pulsant’s Cloud Desktop, in conjunction with Citrix technology, allows centralised management of the VDI platform, from configuration of the operating system to flexibility to easily scale up down depending on the number of users.
For organisations utilising a BYOD policy for remote employees, the solution is compatible with all major mobile OS systems and ensures a consistent user interface across each device, while users benefit from faster and more reliable access to applications with guaranteed availability SLAs and enhanced performance.
Security has moved to the forefront of IT teams’ concerns with workplace devices now being managed remotely. At the outset of the pandemic, 52% of organisations determined that they were only somewhat prepared in terms of security resource when making the shift to remote working. Pulsant Cloud Desktop ensures unnecessary security risks are mitigated and compliance across the workforce is maintained with a secure-by-design VDI, while the service is ISO 27001 accredited and UK-based.
Management and maintenance of the dispersed workforce can be a minefield, but Pulsant Cloud Desktop removes the risk and complexity that could otherwise result from an in-house strategy.