By Todd Hsu, President, Ferroque Systems
IT administrators have a barrage of options and challenges in 2025: the Windows 10 swan song in October, the pressure to integrate competitive AI technologies and the proliferation of virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) choices. Enterprises considering expanding and/or upgrading VDI have options for cloud-based VDI solutions, on-premises VDI, and a competitive list of VDI/DaaS vendors that has grown in response to the pandemic. Before making any major changes to VDI, or entering into a new service agreement, a recommended approach is to start at the endpoint and examine what the current and near-term future needs are in terms of data security, compliance, and flexibility and where improvements need to occur.
Starting at the Endpoint
With the growing user demand for a satisfying digital employee experience (DEX) it’s imperative to assess the workspace environment, whether mostly remote or hybrid, to determine if an organization is meeting user expectations at the endpoint. In this scenario, VDI and DEX are allies in enabling consistent seamless access to applications, when an employee works from home or at a corporate campus. VDI is essentially an application delivery service. DEX, among other functions, ensures there are no disruptions due to poor application performance and helps IT by automated remediation and security patching, reducing trouble tickets. By first identifying needed improvements at the VDI/DEX enabled endpoint, VDI decision making will become clearer.
Assessing current endpoint management software in place is a recommended start. It can include:
- Does the organization need too many tools to accomplish the objectives of security and compliance? This can lead to more IT complexity and cost.
- Is the software sufficiently providing the reports needed for compliance?
- What is the user satisfaction rate? For remote workers, are they still having to rely too often on IT for application and interface support?
- If the organization is investing in AI, can the current software easily integrate AI into security defense and monitoring, as well as supporting automated response to threats?
- Can the software scale according to need without any disruptions in workflow and more demands on IT staff?
The introduction of AI-powered laptops is another IT consideration in identifying needed endpoint improvements. Here DEX plays a vital role in fulfilling user expectations of what AI can do for them in faster application delivery speed and in bringing more AI utility at the endpoint. IT will also need to ensure current security software can fully support these AI devices. Access controls and encryption must be able to counter cyberthreats based on AI algorithm manipulation to bypass controls, for example. The continued risk of �shadow AI’ is another concern as users may try to introduce unauthorized applications into the new laptops.
From this assessment enterprises can begin to develop a strategy for improvements to support the end user experience. One option is to engage a professional services team that can help an enterprise evaluate the range of choices in endpoint security software, monitoring and remediation, or automation. With this assessment, the teams can implement a unified endpoint management (UEM) solution to manage existing and new software, thereby eliminating the cost, inefficiency, and time burden of siloed tools. UEM also provides a more comprehensive holistic look into security defense at the endpoint, enabling better response and threat containment.
Conducting a Virtual Health Check
With a clear strategy on needed updates to endpoint management, enterprises can examine what improvements may need occur in VDI application delivery and performance. Mapping this against a hybrid work environment is a recommended strategy. While some enterprises have implemented stricter return-to-office (RTO) policies post-pandemic, the reality is the hybrid work model is still a force in planning (VDI) changes. Robert Half reported hybrid job postings increased from nine percent in Q1 2023 to nearly a quarter (23%) of new jobs by the end of 2024. Fully remote jobs also increased from 10% in Q1 2023 to 15% in Q4 2024.
Hybrid work satisfies employee desires. According to Gallup, “the majority of remote-capable employees are currently working in a hybrid or exclusively remote arrangement, and the ability to work in a hybrid arrangement is what a majority of remote-capable employees want.” Gallup said six in 10 employees with remote-capable jobs prefer hybrid work; about one-third prefer fully remote work, and less than ten percent prefer to work on-site.
Enterprises looking to improve their VDI environment and support hybrid work can start with a VDI �health check’ to include:
- Is IT getting user complaints about high latency when powering up virtual desktops?
- Do slow desktop logon delays further hamper user efficiency?
- Similarly, does it take too long to load an application and to respond to user input?
- Are virtual machines (VMS) working at peak efficiency and responsiveness?
- To support graphics work and collaboration, is VDI providing high visual quality?
Clearing up these latency and performance issues is illustrative of how VDI and DEX are allies in bringing the best desktop experience to users. In the hybrid work environment, it is essential for promoting productivity during flexible workday schedules when IT may not be available.
Enacting a Virtual Future
Besides mitigating any performance issues, enterprises have a �stay or leave’ decision to make in designing their VDI future. With some vendors requiring multi-year licensing agreements, a key decision is whether to work on improving performance with a current vendor, and renew licensing, or switch to a new provider. Deep analysis on user experience metrics, lagging performance issues and strategic business initiatives (AI) need to be factored into the decision.
Additionally, enterprises – notably in healthcare and finance – are moving some data workflows to on-premises VDI, driven by concerns about data privacy, security and compliance and wanting the flexibility of being able to scale without additional cloud costs. A third possibility is using a DaaS model to deliver desktops. The key VDI players are now competing in the different models, offering service variations on all three scenarios.
It’s a lot for an enterprise to unpack. One option is to engage professional services businesses to help sort through endpoint management and VDI choices and construct a phased in strategy on vendor and deployment timelines. Once completed, IT may also want to use managed services firms for implementation and careful monitoring of improvement results.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Todd Hsu founded TH Consulting, one of the original Citrix Partners, which was later acquired by Citrix. With 27 years of experience in the Citrix ecosystem, including Director of Citrix Consulting and Citrix Education, he has held significant roles in the EUC space before his current role as President of Ferroque Systems, specializing in customer engagement and strategic development within the Citrix landscape.
