About a third of Americans are now working from home, and quite simply, that's because of COVID-19.  VDI, Desktop-as-a-Service, Virtual Desktops, and Cloud Desktops are the technologies that enable many of us to work from home.  And these technologies have been around for quite some time.  But it's taken a pandemic to force companies to make the move to remote workers.

One of the expert vendors in the industry is Teradici, so VMblog reached out to Alex Tang, the company's product marketing manager, to learn more and get his expert opinion on what's taking place right now.

VMblog:  How was Teradici positioned to handle the demands of organizations to quickly WFH once the outbreak forced many companies to close their offices?

Alex Tang:  Teradici's technologies were always intended to provide flexible, secure, and powerful remote desktop computing experiences without compromising on performance. When the outbreak hit close to home, many organizations were at different stages in their journey to the cloud with regards to the computing needs of desktop users, and were at different levels of familiarity with desktop virtualization. Teradici was able to respond by offering flexible and short term subscriptions and trials, and focus on three different types of customers: existing virtualized customers who need to expand or move to cloud, new customers who needed to rapidly virtualize and new use cases like remoting physical PCs.    

VMblog:  What systems are in place to ensure Teradici's employees have the tools they need to work through a pandemic?

Tang:  Simultaneously to helping out organizations with remote work use cases, Teradici was well-positioned to swiftly allow its own employees to work from home, almost immediately, without missing a beat. During the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020, employees were able to work from home the very next day after the Teradici offices were closed. Since we were all already using PCoIP technology via Cloud Access Software connected to a VM hosted in any of the three leading public cloud providers, we were able to access our remote desktops, and didn't require VPN connections, or have to worry about what was different from the computing power at the office versus at home. 

VMblog:  If another event like this happens again, how do you think enterprise organizations will respond?

Tang:  Obviously, a global shutdown or at least this unexpected shift to a "new normal" does not happen all too often, but now we know that this type of event can happen just as easily again. Organizations of all sizes, with varying degrees of IT capabilities, will need to be better equipped and prepared to be agile and act with a sense of urgency. There will be no drawn-out grace periods. Video conferencing will need to be in place, instantaneous access to computing resources to be able fulfil staff requirements, and employee familiarity will be critical components. Use cases related to business continuity and disaster recovery does not just mean back-up systems, but rather streamlining employee productivity when unexpected events arise. 

VMblog:  What would you say to IT teams who are hesitant to move their desktops hosted in the cloud and what are some of the endpoint options for WFH?

Tang:  There is no better time to make the shift if you haven't already. Take advantage of all the flexibility and global access that public cloud enables if you are already virtualized. The current situation has really taught us all that we should be prepared to scale remote work and that it is absolutely possible with the computing resources already accessible to your staff. Bypassing the often cumbersome and complex use of VPNs to access remote desktops and applications is a step forward, and desktop virtualization not only makes sense from a flexibility standpoint, but also from a cost perspective. Avoid capital-intensive hardware costs, and take advantage of hybrid or multicloud virtual desktop deployments. 

VMblog:  With regards to the increasing importance around business continuity: will COVID-19 result in increased adoption of virtual desktops and public cloud?  How does COVID-19 impact the long range view on off-premises access to corporate desktops in general?

Tang:  Business continuity can take many forms. Whether it be a bank processing transactions without interruptions, a retail store transacting sales at point of sale terminals, universities running computer labs with zero downtime, or allowing employees in your organization to work from home seamlessly, business continuity is important to every type of organization. Downtime can result in significant losses in revenue or permanent damage to a brand's reputation. And for those reasons, maintaining employee productivity and access to readily-available computing resources means all the difference. Having a remote desktop migration plan readily available in the public cloud, can allow IT teams to be nimble and fast-acting. 

IT downtime or unexpected interruptions for your business is inevitable. Whether it be a few minutes or a few hours, the consequences can be very costly. In order for employees to be up and running quickly, it takes a virtual desktop solution that can deliver on ease of use, security, and performance. Ensure your disaster recovery and business continuity plan guarantees the quick recovery of files, applications and virtual machines so you have backup and recovery capabilities in place to meet service level agreements (SLAs) for recovery time and recovery point objectives.

VMblog:  Finally, what's next for Teradici?

Tang:  Teradici has evolved our enterprise software portfolio significantly in many areas. No matter the industry or complex use case, at the core, securely and flexibly accessing remote desktops in a highly performant manner is of paramount importance. Industries that have graphics-intensive needs rely on Teradici's virtual desktop technology to deliver an uncompromising experience, with the highest color accuracy, higher frame rates and outstanding resolution. We've found tremendous success with industries such as media & entertainment, manufacturing, finance, higher education, and the federal government where users are poised to take advantage of desktop virtualization through graphic-intensive use cases.

From a Technology perspective, we have expanded our virtual desktops and virtual workstations solutions, added hybrid and multicloud flexibility, provided an easy to use management plane, delivered new PCoIP Ultra protocol enhancements and added new secure endpoint solutions. Teradici is no longer just a protocol company. From a Partnership perspective, we have expanded partnerships and new initiatives with public cloud providers, OEMs, ISVs and many other ecosystem partners. Teradici will continue to engage with partners to offer end-to-end virtual desktop experiences for its customers, and will provide a wide array of avenues to connect from the host side to the end user client side through devices, peripherals, and operating systems. 

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