By Michael Norring, President and CEO, GCSIT
Thirty years ago (or three) when someone asked where you
worked, not only would the answer include the name of the business but where
the office was. That is no longer the case. With radical work environment
changes recently, organizations are increasingly not requiring employees to
come into their office and plug into their workstation daily. Instead,
employees are utilizing work-from-anywhere (WFA) policies.
This type of work environment has produced challenges for IT
departments across the world but has increased the value of the virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI)
tool. VDI empowers organizations with the resources for employees to access
their virtual desktop anywhere to maintain optimum workforce flexibility and
productivity. According to a study
by Research and Markets, between 2019 and 2027, the VDI market is expected
to increase by a CAGR of 14.4%, from $4.4 million in 2019, to $12.9 million in
2027.
Employees need to access a virtual desktop on the device of
their choice from smartphone to laptop or tablet, while still maintaining the
same user-efficient experience a physical desktop provides. VDI resources are
no longer a ‘nice to have' but a requirement in order to remain competitive in
the job market, retain employees, and encourage efficiency wherever employees
work. Here are five advantages of utilizing a VDI workspace:
- Greater flexibility. WFA is crucial for
employees of all types-current, new, contract, and freelance. With VDI,
onboarding non-permanent employees can become significantly easier. With
improved infrastructure agility, seasonal employees, temps, consultants, etc.,
can utilize their own devices while accessing the appropriate desktop
experience.
- Accessibility. The changing workforce
means that employees need to work remotely. VDI was made for this type of
environment. It significantly simplifies remote work challenges and allows
business continuity when in-person work isn't practical.
- Reduced costs. Organizations that already have the server architecture in place won't
be burdened by high deployment costs. Because standard desktop machines must
each have expensive software packages installed, you'll discover that the
functional cost of VDI is markedly lower. Even businesses that require a
significant initial investment to adopt VDI enjoy a significant ROI over time
as maintenance costs and unit replacement costs are dramatically reduced.
- Enhanced efficiency. VDI workspaces give
employees the resources needed to complete tasks at any time, from anywhere. This
also includes easier onboarding, offboarding and deploying new applications to
users virtually as opposed to physically installing it on their machine and
transferring everything when a new machine is needed. This freedom empowers employees
and buys loyalty that increases worker output and reduces downtime due to any
type of disruption.
- Increased security. One of the most
serious concerns organizations have when implementing VDI workspaces is the
security. If an employee is accessing their proprietary desktop and information
from a café or at home, how
can it possibly remain secure? But in reality, data remains secure because it
is sequestered from the device. It cannot be accessed if any device becomes
compromised. VDI provides a centralized structure for information that does not
ever leave the data center.
Many tech companies, like GCSIT, have been working on
developing these customized infrastructures for years. VDI is an example of
tech meeting the moment-offering organizations a more streamlined and secure
computing system in the face of an ever-evolving work environment.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael Norring is the CEO of
GCSIT. As the CEO, Michael plays an integral role in building the GCSIT brand and
reimagining the future of IT partners to help bring smarter, more innovative,
affordable technology solutions to consumers faster. His areas of expertise at
GCSIT include building Agile Infrastructure, the Cloud, DevOps, Enterprise
Applications, Development and more. Michael is a senior business executive and
entrepreneur with a proven track record as a leader, innovator, strategic
thinker, change agent, and market visionary. With more than 20 years of
experience in the industry, he has extensive experience creating technology
partners focused on the Cloud, DevOps, SaaS, Applications, Consulting and the
Managed Services market. He has a background in defining company and
product/services' vision and strategy, customer engagement and alignment,
operational controls, product management and development, new product
definition and market launch, realignment of existing product, company
turnaround, sales, and business development.