The benefits of virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) in a small business setting

As the trend of shifting online continues to grow, many business owners seek a balance between productivity and convenience for their employees. Here’s the point to consider remote work essentials like project management tools, messengers, and time trackers.

VDI, or Virtual Desktop infrastructure, makes the core of a successful workspace setup. It allows setting apart the desktop environment and a device that is used to access it, as all the user data are stored on a centralized server. Once employees access it, they receive all the required tools that are pre-installed for user profiles within the company.  

Incorporating VDI into your small business operations has numerous benefits. Let’s take a closer look at them:

Cost optimization

Implementing VDI helps to save costs on hardware, as all data processing happens on the server, that’s why the requirements for client devices used to access virtual desktops are much lower. That’s why you will not need to spend a ton on expensive equipment to perform daily tasks. As small businesses usually have limited budgets, this may come as a great opportunity to allocate more budgeting onto other streams requiring attention.  

Centralized management

Another major benefit is centralized management, which allows you to keep control over all the settings. It’s especially helpful when you are introducing new software or performing updates to the existing set of tools available for your employees.

With Virtual Desktop in use, you сan add new applications or update the existing ones in the central system, and it gets automatically updated on all virtual profiles. Thus, there’s no need to set everything up separately or remind employees to make the required changes.

Enhanced security

Virtual desktop solutions also bring additional security because all the information is stored on the server, not on the local device. Usually, VDI comes with inbuilt data encryption, so you can rest assured that internal documents, personal data of your clients, and other sensitive info remain safe within an isolated environment.

Protecting data transfer with secure protocols and restricting access only to company members with additional authentication be it a VPN or other Zero trust network tools will add additional peace of mind when it comes to Virtual desktop security. 

Easy Access 

As the hardware specs requirements are reduced, your employees can be more flexible and use any device be it a smartphone or a tablet to connect to their workspace. The same is valid about the location, as the access is simplified. It’s possible to work from any location in the world.

Just make sure you have a decent Internet connection, otherwise, you may experience delays in typing and other synchronization glitches. This enhances the performance of distributed organizations, which is pretty common for small businesses, as they often use outsourcing to delegate responsibilities to offshore teams or independent contractors.

System maintenance and support

With VDI you save human resources on maintaining IT infrastructure as having one central image allows you to quickly create and manage user profiles, as well as deleting Virtual desktop profiles in several clicks when an employee leaves the company.

Troubleshooting of issues that may occur with applications is also more convenient with VDI, as your technicians have access to the logs to quickly identify and resolve problems. And if you use the Desktop-as-a-service model, or another managed service provider solution, the involvement of your IT team is reduced, as the main part of supporting the infrastructure is included in the service costs.  

With the availability of the tools in the market, it’s possible to find a VDI solution that will be able to cover the needs of any small business and scale when you need more room to grow. So now, when you know all the benefits virtual desktop services can bring into your everyday operations, it’s high time to choose one!

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