Security, flexibility, scale and accessibility are key success metrics for organizations looking to gain competitive ground and market share in the modern market, says Joe Assad – Technical Engagement Lead: Cloud Infrastructure at Altron Karabina.
Businesses are undergoing a transformation in their operational approaches, notably evident in the increasing adoption of remote and hybrid work structures. This shift allows organizations to optimize talent, expand market reach, and cut costs. According to a recent Forrester Total Economic Impact survey, this trend is prompting companies to adjust their technology investments, with a growing preference for cloud-based solutions like Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) to enhance efficiency and reduce expenses.
Companies seek solutions that integrate flexibility into their technology stack, enabling them to effortlessly deploy virtual instances, manage user access, and facilitate seamless collaboration—all within the cloud. The survey indicates a projected up to 61% increase in the use of virtualized desktops by 2026, with cloud-based solutions, particularly AVD (60%), being the favored choice. This preference is attributed to their ease of management, enhanced security, and improved accessibility for remote and hybrid teams.
In essence, businesses are aiming to move away from the complexities associated with building on-premises virtual environments. They are shifting towards platforms like Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop, which offers unparalleled flexibility and speed. AVD can rapidly set up environments, such as call centers, without the need to wait for physical machines. Users can access these virtual machines securely from any location worldwide. This flexibility translates into a proven return on investment (ROI).
The Forrester study revealed that transitioning to AVD led to a reduction of up to 34% in virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) licensing and IT infrastructure costs annually, accompanied by a 59% reduction in IT maintenance and deployment expenses. Productivity increased by 22 person-hours per end user, and security measures were implemented 96% faster. The calculated ROI was an impressive 210%.
AVD enables organizations to deliver a comprehensive desktop experience, offering bespoke business applications directly to each user on-demand. Virtual machines align with the organization’s security standards from the outset, providing customized access for users. This approach enhances access control and flexibility for IT teams, allowing machines to be allocated based on demand and scaled up or down, with payment only for actual usage.
The significant advantage of reduced maintenance stems from immediate and secure support through Azure platform integration. Continuous application updates, vulnerability patches, and security visibility ensure that systems remain up-to-date and secure. Virtual machines do not age, avoiding the need for constant replenishment or asset management, resulting in both short and long-term cost savings.
AVD also offers rich visibility into system and virtual machine performance, with reporting features enabling businesses to analyze user profiles, productivity, and application relevance. This data-driven approach helps in making informed decisions on expenditure and use cases by assessing trends in working patterns and capacity.
In a business landscape characterized by unpredictability, AVD provides consistency and reliability, offering the right level of functionality precisely when needed.
