Desktop as a Service: Why One Company Established a Virtual Desktop and Application Environment

1
Desktop as a Service Why One Company
Established a Virtual Desktop and Application
Environment
2
Desktop as a Service

• Desktop as a Service provides a meaningful
  solution for desktop and application
  environments.
• It changes the whole dynamic between workers and
  their traditional, stationary computers.
• Users no longer need to go to the office to
  access company data and resources.
• Instead, Desktop as a Service increases user
  mobility and allows the desktop to go with the
  user.
• The desktop becomes a virtual device that can be
  accessed securely anytime and anywhere from a
  tablet, laptop, netbook, thin client, smartphone
  and more.

3
Desktop as a Service

• The Challenges for One Company
•  
• Today, managing desktop and application
  environments to keep pace with growth has become
  difficult for many companies.
• One organization in particular found virtualizing
  these environments created a more agile IT
  operation.
• For example, an independent natural food store
  chain operates over 150 stores, three warehouses
  and a corporate office in the United States.
• With an internal IT staff of only 16, desktop
  management and deployment became geographically
  challenging, inconsistent and cumbersome for the
  company.
• The organization knew they needed to establish a
  Desktop as a Service environment that would not
  only reduce user downtime, but also scale easily
  in response to rapid growth and adapt to business
  demands.
• In addition, application management on a
  corporate level was anything but seamless between
  internal and external end users.
• The company needed to help streamline the process
  of managing and deploying current and future
  applications.

4
Desktop as a Service

• Why Desktop as a Service Made Sense
•  
• After careful analysis, the natural food store
  chain decided to outsource the management and
  hosting of their desktop and application
  environments.
• They selected a vendor with similar values, work
  ethic and a strong presence in the technology
  sector.
• The result was a strategic approach to developing
  and implementing an innovative and highly
  efficient virtual desktop and application
  environment.
• Desktop as a Service, sometimes referred to as
  DaaS, involves the process of presenting a user
  desktop from inside the data center.
• The desktop workload is moved away from the local
  computing device and placed in the cloud
  infrastructure.
• The user data, profiles and computing load remain
  secure within the vendors cloud server
  environment.
• By virtualizing their existing desktop and
  application environments, the company was able to
  foster a more agile IT environment.

5
Desktop as a Service

• Why Desktop as a Service Made Sense
•  
• With Desktop as a Service, the natural food store
  chain could now provide near instant provisioning
  of new users and devices.
• Failed workstations at remote sites could now be
  remedied by simply unboxing a new device and
  returning the failed device to the corporate
  office for replacement.
• Desktop as a Service also allows for a seamless
  presentation between internal and external
  operation of applications.
• By centralizing the tools for desktop management
  and increasing the ease of rolling out new
  applications, the natural food store chains
  employees and vendors experienced a quicker
  on-boarding process.
• For example, on-boarding of newly acquired
  companies became as simple as pointing the user
  to a web site.
• The IT staff is now able to concentrate on more
  critical and strategic projects.
• Remote users are more efficiently supported and
  the excessive levels of downtime have become a
  thing of the past.

6
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chuck Vermillion is CEO and founder of OneNeck IT
Services, a leading provider of hosted
application management and managed services since
1997. For more information about Desktop as a
Service, visit http//www.oneneck.com/Solutions.as
px today.