What is CT4’s Remote Workspace?
CT4 has been providing managed virtual desktop access to companies across the world for over 10 years. Let us help you through these tough times by deploying virtual desktop access to your workers, which will allow them to continue working with your customers, managing your finances, creating content and reporting on operations. The Remote Workspace consists of a Virtual desktop and is defined as the hosting of desktop environments on a central server. It is a form of desktop virtualisation, as the specific desktop images run within virtual machines (VMs) and are delivered to end clients over a network. Those endpoints – The users device – may be PCs or other devices, like tablets or thin client terminals.
How does Virtual Desktops work?
In all Virtual Desktop deployments, the following characteristics apply:
- The virtual desktops live within Virtual Machines (VMs) on a centralised server
- Each virtual desktop includes an operating system image, typically Microsoft Windows
- The VMs are host-based, meaning multiple instances of them can housed on the same server within the data center
- End clients must be constantly connected to the centrally managed server in order to maintain access to the virtualised desktops it’s hosting
- The Virtual Desktops implementation’s connection broker finds a virtual desktop within the resource pool for each client to connect to upon its successful access of the Virtual Desktops
- Meanwhile, a hypervisor creates, runs and manages the various host machine VMs that encapsulate the individual virtual desktop environments
In modern digital workspaces in which numerous apps must be accessed on demand, Virtual Desktops facilitate secure and convenient remote access that helps boost employee productivity. Furthermore, it enables a consistent experience across multiple devices.
Virtual Desktops in digital workspaces
Assuming all supporting infrastructure is functioning as intended, a user who remotely accesses a Virtual Desktop solution from their endpoint can manage the OS and the applications and data on it as if they were running locally. This setup lets workers safely access everything they need from virtually any device, without requiring specific hardware.
Augmented secure remote access, virtual desktops can also be run and managed alongside the growing spectrum of cloud, web and mobile apps integral to modern workflows. Employees get a unified experience that enables greater productivity, while mitigating the risk of unauthorised logins.
In other words, VDI in the context of a digital workspace platform contributes to a superior working environment without compromising on security.
Cost savings and lower hardware requirements
Beyond benefits for end users, Virtual Desktop technology can also be a strong cost-saving measure for IT:
- Because the lion’s share of processing in Virtual Desktop is server-based, relatively expensive or cutting-edge hardware is not needed
- Virtual Desktop’s access can instead take place from an inexpensive thin client, which might be an old PC that has been repurposed for the task and thereby had its lifespan extended
- That saves IT the need to make as many new purchases or major adjustments to its budget
Improved security and centralisation
On the security front, Virtual Desktops offers some improvement over running an OS and everything on it locally. All of the data from a Virtual Desktops connection lives on the server, not the end client, meaning that if the endpoint is ever stolen, there’s nothing to exfiltrate from its local storage.
Moreover, the Virtual Desktop environment is fully and centrally controlled from a data center. Administrators can apply software patches and updates, change configurations and enforce policies for all virtual desktops across the deployment. In this way, Virtual Desktops allows for fine-tuned control and secure isolation of OS images from a central server, which is a less complicated setup that managing laptops running their OSes locally.
What are the use cases for Virtual Desktops?
Virtual Desktops are an important technology for many types of workers across numerous industries. Remote and mobile employees, contractors, kiosk and task workers, field technicians, medical professionals, teachers and many others regularly rely on virtual desktops to access a reliable virtual desktop from one or more locations. Thanks to the versatility of Virtual Desktops across its different deployment types, Virtual Desktops technology can work equally well as a way for users to have access to standard, nonpersistent desktop or to turn their virtual desktop into a highly personalised digital workspace.
How does the Virtual Desktop support digital workspaces?
Digital workspaces are application-driven. Within them, secure and straightforward access to multiple types of applications. A reliable, economical Virtual Desktop solution helps scale key applications and services to today’s increasingly mobile and remote teams. Virtual Desktops deliver a consistent experience across devices including PCs, tablets, smartphones and thin clients, giving employees and contractors a high degree of freedom in how they work. It allows for more streamlined and unified workflows.
Virtual Desktops can improve cybersecurity and reduce IT overhead as well. With data breaches becoming more costly with each passing year, Virtual Desktops’s isolation and centralisation can be a pivotal component in a multilayered security strategy. It also spares IT the complications of having sensitive data stored locally on client devices.
