Story of the Week

Desktop virtualization technologies are undoubtedly here to stay and are a flourishing trend of measurable outcomes. Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) and Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), two prominent solutions in the industry, have cemented their place as the go-to IT solution for workplaces of all sorts.

The steps involved in VDI implementation are the same as those in any large-scale tech project: understanding needs, setting objectives and milestones, researching, choosing vendors, and planning and strategy.

That being considered, organizations must take necessary measures throughout the VDI implementation process to optimize their working efficiency. This article explains seven common VDI/DaaS issues that most (if not all) companies often make.

Cost-effectiveness at the Cost of User Experience

Keeping users at the center of End User Computing (EUC) efforts should be a no-brainer for organizations. Unfortunately, most of them turn a blind eye to this aspect of their VDI implementation process. While business leaders have budget limitations, emphasizing only cost-cutting and neglecting user experience will lead to net loss down the line due to sub-par productivity.

Case in point, a company picks a public cloud-based multi-user model to reduce its capital expenses (CAPEX). Such a framework enables numerous users to share the resources and costs of a particular virtual machine (VM). However, if the cloud environment is not appropriately sized, these cost reduction tactics can later shape into performance issues that eventually annoy end-users.

Purchasing the best VDI service is all about squaring end-user experience with CAPEX. Besides, organizations must invest in monitoring tools that allow them to gauge UX and make necessary tweaks when things go south. These tools help them assure they are delivering a splendid end-user experience by capturing what is flashing on their employees’ physical monitors.

The total costs of ownership (TCO) for desktop virtualization solutions can outshine that of traditional physical desktops. Hence, companies should realize the benefits these technologies will come with and ensure they ink a valuable deal.

Seeing all Service Providers through the Same Lens

All DaaS/VDI vendors appear identical from a worm’s-eye perspective. They offer packages with similar functionalities at varying price tags.

Desktop virtualization services by public cloud hyperscalers allow users to work only in a single – “Mono Cloud” – setting. On the flip side, multi-cloud DaaS solutions equip companies with the flexibility to switch between various public clouds. As such, they can change their EUC environments – by transferring some data from one public cloud to another, for example, without hampering their VDI implementation strategies.

By dint of the circumstance, businesses must consider the following factors while comparing different service providers:

• Security: Multi Factor Authentication (MFA), data backup, and anti-malware software
• Mobility: Access to critical resources anywhere, anytime
• Uptime: At least 95% (Industry standard is 99.99%)
• After-sales support: Resolving queries quickly and accurately
• Scalability: Easy to scale when required

Case in point, a VDI service package bundled with 90% uptime and no resting data encryption can cost more money even if the upfront expenses are low. Conversely, a VDI solution offering 99% uptime with transport layer security (TLS) 1.3 and 256-bit encryption would be an excellent buy. While the initial costs could be high, the overall return on investment (ROI) will be impressive.

Inadequate Resource Planning

Before kick-starting VDI implementation, organizations have the opportunity to lay out a map for resource allocation. VMs will consume tremendous network bandwidth, storage, and memory to function optimally. If companies cut back on these computing requirements early on, their operation efficacy will take a hard hit.

As such, organizations must avoid planning out resources based on current or near-future needs to stitch an IT fabric, they will utilize in coming years. With that in mind, they should assess the resources they need and their status before, during, and after deploying the VDI solution.

Case in point, monitoring RAM, network bandwidth, and storage usage of every computing device. This alongside the requirements of mission-critical applications to determine the final resource requirement. Moreover, taking some additional units beforehand can help prevent system freeze or outages.

Understanding the difference between what those modules should be doing and how they actually operate is essential. Besides, businesses should be deeply acquainted with the hosts or applications in use to avoid guesswork, which could lead to inaccuracies.

Not Educating Staff about VDI Implementation

Nabbing new VDI/DaaS solutions is just one part of the entire story. Users must be aware of their entire feature sets and how to unfold their full potential. Organizations should inform about the tech-based changes in the workplaces across the board in advance. They need to provide their employees with adequate training on virtual desktops.

That includes how to run virtual desktops – whether on a virtual private network (VPN) or own web-browsing devices – what login credentials to use, and how to access and save data. Training employees will help prevent future troubles.

For this, businesses must perceive their employees as stakeholders and shadow their activities to determine how they can map them into their VDI implementation. In addition, companies must communicate any downside so that employees can inform the concerned authority on issues, including long login times, device lag, and video streaming difficulties.

When deploying DaaS/VDI, organizations should work in phases and follow up with their employees after each phase to check on them and receive feedback. They need to learn their preferences and needs to ensure fluid adoption.

Not Managing VM Sprawl

Virtualization or VM sprawl has been a longstanding challenge and can be particularly detrimental in a DaaS/VDI environment. IT teams should standardize graphics and images as much as possible to slash the degree of cleaning and maintenance each of them requires.

If a department, for instance, needs certain programs, the company should move them out through the configuration manager option (or virtualizing the apps completely) after the user logs in. This offers a single image for all users instead of a different image incorporating those essential programs.

Companies using multiple files should oversee user expectations and organize the images by the task in a distributed desktop environment. Case in point, a salesperson who will communicate via VPN and requires rapid response times, a web developer who consumes a lot of RAM, and a newbie who should be denied permission to access those applications or use USB drives.

Henceforward, IT teams should preserve the documents and disable inactive virtual desktops as employees update or leave the company.

Purchasing New Set of Equipment (Unnecessarily)

Some service providers convince end-users to replace their entire existing infrastructure with new hardware to migrate to desktop virtualization. Not to mention a string of thin clients. However, that is not the case. Businesses must never be frugal on spending sufficient capital but efficiently utilize traditional IT assets.

With desktop virtualization platforms, companies no longer have to spend on hardware and its maintenance. The office computers and laptops they already have will work absolutely fine unless they do not support internet connectivity.

Besides, VMs need not be wired to a thin client or server. Employees can also use tablets and handheld devices (based on remote access and network capabilities). That is where the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) software comes to the rescue.

Companies should avoid wasting bandwidth on their hardware during VDI implementation and rather stick to existing servers if possible. Moreover, they should not squander money by allocating a thin line/virtual desktop for each employee. Instead, they should check whether they can share these if feasible, for instance, part-time employees who work alternating shifts.

As such, organizations must use their current IT equipment until they wear out before buying new ones. If they need additional devices, they can allow BYOD for a while to understand the effect of this decision.

Taking Security Lightly

With desktop virtualization services, all the data reside in a centralized location and are off-limits to everybody unless authenticated and authorized. Organizations can disable access by decommissioning their employees’ virtual desktops in a few clicks. With all these facilities, several organizations cease thinking about their security infrastructure.

However, VDI implementation does not mean the C-suite can relax, as digital intrusions could still occur via disgruntled employees, rogue system admins, social engineering, and network sniffing.

While choosing desktop virtualization services, businesses must enquire about the security features, load balancing, and security upgrades and patching. Following is the checklist:

• Firewalls: To authorize users to access business-critical data and applications
• Intrusion Detection and Prevention System (IDPS): To monitor and mitigate cyberattack(s)
• MFA: To authenticate every employee and stakeholder entering the cloud network
• Regular backup: For disaster recovery and business continuity
• TLS 1.3 and 256-bit encryption: To safeguard resting and in-transit data

Prepare Now to Prevent Glitches in Future

While this summary underscores some critical pitfalls to avoid during VDI implementation, the list can extend further as DaaS/VDI adoption increases. As such, companies must not live under the impression that migrating to desktop virtualization is a smooth process.

Mistakes occur, and more of them are unexpected. Therefore, companies should log and learn from their mistakes before including them in their VDI implementation.

You may not think of your company’s desktop computers as the weakest link in your environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy.

But for some companies, they are. In multiple ways, desktop PCs contribute to bloated carbon footprints, undercut sustainability initiatives, and reinforce global social inequality.

That’s yet another reason why businesses can benefit from desktop-as-a-service, or DaaS, which may significantly reduce the environmental and social impact of their end-user computing infrastructure. ESG priorities have been receiving growing attention from enterprises globally. In fact, earlier this year, Gartner reported that “more than 90% of organizations increased their investments in sustainability programs since the start of the pandemic”.

Here’s how DaaS does this – and why achieving ESG goals through DaaS is an essential step toward business success.

The sustainability impact of desktop PCs

Desktop computers undercut ESG priorities in two main ways: by increasing emissions and contributing to e-waste.

CO2 Emissions
PCs increase carbon emissions due to the electricity they consume. Since that electricity is more likely than not generated using coal or natural gas, a typical desktop computer can dump as much as 1,500 pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere every year if it’s left on continuously – as many corporate desktops are because employees don’t want to have to wait for devices to restart or open back all of their apps on a recurring basis. It would take between 100 and 500 trees to offset those emissions.

And we’re talking here about a single computer. If you run hundreds or thousands of PCs, you’d need an entire forest to make up for the emissions they produce.

E-waste
PCs and laptops can also be a nightmare from an e-waste perspective. Businesses routinely dispose of computing devices when the devices become unable to handle increased workload requirements. Devices may also be tossed because the company downsized, and it no longer needs as many computers.

When devices end up in dumps, the various chemicals inside them – which may include lead and arsenic, among others – leach into the ground, polluting the environment. That’s the opposite of what your business wants to do if it cares about ESG.

The fact that significant amounts of e-waste end up in developing countries is also a problem from an ESG perspective. Discarded desktops turn into poisonous trash on the doorsteps of some of the world’s most vulnerable populations.

How DaaS strengthens ESG commitments

Imagine a world where businesses no longer depended on fleets of energy-hungry, landfill-bound PCs to keep their workers productive. Such a world would involve significantly fewer emissions and a lot less e-waste.

Fortunately, that world is possible. By embracing DaaS, businesses can replace traditional PCs with virtual desktop environments that have a lower overall carbon footprint and that generate much less e-waste.

With DaaS, there’s no need to keep local PCs running (and contributing to carbon emissions) 24/7. Instead, employees can log into virtual desktop sessions when they need and shut off their local devices when they are done. In the meantime, the desktop sessions remain stored in the cloud, with no need to reboot the next time employees need to access applications or data.

DaaS also makes it easy for businesses to scale desktop computing infrastructure up and down without contributing to e-waste. If your company no longer needs as many desktops, it can simply turn off some of its virtual desktops, without throwing out any physical devices.

And if you find that your virtual desktops are no longer able to handle a particular kind of workload well, you don’t need to toss them in a dump and buy new machines. You can simply increase the virtual CPU and memory allocated to your virtual desktop instances in order to prepare them for heavier load.

Does DaaS have a sustainability cost?

To be sure, DaaS doesn’t totally eliminate emissions or e-waste. Electricity is required to run the servers that host virtual desktop instances, and employees need some kind of device to connect from when they want to access those instances.

Compared to traditional desktop infrastructure, however, virtual desktops are significantly less wasteful from a sustainability perspective, for several reasons:

• Economies of scale: You can run dozens of virtual desktops on a single server, which greatly reduces that amount of physical infrastructure required to power virtual desktop infrastructure.
• Cloud energy efficiency: In many cases, virtual desktops hosted in the cloud consume much less energy than devices running locally. The cloud is about 93 percent more energy-efficient than conventional infrastructure.
• Clean energy sourcing: It’s also often easier to source clean, renewable energy for cloud-based infrastructure, including servers that host virtual desktops. Your company’s office may not be able to obtain clean energy, but there’s a decent chance that your cloud data center is powered, at least in part, by wind or solar energy.
• Longer device lifetime: The devices that users use to connect to virtual desktops are likely to last longer because the devices don’t have to handle computing requirements locally. The “heavy lifting” takes place on cloud servers, which are designed to tolerate sustained periods of intense use.

In each of these ways, DaaS helps businesses achieve ambitious ESG goals – which is an increasingly important consideration for business success.

The Gartner report also points out that hyperscalers are actively investing in sustainable cloud operations with the lofty aim of achieving net zero emissions within this decade. Which means that we can look forward to innovative means to reduce carbon emissions through the effective use of cloud services.

How Anunta adds value to our clients’ ESG commitments

As an industry leader in Managed DaaS for over a decade, Anunta has been successfully adding value to the ESG commitments of our clients. In our engagements with the customers, we have helped them eliminate their dependency on high-end physical desktops – which require regular maintenance and updates – and replaced them with thin clients, thereby helping with power saving and reducing electronic device wastage.

The reduction in electronic waste along with the subsequent power saving have directly contributed to a significant reduction in our clients’ carbon footprint in our 10+ years engagements.

Migrating our customers’ workloads from on-premises to cloud is another area which positively contributes to our ESG commitments. By helping our customers leverage the energy efficiency offered by cloud, Anunta has been consistently helping its customers embrace sustainability.

Conclusion

Conventional PCs are a major source of waste and a contributor to global social inequity. But a better world is possible: With help from DaaS, businesses can build end-user computing environments that mesh well with ESG priorities.

Creating a balance between remote or hybrid work and cybersecurity is something most businesses are yet to achieve. A recent survey reveals that nearly 7 out of 10 cyberattacks target remote employees, triggering disruption of day-to-day operations, loss of classified information, and ransomware pay-out.

With work from anywhere (WFA) here to stay and more organizations deploying virtual desktops than ever seen, IT pros are facing the imperative of safeguarding their companies’ vital digital assets for increasingly distributed workforces. As a response, C-level executives are resorting to Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) to provide secure remote access to critical resources.

One of the primary reasons driving this shift is that DaaS security solutions empower end-users to securely log in to virtual systems without retrieving data from local devices. Plus, companies can achieve this with the scale and speed WFA demands, irrespective of the employees’ devices and locations.

As a result, the odds of cyber intrusion slump while enabling IT teams to implement zero-trust network access (ZTNA) for mission-critical resources. Best of all, end-users experience the same security and centralization benefits that conventional desktop virtualization services provide, alongside decreased cost and better scalability.

In this article, we will lay bare the key benefits of DaaS security systems.

DRaaS for Asset Restoration

Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) is a third-party cloud service that backs up and recovers a company’s critical resources in case of disasters – natural or human-made.

DRaaS vendors simulate a company’s primary settings (physical and virtual) for fast recovery of applications and data whenever required. They can kick-start asset recoveries from any touchpoint using devices of nearly any sort. This enables companies to restore their critical resources directly to a disaster recovery site in a different location if their data centers are unavailable.

The cloud servers immediately replicate any changes happening at the primary site, updating automatically and recovering environments shortly before an outage. Moreover, to prevent data loss during failover, DRaaS providers capture snapshots of the businesses’ resources now and then.

Generally, DRaaS expectations and requirements are documented in a service-level agreement (SLA). Additionally, third-party providers offer failover to a cloud environment through a contract or on a pay-as-you-go basis.

MFA for Additional Security Walls

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a multi-tier account sign-in process that allows users to access digital assets only after validating their identity with at least one verification factor on top of a conventional user ID and password. MFA includes the following steps:

• Something you know: Includes PINs, passwords, and answers to security questions.
• Something you have: Includes time-sensitive one-time passwords (OTP) delivered by email, text, or a secure link.
• Something you are: Includes biometrics such as fingerprints, face or iris scans, and keystroke patterns.

While passwords protect a company’s digital assets, they do leave an insecure vector for cyberattacks. Cyberattackers are always on the hunt for passwords. By cracking a single password, they can potentially gain access to multiple enterprise accounts, especially the C-suite, for which users might have re-entered the password. MFA provides an extra security layer to keep suspicious users from accessing these business accounts, even when the password is compromised.

SSO for Simplified Logins

Single sign-on (SSO) is an authentication technique allowing users to access multiple DaaS applications and systems using one set of login credentials. It runs on a trust relationship between the service provider (a website and application) and the identity provider. This relationship sustains by exchanging digital certificates and metadata, helping service providers confirm the source’s reliability.

Additionally, both parties communicate with each other through open standards – Open Authorization (OAuth), Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML), or OpenID Connect (OIDC).

SSO centralizes administering the ever-increasing number of enterprise accounts without compromising security or getting stuck in endless account provisioning. With automated credentials management, IT admins no longer need to manually monitor all the employees’ access to the DaaS applications. As such, human error subsides, and IT teams gain more time for more vital tasks.

Besides, SSO enables companies to quickly remove access to all their resources in one place if an employee resigns.

Compliance with Industry Norms

Most (if not all) sectors have established regulations dictating data storage and transmission to ensure its privacy and security. Case in point, the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) of 2004 devises controls and policies to secure customers’ credit/debit card details. Likewise, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 sets the norms for confidential patient data protection.

Complying with these legislative norms can be overwhelming for organizations. Fortunately, effective DaaS security programs produce reports that are always in line with prominent data security standards. Such automatic compliance is instrumental in making corporate work more convenient.

Updates and Security Patches

Online threats are continuously on the rise as cybercriminals keep innovating ways to break into an organization’s IT fabric. As such, regular updates and security patches are essential to sustaining a secure IT ecosystem.

Conventional security frameworks do not guarantee timely updates or as frequently as needed, thus increasing the attack surface. Using DaaS security, however, companies experience up-to-the-moment security features as the cloud vendor ensures rapid deployment of security updates as soon as they become available. Moreover, as the hardware resides in centralized locations, this process gets more streamlined.

DaaS security patches and updates are necessary as no shipped software is error- and vulnerability-proof. In addition, the software development cycles get rather shorter than longer – often creating more exposure – and the cybercriminal base globally is expanding. Hence, automated updates from numerous threat intelligence engines safeguard organizations’ IT infrastructure and users from all the latest known digital risks.

24/7 Monitoring for Faster Response

Time is a crucial factor once cybercriminals release malware or ransomware into an enterprise’s IT framework. The longer threat detection and mitigation take, the greater the damage companies might endure. Legacy security models react slowly compared to their cloud-enabled counterparts, as the IT team could be unavailable throughout the day to respond to cyber threats.

DaaS security providers offer a dedicated monitoring crew in the subscription that constantly watches over organizations’ networks round-the-clock for any suspicious data traffic activity. If identified any, the cybersecurity experts promptly respond and nullify the offending act. This rapid response ensures limited damage to businesses’ IT architecture.

At-length Visibility across the Network

Data loss does not always occur due to digital intrusions. It can also result from the carelessness of employees managing classified information. Again, with cloud models, organizations might think they are sacrificing control. But DaaS security services provide complete control over employees’ activity. Case in point: who can access critical resources, who has logged in, and when.

Besides, through DaaS security solutions, companies can access analytical insights about data inventory, including location and condition – if the hardware is obsolete or linked to untrusted networks. Consequently, they will receive notifications in real-time and take necessary measures.

The visibility level of DaaS security platforms significantly empowers companies to monitor and pinpoint malicious conduct and practices that could plague their security posture.

ZTNA for Access Control

Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) runs on the idea that threats exist both outside and within an organization’s networks every moment. ZTNA solutions grant access only at the application layer on a need-only basis to curtail risk and avoid lateral movement on enterprise networks.

The ZTNA model constantly verifies and monitors users’ identities, privileges and devices during data access or transfer on a private corporate network. This process does not rely on whether the user is inside or outside that network perimeter.

ZTNA masks the connections between business services, devices, and assets. Once the DaaS security system authenticates a user’s identity, ZTNA gives the green signal for access to specific corporate resources via an encrypted channel. The encrypted security adds another layer shielding everything on the other side of the encrypted channel from illicit access.

The entire process blends filtering, analytics, and logging to validate behavior and continually look for signs of compromise. If a device or user, for instance, acts suspiciously, the DaaS security provider monitors and pinpoints it as a potential threat.

This continuous monitoring defeats several common cybersecurity threats. Malicious actors can no longer exploit corporate networks’ weak points and manipulate confidential data and applications later.

DaaS Security: A Quick Fix for Thwarting Digital Trespassing

Managing a remote/hybrid workforce comes with stressful security challenges for a business’s stakeholders. This nudges organizations to take their workloads to the cloud as cybercrime frequency continues to increase.

DaaS security solutions have now become an indispensable attribute of enterprises’ security strategies. Training workforces on best cybersecurity and data management practices does play a crucial role in shielding organizations from threat actors. However, that is only a piece of the puzzle. DaaS platforms help reduce any concerns regarding cybersecurity risks to businesses’ workforces spanning across regions.

Businesses want employees to be productive and happy, which is part of the reason why organizations across the world have embraced remote and hybrid work.

But businesses also want to protect against cybersecurity risks. And unfortunately, that goal is often at odds with remote and hybrid work.

How can companies square this circle? In other words, how can they ensure that employees have the flexibility to work from anywhere, while also enforcing strong cybersecurity postures?

The answer is desktop virtualization. Virtual desktops deliver the flexibility that businesses need to operationalize remote and hybrid work, while also making it easy for IT teams to protect against the security threats that plague distributed workforces.

Why remote work breeds cybercrime

To understand why, let’s first examine how remote and hybrid work increase the security challenges that businesses face.

According to Verizon’s 2022 Mobile Security Index, nearly 80 percent of respondents report that recent changes to working practices – which include the widespread adoption of remote and hybrid work models – have adversely affected their organizations’ cybersecurity postures.

The main reasons why include:

• Remote work makes it hard to guarantee the physical security of devices that may store sensitive business data. Attackers could steal the devices themselves to exfiltrate private information from the business.
• Remote devices can’t be protected behind firewalls and VPNs in the same way as devices that are located on-site.
• IT teams can’t easily monitor, patch and update remote devices in order to stay on top of security threats.
• Remote devices often connect to business systems through insecure home networks.
• Employees may inadvertently install malware or vulnerable applications on devices that they use when working remotely, especially if they use the devices for personal reasons in addition to working.

In short, when workers are off-site some or all of the time, it’s simply not possible to deploy the same security protections that work for on-site employees and devices.

How desktop virtualization secures modern workforces

Faced with challenges like these, some business leaders may be tempted to pull the plug on remote work policies and force everyone back in the office.

But that’s not practical in many cases. As the Harvard Business Review points out, businesses gain a variety of benefits from allowing remote and hybrid work – such as reduced real estate costs, higher employee retention rates and even increased profits.

So, instead of abandoning remote work, companies need to find ways to embrace the “new normal” of working without compromising on security. And the obvious solution is desktop virtualization.

Desktop virtualization means replacing conventional desktop computers with virtual desktop sessions hosted on servers inside a business’s data center or a public cloud. Employees can connect to these sessions from anywhere, at any time, so they get all of the flexibility that they need to work remotely.

At the same time, however, desktop virtualization plugs the most serious security gaps associated with remote work. Virtual desktops can be protected with firewalls and operated in such a way that sensitive data never leaves the virtual desktop infrastructure – so it is never at risk of physical security breaches.

In addition, desktop virtualization allows for rigid isolation between employees’ personal computing resources and business resources. Instead of mixing personal apps with business apps, virtual desktops keep business applications isolated inside the virtual desktop environment, so that malware or other threats present on local devices are essentially a non-issue from a business security perspective.

The fact that IT teams can continuously monitor virtual desktops and patch them in real time to address security threats adds yet another layer of protection for remote workers. Businesses don’t need to worry that attackers will take advantage of unmonitored, un-updated remote PCs to gain a beachhead from which they can launch further attacks against a business.

Protecting traditional PCs as well as mobile devices

The security advantages of desktop virtualization apply, by the way, regardless of which types of devices employees use when working remotely. Whether they log in from their own PCs, company-supplied laptops, or even mobile phones, they connect to secure virtual desktop environments.

That means that desktop virtualization gives employees the freedom to connect from any device they choose, while still allowing employers to enforce strong security policies.

Access controls like multifactor authentication, geofencing, and whitelisting of devices secure devices in a hybrid work environment while enforcing network controls like firewall with IPS & IDS protection further secure corporate data from bad actors.

Desktop virtualization also allows setting of desktop-level controls like Active Directory integration of authentication and Group Policy Objects (GPO)-based restrictions on virtual desktops.

Conclusion

In short, desktop virtualization provides the best of both worlds: The flexibility that employees expect from the “new way of working” and the cybersecurity protections that businesses need to keep critical applications and data secure. For many companies, there’s no going back to the old days of having everyone in the office, all of the time, which is why desktop virtualization has assumed an absolutely vital role in business success.

The 2020-2021 timeline witnessed Desktop as a Service (DaaS) ascending from a linear evolution to an exponential one as the business economy went virtual. With companies embracing remote and hybrid workplaces, data-native strategies, and global supply chains, the appetite for DaaS-based solutions is only becoming stronger and ever-growing.

These cloud computing technologies are now a cornerstone for organizations looking to work smarter, focus on their core operations, and complete projects faster. From banks’ C-suite shepherding the development of innovative digital banking applications to warehouse managers striving to strip complexity from their transportation and logistics, the use cases for DaaS are limitless.

With highly scalable platforms, on-command computing power, and a more resilient approach to IT expenditure, the cloud has climbed from a budding technology to an integral IT asset. As such, more companies are shifting toward a cloud-first strategy, and as they do, we are likely to observe the following DaaS trends very shortly.

The AI-Cloud Synergy

The confluence of cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), and its subset, machine learning (ML), will soon gather center stage. AI/ML-enabled platforms consume massive data bandwidth and processing power to process and analyze data. Well-engineered cloud computing technologies make these capabilities considerably more cost-effective than other solutions.

Conversely, AI and ML help organizations glean additional value from the ever-increasing data chunks. From e-commerce brands testing their websites’ performance in real-time to logistics companies assessing their transportation networks’ efficacy, AI/ML enables organizations to make the most of the data and operate better.

Common AI applications, from social media filters to Google searches, happen through the cloud. Additionally, the technology that redirects traffic from data centers to end-user devices and controls storage runs on ML.

What is more, cloud solutions help democratize AI and ML, thus expanding the user base. Consequently, even budget-constraint businesses can leverage the potential of these oft-cited technologies to develop innovative offerings.

Serverless Cloud to Go Mainstream

Serverless computing, also called function-as-a-service (FaaS), takes the burden of infrastructure management and server provisioning off users’ shoulders. Instead, the cloud vendor dynamically manages the underlying infrastructure and allocates computing resources as per the needs of running applications.

A subset of Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), serverless cloud particularly benefits companies requiring colossal processing power but in short bursts. Case in point, compiling and running software code.

Serverless computing is a pay-per-use system; companies need not have to squander their money on storage and bandwidth upfront. As such, they can build new applications and utilize greater computing power at a fair price and in less time. Also, old-line organizations can launch new digital services without overwhelming their already-stretched IT crews.

Besides, a serverless cloud helps remove the risk of back-end failures and offers safe sandboxes for coding and innovating. Indeed, the deployment of serverless architecture will soar by about 22% CAGR during 2022-2027.

Hybrid and Multi-cloud to Become the De Facto Strategies

Previously, businesses have had two options while shifting their workloads to the cloud – public or private models. The former was easily accessible and offered pay-as-you-go services, while the latter was more flexible and provided better security for data storage.

Fortunately, hybrid cloud models combine the best of both experiences. According to a report, 8 out of 10 business owners are taking the hybrid approach – melding the potential of both private and public clouds.
Public servers can store a fraction of easily and frequently accessed data through dashboards, tools, and applications. At the same time, private servers can safeguard more confidential or mission-critical assets, which IT admins can track and process using patented applications.

With that considered, organizations are looking to distribute internal processing and storage requirements across multiple cloud platforms, often from numerous providers, based on the use cases. Hence, they are flocking to the multi-cloud environments to use a slew of solutions from different vendors. Empirical evidence suggests that about 90% of companies implement a multi-cloud model.

Cloud Security to Climb up in Businesses’ Agenda

Cybercrimes are already on the rise. On average, a data breach costs US$ 4.35 Mn, a 2.6% increment from the 2021 number. In response, cloud providers are infusing their services with best-in-breed data defenses to address existing issues, including bandwidth constraints and repercussions of sharing data from untrusted devices.

In 2022 and ahead, we will see surging adoption of:

Cloud disaster recovery (Cloud DR): Cloud DR backs up an organization’s critical data on an external cloud server in the event of human-made or natural catastrophes. The cloud-based service creates a standby IT setting that can take charge if the primary infrastructure collapses. It is cost- and time-efficient, benefitting from third-party management – Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS). Moreover, organizations can change, add, and eliminate data from these external servers when needed without having to scale their IT fabric. Cloud DR is the go-to solution for compute-heavy applications and servers such as massive databases and ERPs.

Secure Access Service Edge (SASE): SASE is an emerging cybersecurity concept that empowers companies to manage access and connectivity between cloud services, cloud applications, and end-user devices. Businesses armed with SASE benefit from IT security features – firewalls, web filtering, zero-trust architecture (ZTA), and credential theft prevention – all cloud-enabled. In addition, SASE offers users a single sign-on experience across multiple corporate cloud applications while maintaining the most stringent levels of security compliance.

Deploying Applications at the Edge

Edge computing is a novel approach to data processing wherein operations do not occur within a centralized cloud. Instead, it involves creating localized devices or data centers for computation and storage or within the network’s periphery.

This decentralized computing infrastructure reduces latency and boosts application performance. As the enterprise resources and data reside closer to the end user’s device, they can be processed locally, thus saving money as well.

Edge computing is the driving force behind cutting-edge devices, including smartwatches, smartphones, and smart cars, and the interrelation of all the data produced by these solutions.

Nevertheless, most people misunderstand edge computing as a threat to cloud computing even though the technologies complement each other. Organizations utilizing both edge and cloud experience reduced bandwidth usage, near-instant data processing, and decreased volumes of transferred data.

Edge computing is presently one of the hottest topics in boardroom discussions, and its market will only expand going forward. Cloud technology will be an excellent fit for businesses interested in increasing operational efficiency.

Kubernetes-powered Blockchain Networks

Existing public blockchain infrastructure does not deliver adequate data storage and management; hence, incorporating blockchain systems for big data applications becomes challenging.

Kubernetes (K8s) is an open-source engine that streamlines the deployment and management of container-based applications. Moreover, the software monitors the performance of new services, enabling organizations to deal with loopholes proactively.

Using K8s for blockchain helps swiftly scale environments and ensures at-length availability with several containers operating for essential services. In addition, the combination promotes service interoperability between companies that are designed differently.

Positioning blockchain networks and their constituents via Kubernetes clusters could soon be the adoption standard. The reason being they address two key obstacles blockchain encounters – its innate intricacy and integration into the current infrastructure.

Massive Outbreak of Cloud Gaming on the Cards

Cloud gaming enables users to stream endless options of video games on remote servers for a fixed monthly charge. Players can play the games on any web-browsing device without having to invest in a costly console. In addition, remote gaming provides a lag-proof experience and hardened security and keeps users from cleaning up their device storage space.

Equipping game streaming technology with cloud computing propels the demand and engagement of multi-players for various games and eliminates existing platform hurdles.

Cloud gaming services, including Google’s Stadia and Amazon Luna, will shape the industry’s course in 2022. Additionally, the onset of Cloud Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) has made headsets more cost-effective and accessible while promoting cloud gaming across multiple verticals. Also, cloud-driven AR and VR will find usage in areas like data visualization and product design engineering.

While e-gaming is yet to achieve its optimal capacity, its fusion with the cloud will ensure the continuous evolution of cloud gaming.

Tracing the Path Forward

The years ahead are an exciting time to work in the IT realm. With DaaS innovation advancing, businesses will have immeasurable opportunities to reinvent their tactics for optimum results.

About 9 of 10 organizations will implement a cloud-native regimen by 2025. Proper execution of digital strategies is not feasible without leveraging cloud-driven architectures. DaaS is the backbone of every digital service and delivery pipeline, including connected automobiles, social media, and the Internet of Things (IoT).

Besides, upcoming ultra-fast networks, such as Wi-Fi 6E and 5G, mean more data will be streamed from the cloud, welcoming new sorts of data streaming. From an end-user standpoint, Desktop as a Service effectively makes interconnected technology faster, lighter, and more accessible. It will be a critical driving force in migrating more enterprise workloads to cloud platforms.

MSPs and resellers want to build new revenue streams within what has become an extremely competitive managed services market. Yet, many remain unaware of one of the most obvious opportunities for creating a profitable new type of offering based on VDI and DaaS – which is good news for those MSPs and resellers who are seeking to differentiate themselves by capitalizing on managed VDI and DaaS services before their competitors can launch their own offerings.

That’s one of the takeaways from our experience at ChannelCon 2022, where the Anunta team spent several days talking to MSPs and resellers from across the world. We came away from the event with an even deeper understanding of what MSPs and resellers need to be successful in today’s ultra-competitive business environment, and how VDI and DaaS can help them do it.

Hybrid work breeds opportunity for MSPs and resellers

One topic that was constantly on the lips of ChannelCon attendees was hybrid work. MSPs and resellers are keenly aware that the workplace is changing dramatically as businesses embrace work models that involve employees based off-site.

What MSPs and resellers didn’t always recognize, however, was how they can leverage hybrid work as an opportunity for creating new revenue streams by moving their customers to Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) or Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS).

That’s why we enjoyed talking to ChannelCon attendees about how VDI and DaaS allow businesses to solve the challenges of hybrid work. As we explained, by replacing conventional PCs with virtual desktop sessions that can be hosted either in on-premises data centers or the cloud, VDI and DaaS make it easy to deliver desktop computing resources to workers based in any location.

At the same time, VDI and DaaS technologies offer strong access controls and encryption to ensure that desktop infrastructure remains secure. They also allow businesses to pay for their desktops on a monthly basis, rather than having to make large upfront capital investments. That’s a particularly attractive advantage for companies worried about today’s uncertain economic climate.

These benefits prompted Mark Evans, Anunta’s Manager for Pre-Sales, to note, “With the popularity of hybrid and remote work and the pressing need for secure and scalable digital workplaces, it is critical that resellers and MSPs take advantage of DaaS and its evergreen profitability potential.”

The challenge of managed VDI and DaaS services

Although hybrid work has created strong demand for VDI and DaaS, we found that many MSPs and resellers whom we talked with remained a bit hesitant to capitalize on this opportunity at first.

The problem wasn’t that they don’t think their customers would benefit from VDI or DaaS. Instead, it’s that they worry that DaaS is too hard for MSPs and resellers to set up and manage on their own.

That’s a valid concern. Designing, deploying and supporting VDI and DaaS environments requires expertise in technologies that not all MSPs and resellers have mastered. They may also be unsure how to sell and market managed VDI and DaaS services.

The easy approach to managed VDI and DaaS: Partnering with Anunta

But as we explained to the prospective partners we talked with, that shouldn’t be a barrier for MSPs and resellers who want to take advantage of the massive opportunity surrounding hybrid work by building managed VDI and DaaS services.

By partnering with Anunta, any MSP or reseller can create managed VDI or DaaS services for their customers without having to spend months learning new technologies and building out new infrastructure.

Through Anunta’s VDI and DaaS partner program, MSPs and resellers get end-to-end services that cover every aspect of managed VDI and DaaS. From design and implementation, to day 2 client support, Anunta does it all. We even offer sales and marketing services to help our MSP and reseller partners communicate the value of VDI and DaaS to their clients and prospects.

Get ahead of the pack

The MSPs and resellers we spoke with at ChannelCon already know all of the above. But we want to get the message out to the broader community because the opportunity surrounding hybrid work won’t last forever. If you want to build managed VDI and DaaS offerings, you need to do it now, before your competitors beat you to it.

After all, most segments of the MSP and reseller market have a history of becoming saturated relatively quickly. Services like managed backup or managed networking were novel once, too, but it’s now hard to sell them with good profit margins because so many other firms have built competing offerings.

For now, managed VDI and DaaS remain an exception. Our experience at ChannelCon shows that MSPs and resellers are still becoming acquainted with this type of service and the opportunity surrounding it at present.

If you want to get ahead of the pack, contact us to learn more about our VDI and DaaS partner programs. We’ll explain how Anunta can help you launch managed VDI and DaaS that you can have up and running in a matter of weeks, even if you have no background in desktop virtualization or management.