Why is a cloud desktop essential for small businesses?

Key Takeaways

  • Implementing on-site virtual desktop infrastructure can be costly and complex for small businesses in particular.
  • For higher cost-effectiveness and to meet the in-house gap in expertise, opting for the Desktop as a Service (DaaS) model is a recommended choice.
  • DaaS brings plenty of benefits, including reduced operational costs, higher mobility in the workplace, reduced risks of cyber attacks, and on-demand assistance from experts.

In the brave, new, post-Covid world of today, conventional IT strategies and practices have become less relevant. Technological initiatives and innovations have paved newer paths for the corporate world, including greater adoption of virtual solutions like cloud desktops

Cloud desktops break away from the traditional constraints of legacy systems, enabling organizations with higher flexibility and new-age opportunities to scale and unlock enhanced returns.

DaaS and How it’s Changing the Business Landscape

Today, with different cloud services, online productivity apps, and stable high-speed internet access, most of the work can be offloaded. It doesn’t matter what devices we use; we can easily and conveniently transition our work across different devices by accessing file systems hosted in the cloud.

Cloud services are becoming increasingly popular, and their domain will continue to witness strong development. An important aspect of this trend is the virtualization of the workspace, where virtual desktop infrastructure can be hosted on a cloud environment. As we are focusing on cloud computing for small businesses here, it’s worth noting that for small and medium-sized businesses, implementing a virtual desktop infrastructure can be prohibitively complex and expensive. It’s typically way beyond the budget of all but large companies.

So, moving desktop infrastructure to the cloud and delivering it to users on a subscription-based model makes more sense, particularly for small businesses. Also referred to as DaaS or desktop as a service, it eliminates the legwork and maintenance associated with VDI setup. Hence, small businesses that lack the provisions to implement a VDI can greatly benefit from readily available virtual desktops with DaaS.

Desktop-as-a-Service has the potential to drive more success to small businesses through enhanced agility and productivity. Let’s see how.

Handling complex challenges

Handling the challenges that are part of managing infrastructure is tough for small businesses. Besides, most of them lack the technical expertise and knowledge required to do so. As a result, the IT team ends up using most of their valuable time on sorting out the problems with the existing infrastructure and spending less time on improving it. Hence, cloud computing for small businesses is crucial.

By implementing cloud desktop solutions, small enterprises can take the edge off the complexities. DaaS solution providers can take the burden of everyday management, maintenance, and administration of the IT staff and free them up for tasks that have an impact on your bottom line.

Reduces operational costs

The business world is constantly changing. And small enterprises are mainly always on the lookout to cut costs which can be used to improve their business operations. Cloud computing for small businesses involving DaaS solutions can help generate substantial savings by cutting down on extra expenses.

Owing to the mass-scale computing power offered by cloud-hosted servers, small businesses can make use of that to shrink their IT requirements. The cherry on top is that cloud desktop service providers also take care of the security of the servers, thus protecting them from attacks or data loss (although some security risks, such as phishing that targets end users, must still be managed by DaaS customers).

A Pay-as-you-go model is more favorable

Typically, DaaS solutions are offered on a pay-as-you-go model, which is favorable for small businesses. Additionally, DaaS assists them in moving away from CapEx towards OpEx, thereby eliminating wastage and enabling scalability.

With this feature, companies don’t have to worry about how their workload is going to turn out in future. They can simply scale up and down when necessary and pay only for what they use. Businesses also get the flexibility to try out a mix and match of features for each staff member according to requirements.

Mobility in the workplace

Telecommuting or remote working has become more important than ever. Studies have shown that it improves employee productivity, flexibility and increases the time available to work. As a result, it leads to higher employee attraction and retention as well.

Businesses that are proactive in supporting mobility in the workplace and building a strategy around it are at a better place to get more out of their employees than those who don’t. Moreover, with support for mobility, employees are less likely to take days off, contributing to higher overall productivity. As employees don’t need to depend on a physical office system for their work, they can continue to be productive in most situations.

No risk of cyber attacks

By implementing DaaS, all your critical data is stored on the cloud with the highest level of security. DaaS providers continuously work towards keeping everything updated and prone to the newest threats and strategies to keep your data safe.

Besides, when all the data is stored on cloud servers that are protected with Identity and Access Management (IAM) policies, the information can’t be accessed without the proper credentials. Therefore, any sort of cyber risk is eliminated.

Conclusion

Cloud computing for small businesses solves many of the problems that SMBs face in their day-to-day operations. As they adopt cloud desktop services, they can increase the productivity of their staff, get access to the latest software, and invest less in infrastructure. Hence, it’s a win-win situation for both the employees and the organization.

FAQs

Why should small businesses use cloud computing?

It is crucial for every business to tap into the power of networks and the internet to stay competitive and thriving in the market. This is particularly important for small businesses because they can get all the advantages of powerful computing systems without having to spend a fortune on expensive infrastructure. It can also transform the way all the network and computer resources are managed and ensure that everything is utilized to its fullest.

Why is cloud good for business?

Cloud computing is essential for businesses because it helps to boost their productivity, improve collaboration and promote innovation, all while saving time and money. Additional benefits that cloud offers businesses include:

  • Access to information anywhere and at any time.
  • Automatic synchronization of data across devices and users help to maintain consistency when users are working on the same project.
  • Easy data backup that prevents data loss from natural disasters, cyber-attacks, hardware failure, etc.
  • Virtually eliminates downtime.

Which businesses benefit from cloud computing?

Although cloud computing solutions are necessary for all business requirements, some businesses that stand to benefit most from implementing cloud solutions are:

  • Tech companies and startups that offer a competitive advantage of speed and agility
  • Healthcare and financial organizations that follow strict regulations and deal with sensitive information
  • Marketing teams and groups that rely on analytics and real-time reporting
  • Businesses with global workforces and remote teams

Is cloud computing right for your business?

Cloud computing is rapidly emerging as the much-demanded solution in the IT landscape. So, yes, cloud computing is suitable for businesses working across different verticals.

Cloud computing offers endless options for businesses in terms of flexibility, affordability, and reliability. But before you decide to adopt cloud solutions, you need to think over the following.

Are you a growing business?

Is cost-cutting highly necessary for you?

Does your business operate under compliance and regulatory requirements?

Once you are entirely clear about your requirements, you can make an informed choice of whether cloud solutions are right for you or not.

AUTHOR

Anunta
Anunta

Anunta is an industry-recognized Managed Desktop as a Service provider focused on Enterprise DaaS (Anunta Desktop360), Packaged DaaS, and Digital Workspace technology. We have successfully migrated 600,000+ remote desktop users to the cloud for enhanced workforce productivity and superior end-user experience.