The future of DaaS: Why legacy VDI is not enough for today’s business needs

Legacy virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) solutions that rely on centralized servers and complex infrastructure are not well-suited for the dynamic and diverse needs of modern organizations. Instead, many are looking for a cloud-based alternative that reduces complexity and total cost of ownership.

A few years ago, legacy VDI solutions were vital to organizations seeking to bolster application delivery management, unified endpoint management, and security capabilities. But they are often expensive, difficult to manage, and prone to performance issues.

Desktop as a service (DaaS) solutions leverage the cloud to deliver virtual desktops on demand and provide many benefits that on-premises systems lack, such as improved security, scalability, flexibility, and cost-efficiency. Users can access virtual desktops on demand from internet-connected devices while the organization can simplify and automate application management with less costly, scalable solutions.

Microsoft Azure is renowned for its robust security features and compliance certifications, and Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) leverages those capabilities to provide a secure virtual desktop environment. From data encryption and access controls to threat detection and identity management, Microsoft AVD helps organizations mitigate security risks and ensure compliance with industry regulations and standards. 

Still, not all IT organizations want to handle the extensive customization and configuration options that can optimize AVD for specific organizational requirements. In some cases, they don’t have the time it takes for IT staff to acquire training and familiarization with the Azure platform. As in many areas of IT, a managed platform option can supplement overtaxed internal resources.

Avoiding tedious migration efforts

Radius Recycling, an operator of large recycling facilities and its own steel mills, used a legacy VDI provider and was reliant on old servers running on Windows 2008 to host custom applications developed in-house. It was breaking so often that Radius felt it was completely unstable and untenable. The company’s development team began the process of migrating to Azure the main SQL server, which was supporting 50 Pick-n-Pull lots across the US and Canada.

With one IT staffer tasked with rebuilding apps from scratch and deploying them on Windows 10, the process was inefficient and tedious. Then that staffer learned about Microsoft AVD with Nerdio Manager for Enterprise. Microsoft AVD and Nerdio support more than 500 monthly active users at Radius Recycling, easing the burden on the help desk and providing employees with improved performance of third-party apps.

Onboarding was relatively simple without the need for an elaborate new vendor procurement process because Nerdio Manager is installed directly from the Azure Marketplace into the customer’s tenant.

Microsoft AVD with Nerdio allows organizations to leverage Microsoft’s significant investments in AVD, Intune, and Windows 365 services. Nerdio Manager for Enterprise enhances Microsoft’s native components instead of replacing them with proprietary functions. There’s no lock-in, so organizations can remove Nerdio Manager without impacting users or infrastructure.

With the advantage of Nerdio’s modern, unified platform, IT professionals can deliver and maintain a wide range of virtual Windows endpoints and Windows applications across hybrid workforces with ease and utilize powerful monitoring and analytics for maximum effectiveness.

Organizations can fully manage the entire lifecycle of desktop images without the need for PowerShell scripting. The platform offers Scripted Actions that enable IT Admins to create images in less than 30 minutes. Meanwhile, companies can reduce Azure compute and storage costs by up to 80% using AVD with Nerdio’s Auto-Scaling capabilities.

Organizations need greater flexibility to adapt to changing business needs. To learn how Microsoft AVD with Nerdio can help modernize IT infrastructure and enhance user productivity, visit us here.