[Figure 1] With an easy-to-use virtual desktop, employees can log in effortlessly from anywhere and get their work done. (Image source: Pexels)

Over the past two years, COVID-19 has driven up demand for remote work. Enabling employees to work outside the office just as they would at their desks, by deploying an "easy-to-use" virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), has become an urgent priority for businesses. Yet virtual desktops are nothing new, and their design and applications go well beyond remote work. Yu-Lin Cheng, a consultant at software development company 5xRuby (5XRUBY), points out that companies must first understand their own makeup and needs before building and deploying a solution, if they want virtual desktops to deliver their full value.

Remote work accelerates virtual desktop adoption

Cheng explains that virtual desktops matter to remote employees because they can provide the software and documents needed for work from any location while complying with company security policies, so employees working outside feel as if they were sitting at their office computers. Beyond that, even more demand comes from within the enterprise:

1. Keeping personal data from leaking

Take e-commerce as an example: a great deal of consumer personal data is stored on cloud servers. Companies need to build a secure, easy-to-manage, isolated virtual office that only authorized accounts can connect to and browse, with no saving to personal devices, so that "data never lands" on local machines.

2. Getting the most out of software

Many sophisticated, high-end software packages are extremely expensive, and installing them on every employee's computer is not cost-effective. In such cases, companies choose to install the software on a virtual desktop and let those who need it log in to use it. 

3. Building the special labs engineers need

Specialized products are backed by enormous amounts of code, such as in the development of large machinery. When engineers need to test, modify and optimize, they can log in to a virtual desktop and complete their work in an environment that simulates real-world conditions.

 The goals a virtual desktop can achieve can be diverse and complex, so virtual desktops from big brands come packed with every feature imaginable, and they are costly to build. Companies often spend heavily to "buy everything," only to find the result complicated and impractical to use. This has led to a surge in demand for virtual desktops that "can be scaled to budget and needs" and are "easy to use."

 

[Figure 2]: Deploying virtual desktop infrastructure early is what allows you to respond immediately when the need arises. (Image source: Pexels)

Demand for user-friendly virtual desktops is rising, with ease of use and management as the main goals

The most obvious demand comes from "making remote work easy for employees." If most of a company's employees have no IT background, they will not be able to use a complex virtual desktop at home, so lowering the barrier to entry is the top priority. Choosing an easy-to-use virtual desktop balances management, security and convenience: employees can smoothly handle remote paperwork and management workflows without any special connection setup. With this type of virtual desktop, it is also important to check whether it supports peripherals such as personal printers.

The second is server operations and maintenance in IT data centers (also known as jump servers or bastion hosts). In the past, companies used VPNs to let outside vendors operate and perform maintenance remotely, but without corresponding logging, auditing and control mechanisms, no one knew where to begin when problems arose. Now, centralized control through a virtual desktop, combined with screen recording, playback, activity logs and a strict permission request and approval process, is key to giving IT far greater visibility and control. 

All of these features and mechanisms are important, and 5xRuby's upcoming virtual desktop service places great emphasis on them as well. Its commitment to UI and UX design, a virtual desktop that combines centralized management with ease of use, and the ability to connect and log in without installing any software all make remote work and management transparent and effortless. It can also "adapt" to each client's budget, adjusting on demand to the different host environments clients use so that scale and features can be tuned flexibly. Every company prioritizes a different virtual desktop configuration, and a virtual desktop deployment can be large or small. Only by looking past brand names, understanding the real benefits behind each virtual desktop's specifications and figures, and matching them to your own needs and goals can you find the virtual desktop that truly fits.

 Finally, drawing on years of hands-on experience, Cheng notes that for a virtual desktop rollout to succeed, a company needs not only a sufficient budget but also a boss or senior executives willing to roll up their sleeves and lead by example. Cheng suggests starting with approval workflows: when employees see how seriously the boss takes it, they will follow. Facing all kinds of future uncertainty, preparing virtual desktop infrastructure in advance lets a company respond immediately when the need arises, and avoids problems such as unusable systems and data leaks that come with building something at the last minute.

--

About the Company

Founded in 2014, 5xRuby Co., Ltd. is one of Taiwan's most representative companies specializing in the Ruby programming language, building web services primarily on the Ruby on Rails framework. Its brand clients span Taiwan, Singapore, Japan and beyond. The company has helped an overseas startup build a cross-border e-commerce service that went on to raise a Series A round, and has developed apps and web services for many publicly listed Taiwanese companies. Through technical advisory and enterprise technology consulting, it gives brands a solid foundation for web development and delivers professional web solutions.

 

Media Liaisons

[email protected]