Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) helps businesses manage and share resources between different end-user devices. The framework offers a streamlined workflow by automating the delivery, security, management, and scalability of virtual desktops and applications from a single source.
Businesses can improve their ROI by using VDI and cutting hardware and software costs. A growing trend of remote work culture amid an increasing number of cyberattacks has pushed businesses to opt for VDI frameworks. You can ensure the utmost security of your valuable digital assets by shifting desktop workloads to in-house servers or the cloud.
Globally, 30% of businesses have incorporated VDI, with 12% more planning to shift by the end of 2024. The VDI market is projected to grow with compound annual growth of 10% from $12 billion in 2022 to $20 billion by 2027. The Desktop as a service (DaaS) market is projected to supersede further with an annual compound growth rate of 18%, elevating the current market share of $5.5 billion to $17.8 billion by 2029.
Finding the right Virtual Desktop Infrastructure solution for your business in a flooded market is challenging. This detailed guide will help you find the right VDI solution for your business. And choose between VDI and DaaS solutions. Let’s discuss this in more detail.
What is Virtual Desktop Infrastructure(VDI)?
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) technology uses virtual machines (VMs) to provide virtual desktops. VDI removes the need to install a dedicated operating system or application for each use. Instead, it allows businesses to offer OS and applications stored in a centralized framework. The hypervisor is the core underlying technology in VDI that delivers multiple operating systems and applications using a centralized server. It manages and ensures the availability of hardware resources, including memory, processor, and storage, to facilitate each virtual machine.
Organizations use VDI solutions to enable users to interact and engage with desktop images instead of the actual application. Modern VDI solutions are compatible with various operating systems and end-user devices, including Microsoft Windows, Linux, macOS, android smartphones, tablets, etc.
Advantages of VDI for your Business
If you acquire Virtual Desktop Infrastructure to replace the traditional dependence on digital technology, you can leverage the following features.
Flexibility – VDI enables team members to access their desktops from anywhere and using any device by connecting to the internet. Thanks to VDIs, organizations today are aptly agile to adopt remote or hybrid work cultures.
Collaboration – Team members can simultaneously collaborate and access multiple project files in centralized storage. It is also easier to trace changes to improve organizational transparency and accountability.
Security – VDI ensures the simple Input/Output flow between the server and client end. Enterprise-grade firewalls and sandbox solutions ensure that the business or project information remains exclusively restricted to the private network.
Reduced costs – You can reduce your costs and significantly improve your ROI by adapting a VDI solution. Doing so eliminates the need to maintain individual user devices and redirects your budget expenditure toward other business areas.
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure vs. Desktop as a Service – A Thin Line of Difference:
The VDI technology allows businesses to deliver desktop images via virtual machines deployed on in-house cloud or network servers. The primary OS and applications allow remote access to the end users from a single source of truth.
DaaS works the same way and fulfills the same purpose as VDI but is directly offered and managed by the cloud service provider as managed service. In the DaaS framework, the primary OS or application is deployed on the cloud framework managed by the service provider and involves monthly or annual subscriptions, just like SaaS models.
Simply, not all VDI solutions are DaaS. But all DaaS frameworks offer the same functionality as VID solutions as more robust and easy-to-deploy solutions.
Let’s discuss some of these differentiating factors one by one.
Platform – In the VDI framework, you must manage all the system aspects, including installation, maintenance, security, hardware needs, and management. But in DaaS, the service provider manages all the aspects of the infrastructure as a third party.
Cost – To deploy a VDI framework, you need a significant budget and a dedicated tech team for the infrastructure’s deployment, maintenance, and security. Moreover, you will need to acquire more hardware and tech resources to meet the growing needs. Conversely, you can use the DaaS framework with all the managed services by paying monthly or annual subscription charges. It is well-suited for small and medium-sized businesses with a limited initial investment.
Control – With the entire framework deployed in an on-premise server, you have control over all the features of VDI as you self-manage. But in the DaaS framework, the service provider controls and manages your entire infrastructure. It comes with high vulnerability and exposure to cyber threats.
Scalability – VDI deployments take much time and investment in scaling the infrastructure. It involves acquiring more hardware and hiring or training in-house resources. In the DaaS framework, you can leverage seamless scalability for your varying requirements by paying additional charges on top of the ongoing subscription charges.
Top 6 VDI Solution Providers for Your Business
V2 Cloud
V2 Cloud offers a cloud-hosted VDI as a fully-managed DaaS solution. V2 cloud offers a highly scalable and high-performing remote desktop solution for your business. It ensures enterprise-grade security for all your data with strict industry compliance. For mid-sized businesses who don’t want to deploy an in-house framework, the V2 cloud can be the perfect option.
V2 cloud provisions a highly reliable and scalable VDI for your businesses by offering:
- 24 hours security, monitoring, and technical support for smooth business operations
- Deployment & provisioning of cloud-hosted VDI framework in less than 10 clicks
- Dedicated support for cloud migration and applications deployment
- Reduced dependency on in-house frameworks
- Quick access to virtual desktops and applications for your remote teams from anywhere in the world
- Abstain VMs from overloading by ensuring maximum optimization in both performance and capacity
- Dedicated management console to support your remote employees without any need to install any third-party management tool.
- Offer up to 250 virtual desktops on each virtual machine
- Preserve the control and liberty of client organizations the same as with in-house VDI solutions.
V2 cloud offers a 7 days trial period. Once your trial period completes, you will be directed to the subscription model based on your business needs.
G2 Rating 4.8 on a scale of 5 for 161 Reviews
VMware Horizon
VMware Horizon’s VDI solution is based on the server virtualizer named vSphere hypervisor. It’s compatible with multiple devices and platforms. It lets you run multiple desktops and applications via a single configuration panel.
VMware Horizon features the following utilities and benefits
- Highly optimized deployment and delivery of virtual desktops and applications
- Scalable cloud deployment and management for on-premises, hybrid, or public cloud frameworks
- End-to-end encryption with Workspace ONE intelligence
- Cloud support for other VDI environments like Citrix
The pricing of VMware Horizon is license purchase per endpoint device you want to facilitate.
G2 Rating 4.2 on a scale of 5 for 25 Reviews.
Citrix Virtual Apps & Desktops
Citrix is another strong competitor as a VDI solution provider. Using Citrix’s VDI, you can gain control over VMs, installed applications, virtual desktops, authorization, and security. It allows businesses to offer virtual desktops for various compatible devices, irrespective of the OS installed.
Its salient features include
- Support for Windows, Linux, and various enterprise-scale applications
- Quick and seamless scalability in terms of delivering multiple virtual desktops and scale performance, as well as storage
- Deployable on all local data centers, public clouds, and hybrid frameworks Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops
- Controls user access by defining permissions via Citrix FlexCast Management Architecture (FMA)
You can choose between two plans, Enterprise Edition and Platinum Edition, with three subscription models: pay per active users, pay per device, pay per team.
G2 Rating 4.1 on a scale of 5 for 518 Reviews
Amazon Workspaces
Amazon Workspaces is a cloud-native VDI that allows you to configure Windows or Linux desktops within no time. It offers a cloud-native management console to enable your business to manage different VDI utilities.
Some of the significant features of Amazon Workspaces include
- The delivery of virtual Windows or Linux desktops to remote employees anywhere for a range of supported end devices
- Ensures security by storing data on Amazon Web Services
- Allows you to Pay only for the resources you are using
- Offers instant scalability to address your dynamic requirement.
Its pricing structure is based on the monthly subscription model.
G2 Rating 4.1 on a scale of 5 for 94 Reviews
Azure Virtual Desktop
Microsoft’s VDI, Azure Virtual Desktop, is the upgrade to its traditional Remote Desktop Service (RDS). Microsoft Azure’s Windows Virtual Desktop enables users to access a Windows 10 desktop, irrespective of their installed OS. The solution is fully-managed and hosted in the Azure cloud. It also offers desktop users to use Office 365 Pro Plus on their devices.
The azure virtual desktop offers
- The delivery of Windows 11 desktops, Microsoft 365, and other installed applications virtually anywhere
- Enterprise-grade security ensures timely threat detection and prevention to secure your valuable data
- Hassle-free and quick deployment and scalability to match your dynamic needs
- Reduction in operational cost by allowing you to pay only for resources and desktops you are using at the moment
Its pricing structure is based on the monthly subscription model.
G2 Rating 4.2 on a scale of 5 for 25 Reviews
IBM Cloud
The IBM cloud offers GPU support to allow high-end processing powers for GPU-extensive workloads. It ensures enterprise-grade security for VMs by restricting data transfer as it only shares encrypted visual output and input between the central server and client devices.
IBM Cloud offers extended VDI deployment with CVAD (Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops) to implement your on-premises Citrix VDI on a cloud as a partially managed solution.
Key Takeaways -Which one is the Best VDI Solution Provider?
Globally, organizations have become more inclined towards cloud-hosted VDI solutions due to their budget-friendly subscription model and ease of management. A recent projection formulated by Gartner revealed that 80% of VDI services would shift to the DaaS framework in the next two years.
Among all the cloud-native VDI solutions dominating the virtualization industry, DaaS solution at V2 cloud is second to none. V2 cloud offers a flexible, transparent pricing structure to meet all businesses’ varying investment capacities. It doesn’t matter how many virtual desktops you want to create; with the V2 Cloud, you can quickly deploy and provision virtual desktops to your employees without any technical assistance.
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