What is virtual desktop infrastructure?
Virtual desktop infrastructure effectively relocates your PC desktop resource to a server that can be hosted either in your existing site-based infrastructure or the cloud. All the heavy processing aspects of your computer usage are handled by a centralised resource and therefore the device you carry around or situate at your desk can be something very lightweight: either an inexpensive laptop or a small form PC. The virtual desktop can be accessed over an office network or an internet connection.
There are some significant benefits to this type of arrangement:
1. Portability – carrying a small, lightweight device between the office, your home and meetings is much more comfortable than lugging a heavy machine, and much less expensive than investing in a powerful but lightweight laptop.
2. Flexibility – people can work from anywhere and, even within the office, users are no longer tied to specific workstations or locations. No lag. No long sync times.
3. Security – data and resources are maintained in one secure location.
4. Simplicity – one simple solution to support all software
5. Performance – virtual desktops located with server data ensures the fast network speeds required for working on complex design files. Inevidesk’s unique optimisation also ensures the best performance for specific software and different bandwidth environments.
6. Reduced overheads – there is great potential to reduce office space, travelling costs and time.
7. Resiliency – server quality components are less likely to fail and redundancies, such as RAID disk configurations, dual power supplies and UPS battery support can be easily leveraged to improve business continuity.
8. Strategic – virtual desktops enable a pathway to move from site-based infrastructure to the cloud, opening up even more flexibility for businesses.
Virtualised desktop technology has been around for a number of years now, but isn’t something that has gained great traction in the AEC or design sector.
Why is that?
Primarily because there were limited options in terms of virtualisation support for graphics intensive work, and those options were complex and expensive. Hardware, licensing and expertise cost accumulated to make this a very niche and under explored option for businesses.
Secondly, there was a cultural hurdle. The primacy of the office was key: the team had to be physically together (even if over different office sites). And working remotely was viewed with suspicion: would people work as hard? Would they be able to work as effectively?
Inevitech, through years of research and development, has countered that primary issue with Inevidesk – a high performing, simple to implement and cost-effective service that immediately opens up a host of benefits to any organisation working in collaborative design.
Covid-19 has exploded the second hurdle: most people are now working from home and, in most cases, very effectively. The pandemic has forced a cultural change and in doing so revealed that there are vast benefits to both businesses and individuals in having a flexible working model.
Many organisations are now considering their strategic options for providing the necessary support and resilience for their business in the face of an uncertain future, the need to support much more flexible working and to do so in a cost-effective manner.
Inevidesk is the key element in your strategy to address these issues as it provides all the benefits of a virtualised platform, but significantly is developed and supported by industry experts and calibrated to best support key software and workflows.
Contact us now to try Inevidesk yourself.