How a hosted desktop works – harder
The past 12 months have redefined the definition of a desk. For some, it’s a wobbly table in the bedroom. For others, it’s a spare corner of a kitchen worktop. Or perhaps just their knees.
Remote working was already a growing trend. Now the global pandemic has accelerated the move away from the traditional office.
But even on an unfamiliar ‘desk’, employees still prefer the desktop environment they’re used to. They still want access to their usual files, documents, and tools. And they still want to know that everything they need will be exactly where they expect it to be.
That’s where a hosted desktop can help.
Productivity up…
The Work after Lockdown report by the University of Southampton showed that 90% of employees thought their productivity was better or as high while working from home.
A survey earlier this year by RescueTime – a time management tool – revealed that remote workers spend 58 more hours a year on their core work than office-based workers. They’re also 20% more likely to say they complete all their daily tasks most days.
And a hosted desktop solution can make remote working even easier and more productive.
As long as there’s an internet connection, users can log in and access everything they’d expect to, need to and want to. Whether working on documents or accessing files, it’s all completely seamless and transparent – and highly cost-effective.
And while employees optimise their productivity in a familiar desktop environment, employers benefit in other ways.
…Costs down
A hosted desktop solution takes the difficulty and drama – and a great deal of the cost – out of providing the desktop employees are familiar with.
When a host such as Nasstar provides the infrastructure, your business doesn’t have to. So you don’t have to spend on:
- hardware, such as servers and cooling equipment
- expensive floor space to accommodate the hardware
- technical staff to maintain the infrastructure.
As far back as 2014, Gartner highlighted savings of £1,000 per person, per annum, for a hosted desktop, compared with the costs of licences, management, and support for the traditional fixed solution.
For a new business, that means fewer upfront costs to meet. For a growing business, it means expansion isn’t limited by the cost of scaling up the I.T. All the operational and storage capacity you could ever want is ready and waiting for you. So scaling-up can take minutes instead of months, and be considered as OPEX rather than CAPEX.
Just as importantly, most providers promise 99.999% uptime and offer cybersecurity that’s more sophisticated (and expensive) than anything your organisation would want to invest in. So everyone will lose less sleep over downtime or data theft.
There’s greater security at a less sophisticated level too. If a user’s device is lost or stolen, their files and data won’t be. Everything is stored off-site on the host’s servers, where it’s highly secure and further protected through strict backup and redundancy measures.
There’s even a positive benefit to the environment. According to AdEPT, a desktop hosted in the cloud can reduce carbon emissions and energy use by up to 90%, depending on the size of the business.
No wonder 74% of Technology CFOs told Forbes that cloud computing – the foundation of the hosted desktop – has had the most measurable impact on their business.
Greener, more cost-effective, more secure, more productive – and familiar. A hosted desktop provides all this wherever you, your employees and their devices may be.
And if you want to find out more, we’re right here.