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Getting to know Desktops as a Service

Words like Email, Documents, Pictures and more on a cloud that is linked to desktops, mobile device, etc.

I want to focus this time on a Cloud-based solution called Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS).

DaaS is one of those technologies that both end-users and IT people like — because it doesn’t force end-users to change their work habits and it relieves IT of all kinds of desktop management hassles by putting all employee desktop images in the Cloud.

By ‘desktop images’, I mean all of an end-user’s apps and data as well as the personalized look and feel of their desktop environment. So even though this ‘desktop image’ resides in the Cloud, each end-user’s customizable desktop environment looks and performs as usual.

Here’s a simplified schematic of Quest’s version of DaaS:

Diagram showing how Desktops as a Service works

Because our Cloud is state-of-the-art, every customer’s desktop data stays secure — even as individual employee desktop images are rapidly deployed on-demand to virtually any device (including employee-owned devices) anywhere those employees may be (as long as they have Internet access).

Keep in mind (because your customers are likely to ask) that DaaS desktops do not require lots of bandwidth.

When end-users initially connect their DaaS desktop, the entire screen is painted — but as they continue working, only the pixels that change are transmitted back, so most bandwidth use is downstream. And although DaaS desktops require a connection to the Cloud to function, in fact most users don’t need continual or even frequent disconnected access. Many people who need to be connected generally want it at ad hoc times for email — and they can do that pretty easily with wireless, Wi-Fi, and devices like smartphones and iPads. The few users who do need continual connections can be provisioned with rich laptops.

Next time, I’ll get into why DaaS is worth selling if you’re a Quest partner.

Meet the Author
Adam Burke is Quest's Vice President of Sales and Partnerships.
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