Benefits of Remote Desktop Services:

7 reasons why Remote Desktop Services can benefit your business

Remote Desktop Services, or Terminal Services as it was once known, is a tried and tested technology that has been around for well over 20 years. Previously only large corporations with multiple sites running thin client devices would realise the benefits of Remote Desktop Services; However, in the last 10 – 15 years with the advent of virtual servers and faster broadband the idea of Hosted Remote Desktop Services has meant that even the smallest of businesses can enjoy the benefits that Remote Desktop Services can provide for their organisation.

What are Remote Desktop Services?

Terminal Services essentially grew out of Remote Access, where IT support personnel could gain remote access to servers and PCs in order to fix a problem; however, there is a big difference between Remote Access and Remote Desktop Services. Remote Desktop Services (RDS) uses some of the same technology as remote access, but it enables lots of people to connect to a remote computer and run applications or full desktops at the same time. Each user is working in their own bubble (or desktop sessions) so the operating system knows what data to send to what person.

RDS, when running over the internet, does not require particularly high bandwidth. It was, after all, invented when we were all on dial-up modems. The only data travelling from the virtual desktop over the Internet is keyboard and mouse clicks one way and screen refreshes the other.

What is remote desktop services used for?

Remote desktop services is used by businesses to provide desktops or applications to users who work remotely or at different sites.  It provides quick access for applications to databases and documents stored centrally rather than trying to pull that data over a slow network or internet connection.

There are a whole number of benefits of Remote Desktop Services, specifically Hosted Remote Desktop Service, these are explored below:

1 – Remote Desktop Services will help you work from home?

Home workers, Remote Workers, Field Workers, will all benefit from Remote Desktop Services. The platform enables any user, no matter where they are, to enjoy the same experience running their corporate applications remotely as they would if sat in front of a desktop PC in an office. This experience dramatically improves employee motivation and therefore productivity; improving everyone’s work life balance. It is a lot easier to work remotely using RDS, the users also don’t have to worry about what operating system they have on their home computers as they can run local light weight client software to connect to RDS from Apple Mac, iOS, Android, Google Chromebooks and Android devices as well as Windows PCs.

2 – Remote Desktop Services are cost effective and can save money

One of the benefits of a Hosted Remote Desktop Service is that not only is it cost effective and very likely to save companies money, it is also a predictable OPEX cost that can flex with business needs, here’s how:
• Little or no upfront cost which is a bonus for new businesses who no longer need to face big investment costs in IT when starting up.
• No hefty upgrade costs every few years when operating systems need upgrading.
• RDS requires much less technical support than local servers.
• Any technical issues affecting the remote computer are resolved by the provider as part of the service.
• The service can flex up and down as your business needs so there’s no paying for more infrastructure than you need up front, just in case, and no wasted money if you need to either down size or massively upscale beyond the capacity of the infrastructure you’ve bought.
• You don’t need expensive PCs to run remote desktops, some companies use cheap Thin Client devices that literally only run the remote desktop session

3 – Accessible, Flexible and Scalable

A big benefit of Remote Desktop Services in Windows Server is the ability to run standard Windows desktop applications using non-Windows devices, these may include Apple Mac, Android and iOS devices. Just using a Microsoft Remote Desktop Client which is available from the relevant app store.
Another benefit is the ability to increase or decrease user number as your business dictates, this is especially useful for businesses employing seasonal workers.
Remote Desktop Services isn’t just about remote desktops, all sorts of additional infrastructure servers can be deployed along side the remote desktop server, including database servers, web servers, application servers, file servers and so on.

4 – What about information security, are Remote Desktop Services secure?

Remote Desktop Service providers invest heavily in systems to keep your data safe. The security of modern data centres combined with enterprise class technology means that the risk of data breaches is much reduced compared with local, on-premise infrastructure.
Remote Desktop Services providers will backup your data as well as managing and supporting the servers you use, including managing critical security patches and anti-virus/malware.
Services such as Two Factor Authentication will dramatically reduce the risk of hacking attempts
Users do not need to run local applications on their PCs and Laptops, so you don’t have to worry about data being held on laptops or USB sticks that could get stolen.
A good provider will also invest in information security quality systems such as ISO 27001 to ensure their policies and procedures are correctly followed

5 – Remote Desktop Services improves productivity

Increased productivity is an easy win for small businesses, and is one of the hidden benefits of Remote Desktop Services. Here’s a number of ways this can benefit small businesses:
• Everyone is working on high spec’d, modern operating systems, providing high performance for all users no matter what hardware they have on their desk. Older, slower PCs will work just as well as newer faster ones.
• Field workers can access the same systems as their desk-based colleagues, so will find it a lot easier to enter data directly into corporate databases as they work remotely, instead of sending to a colleague where double handling could introduce mistakes.
• A remote desktop service user can access files saved within the remote desktop environment much more simply and quickly, removing the frustration and confusion when working with some well known cloud storage services.
• There are multiple methods by which a user can access applications or desktop, ensuring they can work in the most productive way possible.
• As mentioned previously, remote workers who have a great experience with their IT systems will be more motivated and therefore more productive

6 – Remote Desktop Services are reliable

Small businesses can take advantage of all the resilience measures normally only available to large corporate enterprises.
• Virtual desktops run on dedicated virtual servers that can move from one physical host server to another in the event of a hardware failure
• Physical servers have multiple power supplies, each power supply connects to a different set of UPS (uninterruptible power supply) batteries, each set of batteries connects to a different incoming mains power feed, and protecting all this are multiple sets of diesel generators that can keep running indefinitely during a power cut.
• Servers have multiple network connections, and multiple Internet connections
• Data storage appliances have multiple sets of hot swappable disks so these can be changed on the fly if a disk fails
• The data centres themselves have multiple systems to detect smoke and fire even before a human could smell it, coupled with fire suppressant systems to put fires out without flooding the equipment.

7 – Remote Desktop Services are Greener

If your business works 9 – 5, and you have a local server in your office, that server is running 24/7 and for the most part will be doing very little work overnight; yet it will still be consuming the same amount of energy. If you have the luxury of an air-conditioned server room then you will also be consuming energy cooling your server alone.

Contrast this with Remote Desktop Services providers who will try to ensure their services are used to their maximum all day every day. The data centres will still use air conditioning but will be cooling hundreds of servers in the most efficient way possible.

Your Office Anywhere have been specialising in installing, configuring, and managing Remote Desktop Services in Windows Server for over 20 years and are one of the longest established providers of Hosted Remote Desktop Services. For more information on how your small business can benefit from Remote Desktop Services please get in touch using the contact from below, or simply call 01282 500318.