What to look for in a hosted virtual desktop provider and what are the pitfalls

Moving to a hosted remote desktop (virtual desktop) can bring considerable benefits to businesses and, if done well, should be a straightforward experience without disruption.  Having an experienced hosted desktop provider to advise and assist at every stage is vital.  So, what are the things which make a good hosted virtual desktop provider, and what are the things to watch out for.

Quality of support

From a technical support point of view a hosted virtual desktop is really a combination of a Windows PC (or several of them), a Windows Server, plus a host of additional infrastructure behind the scenes to help manage it.   Your provider needs to be the one supporting all this not you.   Solutions like Microsoft’s Azure Virtual Desktops and Windows Cloud PCs in Microsoft Azure are all very well but they require extensive skills to set up and support, Microsoft won’t do this for you, so you either have to do it yourself or pay a 3rd party to do it.

Some hosted desktop providers simply provide a virtual desktop and expect you to look after it.   If the price of a hosted desktop looks cheap this will very likely be because it doesn’t come with full and proper support, they will leave you to your own devices.

Other virtual desktop providers may outsource their support to 3rd parties to cut costs, the quality of this support may be variable, and you may not ever speak to the same person twice.

When considering a hosted virtual desktop provider make sure you can speak to someone before committing to it, find out what support they provide, what is the full scope of their support, and when it is available.

Also make sure emergency support is available outside of normal business hours.

Onboarding

A smooth onboarding process can make or break a hosted remote desktop solution.   If your users have a painful experience during go live, with lost of issues, then they won’t forgive you for it.

Find out from any potential virtual desktop provider what role they will play in the onboarding.  Will they copy your data across, install standard applications, and assist users in getting used to the environment or will they just send you an empty desktop and leave you to it.

Many applications will require the assistance of the application vendor in installing the app and configuring it, as well as copying data and databases to the platform.   Your remote desktop provider will need to work closely with the software vendor and be at their beck and call to make any back-end config changes or deal with teething issues.

Security

Your hosted virtual desktop provider needs to be certified for ISO 27001 as a minimum.   This Information Security Management System ensures that they have robust policies, processes and procedures to keep your data secure, are audited to make sure they follow them, and comply with any data protection legislation such as GDPR.

Watch out for unscrupulous providers who use phrases like “our ISO 27001 certified data centre” they are referring to a third party who runs the bricks and mortar of the data centre, they themselves may not be certified.  They are just piggy backing on the certification of the data centre provider, who has no control over your remote desktop solution.

Value for money

Like anything else, you get what you pay for.  Some hosted virtual desktop providers may be completely automated, creating you a virtual desktop in minutes that you can configure to your needs.  If you have the skills, and this is all you require, then they have their place.

Other providers will take a more bespoke approach, discussing your full requirements prior to architecting a carefully designed, and ultimately cost-effective solution that will meet your needs.

A good provider will aim to give you the best solution at the lowest possible cost, offering advice based on experience and using innovative ways to keep Microsoft licence costs down for example.  It is in the providers best interest that you feel you’re getting value for money.

Experience

Experience of IT in general, and virtual desktops specifically is vital.  Find out how long your potential provider has been trading for, how experienced are the technical and support teams, do they have any specific qualifications.

Your Office Anywhere’s credentials

Your Office Anywhere have been hosting virtual remote desktops probably for longer than anyone else in the UK, coming up to 20 years at the time of writing.  We have been ISO 27001 certified for our Information Security Management System since 2014.

A hosted remote desktop solution will typically start with a conversation with a technical sales consultants who will advise the best solution based on your specific needs and provide the most cost effective price.  Once signed up you will be looked after by our onboarding team who will work with you and any 3rd party software vendors or IT companies to get your applications and data up and running.  They will also support you during the early days before handing over to our experienced and friendly helpdesk team who will assist with any changes you need to make, or any issues.

Once up and running we look after all the patching (Windows updates), antivirus, backing up your data to a second site, as well as monitoring and alerting of any potential issues before they cause problems, such as low disk space.