DESKTOP AS A SERVICE
Growing managed services There are advantages of offering DaaS for resellers too. Miguel adds that DaaS is attractive for partners that are looking to develop and grow their managed services business. “This is because it’s a simple and cost-efficient both for them and their customers,” he says. “Of course, setting up and running a DaaS service is not straightforward – and this is why SYNAXON developed Managed Workplace – a complete, ready-to-deploy DaaS offering that partners can offer without incurring any set-up costs of having to employ specialist personnel. “Partners can offer their own services alongside Managed Workplace or make use of our other ready-to-deploy managed services – for endpoint security, antivirus, backup, and remote management and monitoring, to expand and grow their proposition – and make sure it’s secure and properly managed.” Optimal provision When resellers are looking to provide DaaS, there are certain considerations for what should go into an optimal solution for customers. “There are a couple of key things customers should be looking for from their DaaS vendor,” says Stephen. “Firstly, a transparent pricing model is needed as prices can vary wildly based on resource specification, usage and whether optional extras are needed. Vendors also need to provide clear work role or persona mapping so that the solution can be right-sized by fingerprinting resources against needs. “Finally, somebody has got to be responsible for monitoring and managing the DaaS to make sure it’s compliant, has all the latest updates, and is secure. Most DaaS providers offer this and the cost of this should be detailed in an initial quote.” Tim adds that DaaS provision should include appropriately specified compute power. “Focusing on the potential disruption of inadequately considered overprovision,” he says. “Also, dynamic resources can be expensive, so consider resource requirements. It is often cost-efficient to have a core, persistent desktop resource and scale outside of this to help with cost management. Finally, an appropriate remote desktop tool is key to the successful use of any DaaS service, to ensure optimal user performance.”
cloud. It’s a natural evolution and one that gives you more flexibility and control.” Miguel Rodriguez, managing director, SYNAXON Hub, agrees that there is interest from SMBs. “Proportionately, we see more enquiries about DaaS from partners working with SMBs,” he says. “For businesses that want to maximise the ability of their staff to work effectively from home or any other location – and that’s most businesses today – it’s ideal, as it allows users to access their applications and data from anywhere.” Advantages of DaaS There are various advantages to businesses of adopting DaaS, which resellers should emphasise in conversations with customers. “End users only require lightweight devices to connect to cloud-based desktops, increasing portability and saving space and cost,” says Tim. “Laptops or thin client PCs are popular, but older workstations can be repurposed as terminal machines to extend life and reduce hardware churn. “DaaS means no data sits outside of the central, secure hosted network, reducing risk and mitigating the requirement for VPN, which can be problematic if compromised. Collaborative work is more efficient as data and compute power are centralised – enabling businesses working on large, complex data to draw on talent from multiple locations and avoid issues from multiple data sets, syncing and poor latency.” Stephen agrees that the biggest advantage of DaaS is having desktops in the cloud, meaning that sensitive data and files can be stored securely rather than on a user’s device. “As we all know, endpoint devices are one of the biggest threats to security, but with DaaS, there’s nothing coming down locally to an employee’s device that could be leaked, copied or moved elsewhere,” he says. “DaaS can also provide lower friction, more continuity and better employee experience. Employees can leave the document or email they’re working on, turn their device off and drive to the office. Once there, they can jump on any computer, log on to their desktop and all the work is there as they left it, without them having to save anything. “Having a virtual desktop in the cloud as opposed to in a platform running from multiple servers also means you don’t have to pay someone to look after that infrastructure – everything is taken care of by the vendor.”
Stephen Homer portfolio lead for digital workplace
getronics.com
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The biggest advantage of
DaaS is having desktops in the cloud, meaning that sensitive data and files can be stored securely rather than on a user’s device.
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Andy Brown technical services director UK
uk.tdsynnex.com
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