Driver updates, operating system patches and other technical maintenance work can in principle also be controlled centrally in locally installed desktop environments. However, this is fraught with many problems: Notebooks are not online for a long time because they are absent from vacation, users keep postponing planned restarts or the hardware is faulty with the desktop-as-a-service.

With DaaS, on the other hand, maintenance takes place exclusively on the server; the users’ computers remain unaffected. In addition, the administrative effort is much lower if the work is concentrated on a single server. If DaaS is outsourced to a cloud Applikation provider, maintenance work is completely unnecessary.

Automatic upgrades

If new, improved versions of the software products become available, users usually have to request them themselves. This is sometimes forgotten in hectic everyday life, which is why many computers are operated with outdated software products for a long time. DaaS providers such as Microsoft Azure ensure that customers always receive the latest version of the operating system and basic applications.

Enhanced Security

Cyber-attacks are becoming more and more sophisticated. This is why companies are forced to continuously tighten security measures on notebooks and PCs. This is associated with a lot of effort and some restrictions on the part of the user. Desktop as a Service offers a convenient solution: The entire security technology is concentrated on the central Desktop as a Service server. It is also becoming increasingly difficult to keep up with the hackers’ know-how. This requires experts who are constantly receiving further training a full-time job. In this regard, it is particularly efficient to buy Desktop as a Service from a cloud provider: They can spread the high costs for cybersecurity experts and applications among many corporate customers.

Deploy Applications More Easily

Depending on their role, employees need different applications. Every time the role changes, the IT department has to uninstall software that is no longer required and install the new one that is required. With DaaS, this effort is eliminated: depending on the role, the employees are simply assigned different DaaS instances.

Another advantage is the ability to have completely preconfigured virtual desktops available. You can also work with image files with local installations. But every time the hardware is changed, a new pre-configuration with the appropriate drivers must be created. In contrast, DaaS is completely independent of the user’s hardware.

Increased Employee Productivity

Because DaaS is a cloud-based platform, employees can access a complete virtual workspace, including applications and data, via any network, regardless of how powerful their device is. Even computationally intensive applications can be run on small, light subnotebooks without any problems.

The network connection is also less critical than in locally installed desktop environments: If software requires large amounts of data, it must be downloaded from the Internet in the case of locally executed applications. If the connectivity is poor, this can lead to delays or even interruptions. With DaaS, on the other hand, the network capacity plays a subordinate role, because both the application and the data remain on the remote server. The internet connection only needs to be able to transmit the monitor image.

In addition, DaaS usage is safe even in hotel WLAN because no sensitive data is transmitted via the Internet. In this way, DaaS gives users a high degree of flexibility. You can work from anywhere, no matter what device you are using and how good the internet connection is. In the home office, commuting is also saved, which results in increased employee productivity.

Energy Efficiency

DaaS helps to save energy and makes a contribution to climate protection:

• The notebooks require less power because computationally intensive processes are carried out remotely.
• Commuting to the office can be omitted because DaaS enables you to work from anywhere.
• The end devices have a longer service life because they have to be replaced with new, more powerful models less often. This also protects the environment.

Scalability

When departments are enlarged and new jobs are created, IT often becomes hectic: It is important to order, configure and commission additional notebooks in the shortest possible time. A large part of this effort is eliminated with DaaS. The IT department can create any number of new virtual desktops and assign them to employees with just a few clicks of the mouse. The hardware is also scalable: if a more powerful computer is required, the virtual desktop is simply reconfigured accordingly.

Reduced Backup Effort

In the event of a natural disaster, device theft or cyber-attack, DaaS users can simply pick up any other device even a tablet and continue working immediately. The effort for backups is also reduced thanks to DaaS. If notebooks are operated with a locally installed Cloud Desktop, the data must be backed up to external drives or a remote backup server. In the event of data loss, restoring backup files is often a lengthy procedure. Not so with DaaS: backups and versioning are carried out fully automatically on the server.