MARKET REPORT MSP
It’s the same issue we see
with a lot of Azure and AWS.
You only really get an idea of
what the cost looks like after
you’ve run it for a while, and
then at that point you’re stuck
because your systems are built
around it.
You probably never found
anyone who’s gone to AWS and
said, ‘I’ve saved money’. ey
might like the exibility and
some of the feature sets around
it, but to save money and run at
a predictable cost, which is what
most businesses need, is almost
impossible.”
What is DaaS?
Desktop as a Service (DaaS)
is the provisioning of remote
hosted virtual desktops
using a remote server to host
personal computer desktops
simultaneously. e days of
IT professionals marching
from computer to computer
performing the same tasks on
multiple PCs are thankfully
over. With desktop as a service,
after a major upgrade is
integrated, there should be no
need to perform any tasks at
an employee level—in-house
or remote. eir machines
are eectively the same, all of
which are accessing data and
applications through the cloud
service provider without storing
anything locally.
A quick look at the
benets of desktop as a service
highlights -
• Cost Eectiveness: One of
the key benets of virtual
desktops, compared to
traditional workstations, is
that DaaS can dramatically
reduce the total cost
ownership (TCO). According
to an IDC white paper,
desktop as a service can
reduce hardware ‘Capital
Expenditure (CAPEX)’ by
56% annually and also reduce
the ‘Operating Expenditure
(OPEX)’ annually.
On average, a virtual
desktop costs two times less
than a traditional PC due to
its longer life, absence of a
local hard disk, and reduced
power consumption.
Windows 7 upgrade
and migrations are forcing
organisations to look into
expensive upgrades of both
the server, desktop and
laptop estate. Virtual desktop
service, on the other hand,
enables companies to reuse
their existing hardware
and extend the life of the
investment they have already
made.
• Bettersecurity and
compliance: e problem
with personal computers in
a business environment is
that they can be hacked, lost
or stolen. Virtual desktops
address this issue quite
simply. If there is no sensitive
information stored on any
hard drive, or if there is no
hard drive at all, as is the
case with most thin client
hardware, there is nothing to
steal.
While traditional PCs
face the threat of users
downloading malicious les
and infecting the corporate
LAN, the cloud desktop
cannot function as a zombie
host and it is quite dicult
for viruses to inltrate
through remote displays.
erefore, rendering a virtual
desktop carries a low risk in
terms of security.
Organisations with virtual
desktops can centralise
updates at the remote
location; continuous data
backup and synchronisation
means compliance is now an
easier task.
• Mobility: Ever tried to work
from home but forgot your
USB stick containing all your
recent work documents at
the oce? Now think about
hibernating your virtual
desktop at the oce and
resuming that same virtual
desktop at home with all
your windows still opened.
Moreover, desktop as a
service keeps remote workers
connected.
56% DaaS reduces
hardware CAPEX by
56% annually - IDC
RESELLER USE CASE
UKFast reseller BitSol Telecom has implemented a hosted desktop
solution for Altringham based law firm Haworth Holt Bell (HHB) using the
vendor’s FASTdesk service.
Mike Donovan from BitSol commented, “It is difficult for any firm to
make a change and in my experience law firms, in particular, find it hard
as they tend to stick with a trusted supplier. HHB took a ‘leap of faith’
agreeing to move to FASTdesk, a cloud-based solution, supplied by
ourselves in partnership with UKFast.”
Donovan explained, “We put a low-level design document together
for the UKFast team who built the environment in to which we migrated
the HHB data.
On this occasion, it was with great difficulty, as the incumbent
supplier didn’t want to let them go and put a lot of obstacles in their way,
which we had to work around.
The migration took place successfully over a weekend so there was
no disruption to the service. When everyone came in Monday morning,
the emails were working, all the files were there and the Practice
Management System was working perfectly.”
HHB have not look back since, with their Richard Bell agreeing that
making the move was the right decision.
“We’ve not had any of the problems we had before. It’s been a breath
of fresh air; we now have an incredible service and can’t believe that we
remained with the previous supplier for so many years.
We use FASTdesk on a daily basis. We access our emails and all
our files through the system and I can also use it from home; it’s
magnificent. I would certainly recommend BitSol and UKFast I think it’s a
good partnership and seems to work very well for us.”
Commenting on the partnership Mike Donovan said: “It’s a big deal for
us to partner with UKFast. As a new company it gives us the credibility
we don’t yet have. UKFast has one of the best infrastructures in the
UK providing an ongoing service that’s very reliable. We’ve also got
UKFast’s call centre support behind us so we are not a small operation;
we are effectively as big as UKFast.”
Donovan says BitSol Telecom are looking to grow and develop
alongside UKFast.
“In the last few weeks we have shown national companies the
UKFast proposition and been successful because of it. I’m hopeful the
future holds great opportunities for BitSol Telecom to expand.”
e legal sector is evolving in a data-driven world
>
36 | Comms Business Magazine | September 2019 www.commsbusiness.co.uk
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