“Sometimes, little things make a big difference…” ~Nino Varshimashvili
It’s a well-known axiom that the little things have the most importance. Things like getting enough sleep, taking a small break to clear your mind or even by saying no. CamMi Pham writes on Medium about 7 Things You Need to Start Being More Productive Today about how many great historical features placed emphasized daily naps. Leonardo da Vinci, Napoleon, Presidents Kennedy and, Reagan. The truth is that workers who work 60 or more hours per week over a two months period actually decrease their productivity and miss deadlines by a larger delay than those who just worked a 40 hour week. It’s “work smarter, not harder.”
Work smarter, not harder. IT departments typically have a long list of mission-critical tasks to complete, but what if that list could be shorter? What if spinning up a new employee laptop or desktop was as simple as a few clicks of a mouse and firing up a browser on the new device? What if increasing the amount of storage space needed for effective backup and BC/DR could be done with another click of the mouse?
What if those new employees were enabled to work from anywhere and any device? Hosted workspaces, such as Desktop-as-a-Service, is a cloud-based platform that gives your users access to an entire virtual workspace, including data and applications over any network, meaning your employees are enabled to work from anywhere and from any device. Let’s explore:
Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) Improves communications, especially with the modern day workforce
Frost & Sullivan recently reported that companies who invest in collaboration technologies could increase their productivity by 400%. There are several ways this is possible.
Employees can access needed file, documents and applications from wherever they are:
Whether it’s an airplane, a doctor’s office, a train, as long as an employee has access to an internet-enabled device, they can remain productive. Location is no longer relevant when it comes to being productive, AND your data remains secure since the data does not go with the device, but remains on the cloud server.
Removes versioning challenges:
With a typical desktop solution, employees are forced to collaborate by making version changes on their physical desktop and then emailing it back and forth between the appropriate people. If just one person accidentally grabs the wrong version, it can create a domino effect that ultimately results in lost productivity as the team goes back to correct already discussed changes. With business-cloud solutions like Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS), versioning problems are resolved as each employee who needs access can work from the same version of the document stored on the cloud server.
Desktop-as-a-Service Reduces Repetitive Tasks
Smartsheet reports that almost 60% of employees believe they could add 6 hours a week back into their time by reducing repetitive tasks. One of these repetitive tasks is backing up documents and files. In a traditional desktop solution, employees need to regularly trigger a backup of their documents in case of a disaster or cyberattack. But most employees are focusing on the bigger tasks at hand, and this one small to-do often gets skipped. Meaning one event could erase hours, days and even months of work. DaaS solves this as backups are instantaneous as soon as the document is updated, and employees no longer need to worry about triggering the backup.
Desktop-as-a-Service Reduces Downtime from Required IT Updates and Issues
According to EmployTest, employees waste up to 22 minutes a day on computer issues. This doesn’t even account for the amount of time their system may be down due to regular maintenance and updates. This is an additional 90 minutes a week that is wasted while sitting around waiting for their computer to work. But cloud-based desktop solutions have a significant advantage here. Since all of the maintenance and updates are the responsibility of the cloud solution provider, these can be done after hours and therefore won’t affect your employees work day. Additionally, the endpoints are less affected by the stress of running the various components needed for traditional access to desktops. Instead, the processing needs are handled by the cloud providers infrastructure and can increase the lifespan of your physical endpoints. This will add hours back to your employees and your IT departments day, enabling them to focus on the higher priority tasks of growing the business.
Desktop-as-a-Service Attracts Top Talent
By using DaaS, you attract the attention of top talent. Due to the flexibility and agility of the technology, you are no longer held to the barriers of local talent. Instead, it opens the door to finding the best talent across the world. We’ve explored many times how the work culture has changed, and employees are demanding release from the 9-5 grind. As we stated in our blog “Digital Transformation and the Future of Work,” a survey by the Intelligence Group found that 74% of surveyed millennials want flexible work schedules. Even further the same survey found that 88% want work-life integration where work and life are indistinguishable. Deloitte’s 2016 Millennial survey reported that work-life balance is the leading factor in a millennials evaluation of a job opportunity. DaaS facilitates this flexibility with the ability to work from wherever they are and whatever device is handy.
Desktop-as-a-Service enables people-centric computing
People-Centric computing, or as Citrix defines it, “digital workspaces that are designed around the end user’s workflow” is the future of work. It enables increased productivity and efficiency by removing the majority of the roadblocks employees face in their day and trying to accomplish their task. Not only does it enable your workforce to be more efficient and increase your bottom line, but it also has the added benefit of reducing your costs and automating your IT onboarding. Start your journey to people-centric computing and modernizing your workforce today.
Read more:
Webinar: Hosted Workspaces: Modernize and Manage Your Work Securely
eBook: Making the Case for DaaS
Case Study: Hospitality and Travel Group manages their Virtual Contact Center Workers with Virtual Desktops
