Cloud solutions like those provided by Microsoft Azure offer significant benefits to those who work from home. Perhaps most obvious is the way that the work-from-home (WFH) model can save employees time and money required for their daily commute.
This can also help them live a more balanced work/home life, including spending more time with family and friends. However, beyond this personal advantage, Azure cloud services can help companies reduce both capital and operating expenses and improve efficiencies in many ways.
Azure is the popular cloud computing platform from Microsoft. The company offers a wide variety of services through the public cloud, including compute, storage, networking and analytics. The use of the Azure cloud offers many benefits for employees and companies alike. Let’s discuss further.
Remote Workers Can Log in From Anywhere
The traditional method for WFH employees is to work on a company laptop. For those who had only workstations before the pandemic, this would involve the purchase of new equipment, not to mention the accompanying software licenses.
With Azure, on the other hand, IT admins can spin up a new Windows Virtual Desktop using only software. And a Windows Virtual Desktop could use the very same license that already exists on the employee’s machine at work. The WFH employee would not need to have a company laptop at home, and they could log in using an Apple computer, a Chromebook, or any other HTML-capable device.
VMs are Scalable, Elastic & Healthy for the Budget
Unlike a physical machine, a Windows Virtual Desktop can be easily updated on the fly with a few clicks of the mouse. These virtual computers can be accessed by multiple users at the same time. Adding new resources to the device, such as memory, is simply a matter of configuration. Microsoft Azure offers a scalable architecture that allows you to meet changing demands by easily scaling up or down at any time.
And a Windows Virtual Desktop can be accessed from any browser after logging into the Azure portal.
By moving to a virtual machine, businesses save considerable amounts of money due to the decrease in physical hardware requirements, let alone the hours involved in performing maintenance, replacements, and any upgrades required.
Azure Is Secure and Reliable
Cloud computing is now a mature technological solution that includes robust security and performance capabilities. Remote workers who suffered from little or no security in the past can now benefit from Azure’s many security features, including Azure VPN Gateway and Azure Firewall.
For devices, apps, data, infrastructure, and networking. Other features include Azure Security Control, role-based access control, and multi-factor authentication. Users can also enjoy increased performance and reliability with such things as virtual storage solutions included in Azure.
Azure Offers High Performance
Not everyone needs a high-performance computing solution. But for those who do, Azure can make it possible. Employees can have their own Windows Virtual Desktop especially configured to meet their needs.
This is helpful for those working with graphics programs or other resource-taxing applications like CAD. Because of the high demands on resources, such users can be assigned a dedicated virtual machine that matches the capabilities of the powerful workstation in their office.
Enhanced Audio and Video
Previous versions of Azure, as well as VPN-based solutions, have often suffered from audio and video difficulties through their secure connections. Microsoft has improved on the situation with such innovations as an AI-powered video indexer and the latest technologies in Azure Media Services.
This continuing development offers a better experience for WFH users as they interact with teams and company media.
Conclusion
Working remotely is a new reality that’s not going away anytime soon. Despite the physical distancing from colleagues, many people favor this method of work over the long commutes and the many hours away from home and family.
And the future work environment may see a drastic reduction in the use of brick-and-mortar buildings to house employees, resulting in a significant improvement to the company’s bottom line. The advent of cloud computing has made the transition to WFH both efficient and cost-effective.
And the array of services from Microsoft Azure makes this cloud provider an excellent choice for those who want to free employees from the company laptop. The advantages are clear, and moving to Windows Virtual Desktop is a huge benefit to your work from home environments. There’s no time like the present to make the move.
Contact us about our IT Professional Services and Networking Services. We’re a Microsoft Azure Partner and can help with your communication and network needs.
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