Digital Workplace: How to reduce your IT costs

What is a virtual workstation? This is an invisible desktop computer, i.e. a virtual desktop, which is available around the clock and from any location. All that is required is Internet access and any terminal device with a display and keyboard, such as a laptop, smartphone, tablet, etc. Digitizing the workplace helps reduce your IT costs.

We demonstrate the benefits of a virtual desktop concept with this example:

1. Some virtual desktop providers charge a fixed price per user and month. Others calculate on the basis of actual usage behavior, which is why the amount varies each month. In the former case, the digital workstation is combined with services such as mail and office products and other applications, which are billed monthly. This makes it possible to determine exactly how much a virtual desktop costs in total per month. This cost transparency creates a high level of added value.
2. Another advantage is that users can use their own device. Thus, hardware does not have to be procured at a periodic interval. If older equipment is available, one product is particularly suitable for reducing costs: the UD Pocket from IGEL - a small USB stick for changing workspace environments - is an effective means of continuing to use old, already depreciated hardware as a thin client. Companies plug the UD Pocket Stick into any endpoint, launch Citrix applications and are connected to their corporate desktop. With a virtual desktop, performance is delivered in the data center. Therefore, the devices and network nodes in the company get by with little computing power. The UD Pocket is used by companies to implement the security policy; it is exclusively responsible for displaying the desktop.

To the author:
Thomas Bossard is ICT Architect at GIA Informatik AG in Oftringen.