Since 2020, the portion of people working remotely has drastically grown. While this is the most viable solution during COVID, more than half of experts believe that this opens businesses to risks. Taking advantage of the Azure Virtual Desktop is one of the best solutions to avoid this problem. It gives an easy and secure way to access apps and information your employees need on their devices. As a Microsoft Gold partner, we’d like to share with you some information about Azure Virtual Desktop, more specifically, how to get you started. 

Azure Virtual Desktop: What it means? 

Azure Virtual Desktop (also known as Windows Virtual Desktop) is a cloud-operated app virtualization and desktop service. Essentially, it lets your organization utilize the full-suite virtual desktop experience and remote apps to any of your preferred device. It benefits businesses employing a modern and remote workforce. Moreover, it prides itself as the only Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) that provides multi-session Windows 10, simplified management, Microsoft 365 apps for businesses optimization, and Remote Desktop Services (RDS) environments support. 

Azure Virtual Desktop: What makes it different from other virtual desktops? 

Virtual desktops are not a new concept, but small and medium businesses find it challenging to manage them in-house as they can be expensive and complex to set up and manage. Azure Virtual Desktop is suitable for all kinds of businesses because it is accessible and reasonably priced. Furthermore, it helps your organization experience these benefits: 

• Cost-effective- Azure Virtual Desktop leverages on existing Microsoft 365 and Windows, which maximizes uses and enables multiple concurrent users. Moreover, it has flexible payment terms such as a pay-as-you-go method. 
• Advanced Security- The transition to Azure Virtual Desktop decreases the risk of tampered, lost, or stolen hardware. It is also built on the same security as Azure. Meaning, it provides additional compliance certifications to ensure that you have the best security there is.  
• Simple to deploy- This virtual desktop uses a single interface called the Azure Portal, making the entire solution easier to manage. From there, monitoring and diagnostic access are earned.
• Increase flexibility and productivity- Azure Virtual Desktop integrates with Teams and Microsoft 365 and allows users to be more productive through a familiar desktop experience. The service itself is also flexible because you can select from either availing the complete desktop experience or just specific virtual applications.   

Azure Virtual Desktop: What is the setup process? 

One of the greatest advantages of the Azure Virtual Desktop is that the management, maintenance, and more importantly, the setup process is a breeze. Proving that it’s an uncomplicated process, we’ve listed out the step-by-step guide that you can refer to for your setup. 

• Login to Portal.Azure.com using your admin credentials 
• Go to Subscription

• Under Subscription, go to Resource providers, and register Microsoft.DesktopVirtualization
• Search for Azure Virtual Desktop
• Under Azure Virtual Desktop, click Host pools and hit create
• In Create a host pool, under Basics Enter the following:

1. Subscription
2. Resource Group
3. Host pool name
4. Location
5. Validation environment
6. Host pool type

• Under Virtual Machines, enter the needed information:
• Under Workspace, choose desired configuration
• Under Advanced, click next
• Under Tag, enter desired Azure Tag
• Under Review + Create, hit Create
• This might take a couple to several minutes depending on the number of VMs you defined.
• Once this is completed, you have successfully spun up an Azure Virtual Desktop Infrastructure

Implementation of Azure Virtual Desktop 

If you’re a prevailing Azure Virtual Desktop user or interested in deploying it for your business, ECF Data can help you start your journey. Reach out to one of our Azure specialists if you have any queries about the Azure Virtual Desktop.