No one wants to own, work for, or with a business that isn’t sustainable. And in light of unpredictable situations like epidemics and natural disasters, you need a virtual set-up that is secure, affordable, mobile, and designed to last the test of time.
So why not try a Desktop As A Service (DaaS) solution?
Here’s all you need to know before you pick a service provider. At the end of this article, you’d know how to qualify a DaaS software that’s functional and profitable for your business.
What Is Desktop As A Service (DaaS)?
Desktop as a Service solutions offers users a cloud-based virtualized desktop experience. In contrast to virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) software, which hosts virtual desktops and the desktop admin panel on-premises, desktop virtualization is the sole focus of cloud-based DaaS solutions. By operating through subscription- and usage-based payment structures, DaaS does away with the requirement for enterprises to purchase physical equipment related to desktop virtualization.
Anyone who would need to use DaaS can do so because it is very accessible within a company. Its uses include supporting university computer labs, evaluating the performance of code on various operating systems, and more. DaaS is particularly helpful across many industries and job types due to its great adaptability and lack of significant infrastructure benefits. In addition, it may be used in conjunction with a wide range of other software applications.
How DaaS Works?
While the term DaaS indeed sounds technical, it is not entirely different from using a desktop or laptop physically. In fact, the online distinguishing factor is that instead of a physical computer, the cloud service provider’s resources become the primary user interface. Your laptop, tablet or smartphone, or any other mobile device then becomes a mere input tool to connect you with the cloud service platform. In most events, you also require a strong internet connection and a contemporary browser to make the connection.
Like most virtualization solutions, DaaS providers employ pay-per-user plans. As such, each user will be provided with a unique login ID by the cloud service provider. With these login details, users can go about office assignments as they would on a physical computer.
After the day’s work, users can simply log out of the service platform, and when they return, they can easily pick up precisely from where they stopped, all thanks to the data center of DaaS providers that provides reliable storage options.
How Is Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) different from Desktop As A Service (DaaS)?
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure and Desktop As A Service are both virtualization alternatives, so they seem similar. However, while VDI solutions are deployed from a server or data center that is maintained by and on the organizer’s premises, DaaS solutions are deployed over the internet by third-party cloud service providers. These cloud service providers are responsible for sourcing and maintaining necessary hardware, consequently saving you the stress and cost of maintaining them yourself.
Since VDI solutions are partially maintained by the customer, the overall cost is often more expensive than DaaS solutions.
Benefits Of Desktop As A Service (DaaS)?
When compared to VDI and other virtualization types, DaaS seems to be a more preferable deployment approach for virtual machines. Not just because it’s hosted by a third-party cloud service provider, but for a number of other reasons.
Here are some of the advantages of using a desktop as a service:
Mobility & Scalability
DaaS solutions are not applied on a one size fits all basis. Instead, they are designed to allow for changes in the business cycle and size. Thus, you can easily raise or lower your DaaS solution demands based on your labor size and economic demands. There will be no need to acquire additional hardware to achieve this and they are very mobile. So, you and your workers can access business resources with a variety of devices, particularly desktops and smartphones.
Facilitate Onboarding & Increase Productivity
DaaS solutions help to cut back on a lot of slack on the part of employees. At inception, onboarding new employees or third-party staff is pretty easy. With a few clicks, you can easily set up a virtual shop for each employee. And after the setup, they can turn in tasks around the clock from anywhere in the world. It increases employee output and the firm’s overall productivity.
Environmental friendly
If you or your organization are pro-environment and you’re looking to use environmentally-conscious digital solutions, then you should try Desktop As A Service (DaaS) solutions. This virtual machine drastically reduces a firm’s internal energy consumption by doing away with the need to buy and power a bunch of hardware.
Security
Cyber-security concerns have been the reason why some organizations have turned to, and others turned away from, using virtual machines like DaaS. While security concerns are nothing to be taken lightly, running away from DaaS providers isn’t the solution. You just need to find a legit DaaS solution from a tested and trusted provider. With a trusted cloud service provider, your business resources are a hundred percent safe, as they employ high and multi-layered security protocols.
The 5 Best Desktop As A Service (DaaS) Providers
As a business owner, choosing a DaaS provider on your own can be somewhat overwhelming. So we did the hard work for you. We’ve compiled a list of the 5 best DaaS providers on the market and highlighted their features. Compare all seven (5) to determine which will be the best fit for your enterprise. Take a look!
1. V2 Cloud
V2 Cloud is a desktop-as-a-service provider which furnishes organizations with access to cloud desktops to support remote work and control published applications from a single location. The platform’s interface allows businesses to manage corporate logins and automatically back up important corporate resources.
While the use of DaaS encourages a bring-your-own-device policy, it doesn’t impede teamwork among employees. If anything, V2 Cloud enhances team interactions and productivity as employees can exchange tasks, project updates, and important documents across timelines. Managers can also install tons of programs and work-related apps, share documents with distant teams and monitor and control access permissions.
Interestingly, V2 Cloud is designed to ensure HIPAA compliance amongst users. It foresees possible problems, highlights them to the user, and tackles these problems to protect digital workstations from being hijacked, exfiltrated, or damaged. In addition, V2 Cloud provides a cloud disaster recovery option that allows managers and administrators to save and retrieve copies of virtual computer drives.
Notable Features
- Reduce your reliance on capital expenditure and get more operational flexibility with V2 Cloud’s pay-as-you-go model.
- Enhanced security with strict HIPAA-compliance
- Reliable cloud infrastructure with a personalized view
- High-performance virtual machine with premium user experience and minimal latency
- Speedy and unlimited technical support around the clock.
Pricing
V2 Cloud has numerous custom pricing plans that are offered at a flat rate per user. The plans go from $40 per month to a $1680 plan a month for 64 users. View the pricing & plans here.
Limitations
While V2 Cloud is projected to help you save on capital expenditure, you may end up spending a whole lot on operational expenditure, particularly storage expansion since the storage capacity fills up quickly.
2. Citrix DaaS
Citrix DaaS offers virtualization solutions that manage security and infrastructure, leaving you to focus squarely on business. It provides safe virtual applications and desktops to any device and efficiently handles upgrades, installation and setup. The optimal user experience is provided on every device while you keep total control over programs, rules, and users.
This DaaS platform is a company’s best bet at an easy sync of features from other software and cloud hosting platforms. And this is due to Citrix’s partnership with other public cloud hosts. Consequently, organizations can employ hybrid storage options where some business resources can be stored on any public cloud hosting platforms like Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services, and Microsoft Azure. Businesses can also pair public cloud storage with on-premises virtual machine monitors such as the Citrix Hypervisor. This multi-cloud approach allows for flexibility and reduces congestion and complete dependency on a single storage technique.
Notable Features
- Simple scalability features that accommodate an increase or decrease in labor size.
- Actionable analytics that help monitor user behavior and prevent cyber-attacks.
- Boost employee productivity and enjoy a superior IT experience.
- Hybrid storage solutions that authorize users to utilize cloud storage platforms of their choice together with on-site storage resources.
- Stay protected with diverse security features
Pricing
Citrix’s simplified DaaS solution comes in four (4) super-affordable plans:
| Name | Plan | Price |
| Standard | Pay-as-you-go subscription | $10 |
| Advanced Plus | Per user, per month | $13 |
| Premium | Per user, per month | $20 |
| Premium Plus | Per user, per month | $23 |
Limitations
Citrix DaaS’ interface is not entirely user-friendly. Deploying the service could be a bit difficult, you might experience frequent session timeouts, and keeping up with updates can be very overwhelming for large-scale businesses.
3. Cameyo
Cameyo is a desktop as a service (DaaS) provider that you can trust. It has a massive clientele of large organizations such as Google. The provider is also the recipient of several awards, especially the 2022 DaaS Category High Performer Award.
So, you can trust that your brand resources are in safe hands when utilizing Cameyo’s DaaS solution.
This virtual application delivery platform combines speed, security, and simplicity. If you need a DaaS solution that is easy to configure and easier to use, then you should try Cameyo. Its interface is so simple that users do not require special training on how to navigate the platform and the setup should span minutes to a couple of hours.
Cameyo affords users the ultimate cloud hosting flexibility. Users can choose to either use the platform as a fully-hosted service or employ a virtual, on-premises, or hybrid self-hosting approach.
Notable Features
- Simple and quick setup
- Standard in-built security features
- Provide Windows and other essential web programs to workers (remote or hybrid) without the need for virtual desktops or VPN.
- Manage client data, software updates, and invoicing on a single screen
- Top-notch service delivery at a decent price
Pricing
Cameyo offers custom pricing which is made available upon request. Contact Cameyo’s customer specialist for more pricing info.
Limitations
It appears that Cameyo DaaS seems to lack a versatile application, as there are certain use cases the software can’t handle,e.g. connection to local resources such as USB devices from a Windows app.
Check out Cameyo’s DaaS solution
4. Amazon Workspaces
This DaaS solution is not only quick but also reasonably priced. In essence, it reduces the expense of maintaining on-premises workstations as well as other recurring overhead expenses. You don’t have to worry about finance or obtaining intricate licensing agreements. You can concentrate solely on what is necessary for your business because AWS handles all the tedious work. Additionally, you benefit from more functionality, easily accessible sync tools, and a more stable virtualization and cloud computing environment.
Thanks to Amazon’s DaaS solution, businesses can now enjoy simpler virtual desktop service delivery without having to navigate the associated infrastructure and hardware complexities.
Amazon no doubt adheres to the tightest security regulation standards. Business owners who use this provider’s desktop as a service solution can sleep with both eyes closed, knowing their data is secure.
Notable Features
- Successfully operate a bring-your-own-device initiative that protects employee privacy and safeguards confidential business resources.
- Reduce the risk of corporate vulnerability by storing data on the AWS cloud environment
- Pay-per-user, and pay-as-you-go alternatives allow for easy on-demand scalability
- Increase employee output with flexible work-from-anywhere option
- Utilize demand-based high-performance workstations.
Pricing
Access Amazon Workspaces desktop as a service solution at custom monthly and hourly rates depending on the user volume and bundle type. Find a suitable billing option on the AWS pricing & plans page.
Limitations
If you are easily put off by latency issues and unnecessary lag, then Amazon Workspaces may not be the best DaaS solution for you. It is known to freeze randomly even with good bandwidth which forces you to reboot, stalling your efficiency for a while.
5. VMware
VMware’s Horizon is an all-encompassing desktop as a service solution. It is built to enhance the productivity of service providers by delivering cloud-hosted desktops and apps to users anywhere in the world.
The Horizon DaaS platform consists of four (4) main parts: Access and Desktop Managers (utilized by tenants to manage end-user connections and host virtual desktops), Service Grid Backbone (crucial in providing secure connections and ensuring smooth interaction among tenant and service provider components), and Resource Manager (deployed by cloud service providers for infrastructure management).
Whether you operate a small or large-scale business, utilizing DaaS solutions necessitates multi-tenancy.
In essence, organizations need to deliver shared desktops and hosted applications for provisioning and maintaining amongst their users in numerous workspaces using a single administration platform. VMware makes cloud-based tenancy management and provisioning easy. The Horizon DaaS platform creates a secure environment for each user furnished with tenant entitlements. Consequently, each tenant has access to a dedicated portal, gateway, and computer.
To promote business continuity, Horizon DaaS has in-built scalability features that allow service providers to scale within and across data centers. Hence, in the event that one data center develops an issue, other data centers will serve as backup furnishing access and sustaining employee productivity.
In addition, VMware recognizes that a 100% cloud environment ideal might not necessarily be ideal for every user. Thus, it permits the deployment of virtual, hybrid, or physical cloud environments by service providers. The deployment could either be on-premises or remote.
Notable Features
- Grid-based design that allows for unlimited scalability
- High-performance desktop with an unparalleled user experience
- Flexible virtual desktop deployment across public, private, and hybrid cloud hosting environments
- Tiered role separation
- Single platform for multi-desktop management
Pricing
VMware Horizon DaaS pricing information is made available upon request. Contact VMware for more information.
Limitation
VMware consumes a lot of CPU power, and if you continuously use it alongside other high-CPU usage apps, it could spell doom for your device.
Final Note
Compared to other virtualization types, Desktop as a service is most preferred. Its ability to shift the burden of maintenance from users is incredibly soothing, as it cuts back on capital expenditure. Also, the best DaaS providers encourage less reliance on 100% cloud hosting service by permitting on-premises deployment.
Desktop as a service guarantees every user a sense of privacy without compromising on security, enhanced productivity, and business continuity. If these are features you desire for your organization, then you should hedge your bets with any of the aforementioned DaaS providers today.
