#10yearchallenge: Why the 2020s will be the decade of user migration to the cloud

The end of any decade is always a unique time – a time to not only think back on the highs and lows of the past few years, but to also gaze with anticipation on what the next 10 might bring. The past decade, for example, brought us ubiquitous social media, #10yearchallenges, binge watching, and large-scale cloud adoption among individuals, companies and other organizations.

Now that the 2010s are now squarely in the rear view mirror, though, it’s time to get ready for the 2020s: the decade of secure and compliant cloud virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI).

That may seem a bold statement, but we don’t think so. Because traditional provisioning solutions such as shipping laptops cross-country, on-premise VDI, virtual private networks (VPN), and even Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) cloud workspaces are currently failing companies and their vendors. VPN technology is outdated and expensive. Laptops are often lost or delayed in transit. And neither DaaS nor on-prem VDI provide multi-factor authentication (MFA), while also lacking other crucial tools for security and compliance.

It’s becoming increasingly clear that no matter how you may currently provision your organization’s desktop infrastructure and workspaces, there are simply too many good reasons to move to cloud VDI at some point this decade. Here are five of the most compelling:

1. The needs of the modern workforce are changing

Most organizations have by now come to understand that the remote workforce (including freelancers, contractors, and third-party IT vendors) is not only here to stay, but becoming more important every day. To compete in a truly global economy, secure access to the best vendors and talent is imperative – whether they reside on another block or another continent altogether – but can be difficult to onboard and scale quickly using on-prem tools. Cloud-based VDI, however, brings together all the capabilities needed to onboard remote workers with secured and privileged access to corporate networks in minutes.

2. Security is better in the cloud

Onboarding and scaling third-party organizations and remote teams using a managed, cloud-native VDI solution is more secure than using on-premise tools practically by definition. That’s because cloud-based tools are automatically updated and patched in real time as updates become available. And in a current business environment where many consider end users to be their organization’s weakest security link, cloud VDI provides more secure remote access through secure perimeters, automated encryption, network segregation, zero-trust network isolation, multi-factor authentication, and endpoint isolation.

3. You can save costs while reducing risk

Similar to its security benefits, the cost efficiencies of cloud-based VDI converge on multiple fronts. Instead of laying out significant CapEx on server equipment, for example, cloud VDI’s pay-as-you-go pricing allows organizations to scale up and down quickly as needed without paying for excess or unnecessary storage or compute capacity. Companies can also save money (and reduce risk) by no longer needing to ship laptops to contractors for compliance reasons. And then there’s the the potential cost of a data breach due to lax data security – according to Norton, data breaches in 2018 cost organizations an average of US$7.91 million per breach.

4. Compliance becomes intuitive

Speaking of expensive, getting and staying compliant with stringent standards like SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, or CCPA costs money but often pales in comparison to the costs (both in fines and, often, in reputational damage) of an organization found in non-compliance. Recent GDPR fines, for example, include €50 million levied against Google last January and a £183 million fine against British Airways just a few months later. It’s why cloud-native VDI solutions include built-in SOC 2 Type II and other compliance controls, which provide the dual benefits of helping achieve and maintain regulatory compliance for less time and effort while also improving audits (thanks to tools like down-to-the-keystroke session recordings for perfectly witnessed records).

5. Automation takes the suck out of provisioning

A cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) architecture featuring virtual rooms automates the provisioning of secure desktops, reducing the time and effort required to provision workspaces from sometimes months to (in most cases) less than an hour. Cloud technology makes it easy to set up virtual rooms and desktops for third-party contractors or remote workers, while only provisioning the services and tools required to meet specific users, policies or outcomes.

Organizations have been migrating their data estates out of individual data centres en masse ever since the benefits of cloud became well known. We predict a similar migration to cloud-based VDI over the next few years as companies realize its ability to achieve significant cost savings, increased flexibility and faster provisioning while also improving network and endpoint security.

Download our latest eBook to learn how Tehama’s cloud-based VDI technology can be your virtual office-as-a-service, complete with ultra-secure virtual rooms and virtual desktops that can be quickly spun up or down on demand.