Why Windows 365?
Windows 365 (Cloud PC) is the hot topic of the moment, and why wouldn’t it be? For many years, before most can remember, it has been the norm for IT Departments to Image, configure and deploy Laptops and Workstations for end-users.
However, over the past couple of years, with COVID and other factors, the world has moved to a more distributed workforce, where country boundaries are no longer the border of employment. Companies invested in further development on their virtualisation offerings, such as Azure Virtual Desktop, VMWare Horizon, Citrix etc., however, all of these solutions require specialised skill sets and are very complex and often high maintenance.
Microsoft has taken this one step further and created a PaaS (Platform as a Service) solution that integrates and is managed via Microsoft Intune, delivering the ‘Single Pane of Glass’ management that many businesses seek. The beauty of this is that you do not need to maintain complex infrastructure and configuration sets or perform platform upgrades (including hardware replacements).
As demonstrated in my VLOG post Getting Started with Windows 365 Enterprise, the deployment of a Windows 365 Machine is Quick, Simple and Easy. There are additional components that Windows 365 is capable of using, such as Customer Managed Networks and Custom Images, which add other complexities, but these are optional.
Organisational Advantages and Use Cases
Windows 365 and Cloud PCs can benefit organisations in many ways, from onboarding users in remote locations to exploring an Azure AD Join strategy without requiring complex setups of multiple physical machines, VMs etc.
As Cloud PCs are subscription-based, it is simple to cancel the subscription, and all the costs for that license will no longer be billed. The user can use the Cloud PC until the end of the license term, and then the platform destroys the machine after a brief grace period.
One of the most significant use cases for the platform, is for Temporary Staff (Contractors, Consultancies, short-term employees etc.), as the cost of purchasing additional hardware. If the end-user is in a remote location, it saves on shipping costs and the risk of damage or total loss of the device.
Lets look at this scenario. Think of an end-user having an issue with a device whereby the device requires re-provisioning. While this is still a simple task on a well-constructed Modern Implementation of Device Management, an endpoint could be out of action for two or more hours. This also assumes the user does not request additional support. Well, with Cloud PCs, the IT Administrator can re-provision the machine within the Intune UI, and within an hour, the endpoint will be back up and running, ready for the user to be productive once again.
Maybe re-provisioning isn’t the desired approach to every scenario, so Windows 365 also offers device restore points, which are configurable by administrators, and users can even restore the devices themselves using the WebUI or the Windows 365 Application.
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Why Windows 365?
Windows 365 (Cloud PC) is the hot topic of the moment, and why wouldn’t it be? For many years, before most can remember, it has been the norm for IT Departments to Image, configure and deploy Laptops and Workstations for end-users.
However, over the past couple of years, with COVID and other factors, the world has moved to a more distributed workforce, where country boundaries are no longer the border of employment. Companies invested in further development on their virtualisation offerings, such as Azure Virtual Desktop, VMWare Horizon, Citrix etc., however, all of these solutions require specialised skill sets and are very complex and often high maintenance.
Microsoft has taken this one step further and created a PaaS (Platform as a Service) solution that integrates and is managed via Microsoft Intune, delivering the ‘Single Pane of Glass’ management that many businesses seek. The beauty of this is that you do not need to maintain complex infrastructure and configuration sets or perform platform upgrades (including hardware replacements).
As demonstrated in my VLOG post Getting Started with Windows 365 Enterprise, the deployment of a Windows 365 Machine is Quick, Simple and Easy. There are additional components that Windows 365 is capable of using, such as Customer Managed Networks and Custom Images, which add other complexities, but these are optional.
Organisational Advantages and Use Cases
Windows 365 and Cloud PCs can benefit organisations in many ways, from onboarding users in remote locations to exploring an Azure AD Join strategy without requiring complex setups of multiple physical machines, VMs etc.
As Cloud PCs are subscription-based, it is simple to cancel the subscription, and all the costs for that license will no longer be billed. The user can use the Cloud PC until the end of the license term, and then the platform destroys the machine after a brief grace period.
One of the most significant use cases for the platform, is for Temporary Staff (Contractors, Consultancies, short-term employees etc.), as the cost of purchasing additional hardware. If the end-user is in a remote location, it saves on shipping costs and the risk of damage or total loss of the device.
Lets look at this scenario. Think of an end-user having an issue with a device whereby the device requires re-provisioning. While this is still a simple task on a well-constructed Modern Implementation of Device Management, an endpoint could be out of action for two or more hours. This also assumes the user does not request additional support. Well, with Cloud PCs, the IT Administrator can re-provision the machine within the Intune UI, and within an hour, the endpoint will be back up and running, ready for the user to be productive once again.
Maybe re-provisioning isn’t the desired approach to every scenario, so Windows 365 also offers device restore points, which are configurable by administrators, and users can even restore the devices themselves using the WebUI or the Windows 365 Application.