Virtualization empowers a physical machine to work with multiple operating systems, software, and applications by creating an abstract layer over personal computer hardware. This arrangement of the virtualization on a physical server or machine optimizes the hybrid work environment to perform at its maximum potential. In addition to performance enhancement, it helps IT companies to set up a cost-efficient data center. With the capability to divide the top of the hardware into several multiple segments, virtualization is more required by businesses for efficient hybrid work culture in comparison to any other technology in the post-Covid-19 scenario.
An employee is required to reach the office frequently while working remotely for:-
- Training and learning activities
- Collaborations like agile sprints & scrums
- For innovations including R&D, prototyping, design thinking, etc.
- For involvement in team bonding, social connection, culture & values.
- Onboarding and orientation.
- For enhanced team formations, health checks, and ongoing coaching
- For client meetings, product launches, focus groups, etc.
In the hybrid work culture, where, an employee has to share his work hours between remote as well as office, the virtualization offers solutions such as DaaS (Desktop as a Service) and VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) to improve his efficiency. While working on BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) device, employees can also have access to the office resource from their virtual desktop without worrying about data security. During the process, virtualization takes care of everything.
Overall, virtualization helps an organization in hybrid work culture to:-
1. Regain Consistency (Virtualized Onsite Practices)
2. Regain Visibility (Introducing Monitoring Systems)
3. Regains Innovativeness ( Increase Virtual Meetings)
Why Do Companies Need Virtualization in Hybrid Work Culture?
As evident while transient work status is becoming a new normal, many businesses are considering the hybrid work culture to be a permanent state of working in the future. They are now in the immediate urge to design business strategies suitable to the remote working and equipping workforce with desired collaborative tools and applications to avoid interrupting workflows for maximum productivity. Along with seamless workflow, virtualization fulfills the demand for improved employee engagement and retention.
Primary performance-related issues that virtualization helps to overcome in the hybrid work environment are:
· Poor Infrastructure: Redundant IT hardware and technology are the most prominent reasons that hinder the performance of the hybrid work environment. Virtualization resolves this issue by creating virtual machines capable of application updates. At the same time, it also seamlessly handles the challenges of network connection faced by an employee during remote working.
· Data Security: As workers working remotely with untrusted personal devices during virtual data exchanges in hybrid working, data security is the area of utmost security and concern for the organization. The virtualization offers context-aware security facilitated with watermarking features for restricted access.
· IT Administration: The role of an IT manager is instrumental in running a hybrid working environment smoothly and fast. The simple virtualization solution enables an IT admin to have simplicity in handling DaaS solutions hosted on the cloud. It helps him to provide a fully hosted cloud desktop in minutes.
· Remote Connectivity: Hybrid workforce requires most working across connected devices overthedigital workspaces and also being connected to virtual desktop seamlessly. Virtualization allows an employee to use an app through a separate connected device from the repository, where the app is actually installed. The virtualization helps to keep everything intact and smooth within the enterprise where the workload is increasing day-by-day.
Virtualization Solutions to Overcome Bottlenecks to the Hybrid Work Culture
Virtualization can be deemed as a one-stop solution for a hybrid work culture to become seamless, efficient, and highly optimized. It scales up physical office capabilities to be used by more than 500 remotely logged employees within minutes that were previously used by only 30 persons. It does this on a need basis without any performance hassles.
· Application Virtualization: With the help of application virtualization every employee can access the applications of their choice, irrespective of the platform they are using whether Windows, MacOS or Linux. Moreover, it updates apps in real-time without effort. In the technology, the application layer remains detached from OS without any need of installing an application on an employee’s personal device. The application while placed within a virtual server can access the OS of a remote server. In addition application virtualization offers a cost-effective licensing and server setup across several machines while saving valuable money, otherwise, spent over license costs. It also eliminates the need for support services add-on.
· Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) or Desktop as a Service (DaaS): Nothing can be more useful than VDI for hybrid work culture to access the personal and business data on the same machine from home. Across the virtual desktop employees, computers can be allotted on a session basis through DaaS. For example, an employee can connect and log in to the desktop in the office through a virtual desktop client. There are several other benefits offered by virtual desktop infrastructure for the efficiency of remote working.
Ø In VDI, workers accessing their desktop through a browser, have the capability to use any OS regardless of device, whether, it is a phone, a tablet, or a laptop. Additionally, with a single login, they can access all of their apps and data from every location.
Ø The desktop virtualization enables an employee to use a minimum of his BYOD device, thus, improving efficiency and security of data on both, remote as well as working from the office. It also provides a secured, controlled desktop where data always remains within the data center.
Ø Contrary to VPN (Virtual Private Network), VDI provides more enhanced security to corporate data. Regardless, of the location of the user, the file access always remains restricted only locally, to the LAN.
Ø Virtual desktops offer an immense level of portability. After accessing from remote, when, an employee accesses it even from the office campus, the experience remains the same.
Ø VDI provides IT managers more control over applications in order to exercise their rights more frequently over user access to the application. They even can change the roles of a user within an organization after due approvals from the management. In absence of virtualization, an admin would have to carry out every task including uninstalling an app from a user’s device physically. In case of data loss too, an admin can instantly prohibit a user from accessing the sensitive data.
Ø The DaaS ensures that a user working on a personal device can’t save information critical data on his system. IT can stop him from saving data on his personal containers. Virtualization creates desktop containers with encrypted sandboxes within them retaining both data and sandboxes. Only user with access rights can only use those applications.
Ø VDI further allows users to have faster updates to the new releases of apps without any need for administrators to intervene for software updates. Application virtualization absolutely frees up an IT staff to install the app on every user’s device.
· Virtual Workspaces: Alike desktop virtualization, workspace virtualization copies a local desktop with the help of installed applications. Distinct from the traditional desktop it is rather a repository to launch applications and suites.
Conclusion
Hence, virtualization bridges the gap in hybrid work culture lying between working from home and office, intermittently. Virtualization leads an employee as well an organization to reach their productivity levels by integrating their systems in office and remote devices through VDI and DaaS for efficiency.
