Windows Virtual Desktop is an Azure service that provides a complete Windows 10 virtualized multi-user interface along with the licenses, utilities, and resources required to match the same versatility of in-office operations. Whether you’re working with a staff of ten or 1,000, WVD works to maintain a flexible, budget-friendly, and scalable approach to remote collaboration and connectivity.
Personnel dispersed into mobile teams during the Covid-19 pandemic have continued to work remotely one year later with no foreseeable return date. Many companies plan to maintain their investment in technology, as evident by data from recently surveyed CFOs. Windows Virtual Desktop has gone further to support organizations and save them money by consolidating security, data management, and regulatory licensing, among other benefits.
Microsoft shared a case study focused on the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYC DEP), an organization that simply cannot miss a step in its day-to-day contribution to the health and safety of 8.14 million people. The mission of the NYC DEP, as stated on their website, is ‘to enrich the environment and protect public health for all New Yorkers by providing high-quality drinking water, managing wastewater and stormwater, and reducing air, noise, and hazardous materials pollution.’ The NYC DEP is an agency with 19 business divisions and about 5,600 workers. It is enormous in size and scope, with an IT department that must support field operations 24/7. For years, since the days of Microsoft Virtual Server, the NYC DEP has relied on Microsoft Azure services. Microsoft highlighted how a quick pivot to Windows Virtual Desktop proved to be an invaluable strategy in continuing the efforts of such an essential service, with minimal disruption.
The New York City Department of Environmental Protection is the agency in charge of moving fresh water in and storm and wastewater out. It also maintains miles of underground pipes and the ecologically rich above-ground drainage systems that naturally handle runoff precipitation from streets and sidewalks.
As stated in Microsoft’s case study on the NYC DEP’s work, ‘moving people across a unique geography is a big enough undertaking for such a populous city as New York, but an even more essential job is delivering the 1 billion gallons of fresh drinking water New York City’s residents require every day.’ When the move to remote work happened in March, the NYC DEP had to shift about a third of its workers to remote work. Windows Virtual Desktop was a natural choice for enhancing remote access because of the agency’s previous investment in Microsoft products. The NYC DEP successfully deployed Windows Virtual Desktop despite difficulties that ranged from its internal portal being inundated with new connections, to training staff who were unfamiliar with the technology.
We wouldn’t have been able to provide remote connectivity at sufficient scale and speed if every employee needed to use a single VPN concentration. A fellow agency told me that to handle its increased traffic from stay-at-home orders, and it had to purchase an additional six or seven VPN concentrations at $1 million each. We avoided that expense with Application Proxy and Application Gateway.
Cecil McMaster: Deputy Commissioner for Business Information Technology
Linear technology usage across devices is rare among teams collaborating remotely, with many engaged between personal workstations and different operating systems. With the implementation of Windows Virtual Desktop, the staff of the NYC DEP now have the flexibility of using their personal devices to remotely connect to agency resources, regardless of operating system, security barriers or disparate software. In conjunction with its IT partners, the NYC DEP now provides infrastructure resiliency and scalability to support its greatest asset, its employees.
At Tallan, we’re excited to assist our customers in becoming more familiar with the Azure powered Windows Virtual Desktop in addition to all related solutions. Our developers are consistently sharing their expertise through monthly webinars, including the upcoming (Feb.10) Azure Immersion Workshop: Windows Virtual Desktop. Click here to learn more about this or any of our upcoming events.
Click here to view the full Microsoft Case Study: Public agency enables remote work in days, adds users 90% faster, and scales on demand.