Posted on December 6, 2020 by Keith Vallely
Larger firms have used VDI (Virtual Desktops) for ages. Smaller firms have had the desire, but not the ability, or the means. What does having a Virtual Desktop mean? It means that the Firm or the Enterprise can fully control ‘what’ software is installed on each user’s computer. It also means that IT has centralized control over security, software updates, usernames/passwords, and more. Lastly, it means that Firm IT can simply ‘end’ a computer or laptop if it is breached or stolen, since the hard drives are encrypted, the security is maintained.
When Microsoft 365 offered Intune, the adoption rate was slow. But now, firms of all sizes (the very large to the small) are now taking advantage of Intune, as they can have centralized control over nearly every aspect of their user’s computers, including what software is installed, what mobile device apps are deployed, and the integrations and other functionally useful apps. All of this can be done from a single Microsoft 365 user interface.
The utilization of Intune being seen across the industry is eye-opening. It is especially critical during COVID-19 times when individual users are using remote network connections from home. And, the risk of data loss or capture from external threats has increased due to the fact that not everyone has an IT security team at their home. The implication of this is a 20 user firm can now deploy a cost effective, standardized, and unified desktop with world-class, billion dollar grade security for a fraction of the cost that AMLAW 100 firms paid to deploy back in the early 00’s. And for the large firms, having a single location where all the desktop elements can be controlled has lowered costs, and increased reliability of the security models for the firm.
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Keith Vallely has been with Epona since 2011, when he joined as director of sales. Established in 1993, Epona is a leading software consulting and productions company operating out of Rotterdam, Düsseldorf and New York.
This is the second part of a four part series. A version of this article was previously published in the Legal IT Insider and can be read here.