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Looking for a cost effective alternative to Citrix or VMware Horizon (Omnissa)? Inuvika OVD Enterprise is a feature rich product that delivers Windows and Linux apps and desktops to any device. OVD Enterprise is built on Linux. With our resource contai...Read more about Inuvika OVD Enterprise
Workspot is a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) that is designed for businesses in finance, legal, healthcare, retail, manufacturing, life sciences, construction and education. Administrators can configure security policies across applications, data and...Read more about Workspot
Thinfinity Remote Desktop allows you to securely deliver your Windows applications and desktops to any device with an HTML5 browser, no matter if they are hosted on the cloud, installed on-premises, or on hybrid architectures. Thinfinity Remote Desktop run...Read more about Thinfinity Remote Desktop
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Thinfinity Workspace is an advanced, unified platform designed to help organizations modernize their IT environments through a range of integrated capabilities. It combines Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), Desktop as ...Read more about Thinfinity Remote Workspace
Kasm Workspaces is a container streaming platform for delivering browser, desktop and application workloads to the web browser. Kasm is changing the way that businesses deliver digital workspaces using our open-source web-native container streaming techno...Read more about Kasm Workspaces
Cameyo is the secure and 70% more cost-effective alternative to virtual desktop products like Citrix & VMware. Cameyo's Virtual App Delivery (VAD) service provides ultra-secure access to all SaaS, legacy Windows & internal apps your people need to be produ...Read more about Cameyo
Workspace ONE is a user-friendly intelligence-driven digital workspace solution that enables users to securely manage and deliver any app anywhere and on any device. It provides one source of truth for end user access, provisioning, security, compliance, ...Read more about Workspace ONE
Azure is a comprehensive computing platform, providing cloud infrastructure, products and services, developer tools, and innovations in data and AI. More than 95 percent of the Fortune 500 choose Azure. Azure has unique on-premises, hybrid, multicloud, and...Read more about Microsoft Azure
Softdrive is a high-performance GPU virtual desktop. Softdrive is the least expensive and only GPU Cloud-PC that has its own cutting edge remote desktop Software that feels like a local PC. Download Softdrive app on any old computer or thin client and s...Read more about Softdrive
Ansys Gateway powered by AWS is the solution for developers, designers, and engineers who want to manage their complete Ansys Simulation & CAD/CAE developments in the cloud. Remove the hardware barrier by running your CAD and CAE jobs in the Cloud. With An...Read more about Ansys Gateway powered by AWS
Weytop's mastery of new streaming technologies now makes it possible to offer a virtual computer of unmatched simplicity and ease of use. The Weytop Cloud PC is a completely dematerialized virtual computer where the work environment is hosted in the Cloud...Read more about Weytop
VirtualBox is an on-premise desktop virtualization platform that helps businesses run and manage virtual machines across different operating systems (OS). Using the open virtualization format (OVF), professionals can import appliances and export virtual ma...Read more about VirtualBox
Flaneer is a virtual desktop provider. With Flaneer, your staff can access their work environment in 1 click, and in any situation (WFH, mobility, etc), and from any device (tablet, PC, laptop). With Flaneer you can configure a customized environment in...Read more about Flaneer
A complete and versatile tool for backup of physical PCs, Virtual Machines (VMware ESX, ESXi, vSphere/Hyper-V), Servers, SQL, and Exchange databases. Using Uranium Backup you can run drive image backup, FTP backup, cloud backup, backup to NAS devices, and ...Read more about Uranium Backup
Resilio Active Everywhere is a file synchronization and transfer software designed specifically for the enterprise environment. With its peer-to-peer architecture and real-time capabilities, Resilio Connect enables organizations to sync and transfer massiv...Read more about Resilio Active Everywhere
Cloudalize is a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) solution that enables government organizations and businesses in the architecture, entertainment, manufacturing, construction, real estate and education industries to securely facilitate remote working p...Read more about Cloudalize
TruGrid is a remote desktop protocol (RDP) solution that helps businesses access virtual desktops, assess risks, print remotely and more. It provides a Google Authenticator and time-based one-time password (TOTP) enabled two-factor authentication to improv...Read more about TruGrid
ACE Cloud Hosting’s Desktop as a Service (DaaS) is a virtual desktop environment offering customized desktop solutions for diverse industries. ACE’s DaaS ensures efficient virtual desktop and application delivery over secure channels to end-user devices. T...Read more about Ace Cloud Hosting
Cloud Hosting is a VDI solution that helps tax preparation and CPA businesses with hosting, encrypting, and collaboration. The main features of Cloud Hosting include data encryption, file management, collaboration tools, enterprise firewall, and document m...Read more about Cloud Hosting
Venn is revolutionizing how businesses enable remote workers and contractors, removing the burden of buying and securing laptops or dealing with virtual desktops. Our patented technology provides companies with a new approach to securing workers on unmanag...Read more about Venn
Wisper 360 is a workstation management solution that centralizes the deployment of user environments across desktops and laptops, both on-site and remotely, without relying on cloud infrastructure. It offers features like unlimited workstation management, ...Read more about Wisper 360
FastDesk is a desktop-as-a-service (DaaS) solution designed to help businesses access, and audit manage remote desktops using virtualization techniques. Hosted on DDoS-protected cloud infrastructure, it enables IT teams store and retrieve application data ...Read more about FastDesk
HPE GreenLake is a cloud management platform that allows businesses to create, manage and deploy applications in the cloud. It is used for building and managing hybrid clouds. It allows users to manage their data in multiple locations and with different sy...Read more about HPE GreenLake
Google Cloud Compute Engine delivers configurable virtual machines running in Google’s data centers with access to high-performance networks and storage. Users can configure their virtual machines by choosing a machine type and adding one or more resources...Read more about Google Cloud Compute Engine
Shells is your personal cloud computer that can be accessed from any web-enabled device so you can take your desktop computer with you wherever you go. With Shells, your computer is with you anywhere, anytime. Never worry again about losing your data beca...Read more about Shells
This detailed guide will help you find and buy the right vdi software for you and your business.
Last Updated on March 16, 2023IT management is complex. From installing operating systems (OS) and business applications to ensuring data is secure and remotely accessible, there are several complex processes involved. And with companies implementing flexible remote work arrangements, the complexities are only increasing.
Virtual desktop interface (VDI) software helps address these challenges. It allows companies to host their server infrastructure and OS as well as business data on the cloud. This not only offers remote access to all business applications but also helps manage apps with complex processing requirements.
With several VDI solutions available on the market, software selection can be a time-consuming process. To help you make a purchase decision, we’ve created this buyers guide that has all the information you’ll need.
Here's what we'll cover:
VDI software is a type of software that allows users to host desktop environments on remote servers. In other words, it hosts the OS and business applications on the cloud so that both can be accessed remotely with any device. This tool is especially useful for implementing work-from-home policies where users need remote data access, but the movement of data through on-premise servers could result in lags and glitches.
This software allows businesses to move either the entire or a part of the server load of their business systems to the cloud. Since a majority of the processing happens on the cloud, business devices (such as desktops and laptops) bear less strain, which in turn increases their life spans.
Installing applications in Citrix Cloud (Source)
In this section, we’ll look at some of the key features of VDI software.
Desktop virtualization | Simulate the desktop environment and run applications on the cloud using virtual desktop images that can be accessed remotely. |
Data security and compliance management | Ensure compliance with data security policies, encrypt personal details, enforce firewall restrictions, and deploy data security apps for all connected systems. |
Data integration | Import data from public and private clouds or on-premise systems, and store it on the vendor’s cloud servers. |
Application virtualization | Save and run business applications on cloud servers and access them via virtual desktop images. |
Connection brokerage | Monitor the movement of data from cloud servers to virtual desktops. Control user access to applications or any other hosted resource. |
Based on the types of hosted applications, most VDI software buyers can be divided into one of the following two categories:
Businesses hosting applications with high load-processing requirements: These businesses use VDI software to host only those applications that have high load-processing requirements, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) and business intelligence (BI) applications. To ensure access at all times, such businesses should invest in a VDI solution that has a guaranteed uptime of 99.5%.
Businesses hosting all business applications: These businesses need to host all of their business applications on the cloud. To ensure successful deployment, they should seek a minimum software uptime of 95% along with migration assistance from the vendor to migrate existing applications and databases. They should also perform higher due diligence to check whether the vendor facilitates smooth exit of applications when switching providers.
There are several benefits of using VDI software. Let’s have a look at a few of the most notable.
Higher cost savings: VDI software hosts your OS and desktop environment on cloud servers, which means you don’t have to purchase internal servers. Also, since all processing happens on the cloud, the load on business devices (desktops, laptops, etc.) is reduced, which increases their life spans.
Better data security: Lost or stolen devices pose significant security risks to your business data. With VDI software, you can minimize such risks. As both the OS and business applications are hosted on the cloud and can be accessed remotely, you can log in instantly from another device to restrict unauthorized access.
Access to on-premise software with complex server needs: There may be certain on-premise solutions that you aren’t able to use due to their complex server management requirements. With VDI software, such solutions are installed on the vendor’s servers, allowing you to use them without having to deal with hardware, server, or scalability complexities.
Easy implementation of flexible work policies: Implementing flexible work arrangements has its share of IT issues. Businesses must set up virtual private networks (VPNs) to ensure secure data transfer while also backing up existing data to avoid a breach in case a device is stolen or damaged. VDI software moves data processing and storage to the cloud and automatically backs up all business data. It also enables administrators to control user access remotely, thus minimizing instances of data breaches in case a device is stolen.
Mobile device access on the rise: Mobility is one of the biggest trends driving the adoption of VDI software. With more users accessing business applications on their smartphones and tablets, VDI solution providers have started adding mobile devices as service endpoints to offer a seamless mobile experience.
Note: The application selected in this article is an example to show a feature in context and isn’t intended as an endorsement or recommendation. It has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable at the time of publication.