Make remote work easier and more secure with Azure Virtual Desktop

Glenn Arild Haugland Glenn Arild Haugland is a Product Manager in the Stavanger Office. Glenn Arild is an engineer and founder with a wide experience in tech, product and business development. In Cegal, he manages several core products in the Cetegra portfolio, like HPD, HPC, and Connect@plant.

10/14/2024 |

Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD), ControlUp, and Nerdio are hot topics among IT professionals these days. This blog gives a brief overview of the technologies and why you should consider testing them out in your business.

AVD Tech Fest 2024 took place in Amsterdam on September 24-25. This international gathering of industry experts, vendors, and technology enthusiasts is focused purely on Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) .

AVD Tech Fest allows both IT technologists and decision-makers to dive deep into the potential of AVD technology. The keynotes and insight sessions were presented as a “multi-session” pick-and-choose mix. To mention a few leading industry voices, Tom Hickling, Brian Madden, and Ruben Spruijt shared the latest trends and innovations in AVD and Windows 365.

Now, if you ask, “What is AVD?” – check out the following summary of AVD and two related technologies we are looking at these days: ControlUp and Nerdio . This article will not be a deep dive, but after reading it, you should know the basics of AVD and what value ControlUp and Nerdio add to AVD.

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At this event, Cegal had six people present: Glenn Arild Haugland, John Henrik Andersen, Arild Johannes Langeland Rørheim, Brede Marthinsen, Roald Aakre Dreggevik, Geir Andre Sirevaag.

Azure Virtual Desktop explained

Azure Virtual Desktop is a cloud-based service from Microsoft that allows organizations to virtualize Windows operating systems, apps, and entire desktops, making them accessible from any location and on any device. AVD is built on the Microsoft Azure platform and offers a scalable, flexible solution for delivering virtual desktops and remote applications.

AVD is especially suited for remote work, offering a whole desktop experience to users anywhere, while IT administrators can centrally manage and scale resources through Azure. Key features:

Multi-session Windows 10/11: Multiple users can simultaneously use a single virtual machine (VM) with Windows 10/11, reducing resource consumption.
Seamless integration with Microsoft 365: AVD integrates smoothly with Office apps, Microsoft Teams, and other Microsoft services, optimizing productivity in virtual environments.
Enhanced Security: AVD includes features like Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) integration and multifactor authentication, helping to secure user access and data.
Cost Efficiency: AVD offers pay-as-you-go pricing models, allowing businesses to control costs by only paying for the resources they actually use.

In one sentence, the values above and under can be described as addressing vital operational challenges and enhancing the overall user experience.

The value of ControlUp and Nerdio in AVD environments

ControlUp

ControlUp improves the performance and reliability of Azure Virtual Desktop through its advanced monitoring, troubleshooting, and remediation tools.

Real-Time Monitoring: ControlUp provides deep insights into the end-user experience across AVD environments by monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs) such as application load times, session responsiveness, network latency, and login durations. This real-time visibility helps IT administrators quickly identify performance bottlenecks or issues affecting user productivity.
Proactive Troubleshooting: When issues arise within AVD, ControlUp helps IT teams troubleshoot problems by offering detailed analytics and root cause analysis. This minimizes downtime and improves the end-user experience by resolving issues before they escalate.
Automation and Remediation: ControlUp offers automated workflows to resolve common problems, such as auto-remediating resource shortages or restarting malfunctioning services. This reduces the need for manual intervention and speeds up issue resolution.
User Experience Enhancement: By constantly monitoring the health of AVD environments, ControlUp helps ensure that users receive a seamless and consistent experience, improving overall satisfaction and productivity in virtual desktop environments.

Nerdio

Nerdio simplifies and automates the management of Azure Virtual Desktop, particularly focusing on cost optimization, automation, and scalability.

Cost Optimization: Managing costs in cloud environments is often challenging, and Nerdio provides automation tools to ensure that businesses pay only for the resources they use. It dynamically scales virtual machines based on usage patterns, shutting down unused VMs and optimizing resource allocation, which can significantly reduce cloud expenses.
Simplified Deployment and Management: Nerdio automates much of the setup and ongoing management of AVD, including provisioning virtual machines, assigning users, and managing updates. This removes the complexity associated with manual configurations, making it easier for businesses to deploy and scale AVD environments.
Self-Service IT and User Onboarding: Nerdio enables easier management of user accounts, licensing, and resource allocation. This automation allows organizations to onboard users quickly and provides them with the necessary resources, reducing the workload on IT departments.
Multi-tenant Management for MSPs: For managed service providers (MSPs), Nerdio offers multi-tenant management capabilities, enabling them to manage multiple customer environments from a single interface. This simplifies the management of Azure resources across different clients, streamlining operations for MSPs.