Company. Employees. IT. Each have their own set of rules and expectations, and no matter how hard you try and bring them together, you’re bound to run into a few problems along the way.
The company wants safety and security, all at the most economical price. Employees want technology to be easy; available when they want it, and have someone else fix the problems as they arise. Then there’s IT; they try and and bring everyone’s wishes together; keeping the company’s data safe and secure while giving the employees immediate access to all the programs and functions they need and desire.
Every technology strategy needs a few things to remain efficient:
- a place to store the company’s data
- servers to integrate the process
- desktops for the end user
- security to protect the entire process from beginning to end
And in many cases, companies piece a system together in order to provide for their basic needs. How these pieces are put together has varied over the years, and in many ways the pendulum has swung from centralized control to decentralized control. For IT organizations, centralized control is always easier and more cost effective; for end users, decentralized (local) control provides more agility and flexibility.
Now imagine a scenario like this.
IT discovers a breach in security in the most popular browsers. A simple online test will tell a person if they are at risk, and provide the download patch to fix the problem. This is how it plays out:
- Fred over in accounting has required a non-standard PC to run his specialty software, but when IT tells him about the risk and patch, he doesn’t have the time to implement (or allow IT) to fix the problem, and he doesn’t consider the risk that significant.
- Brian in sales is on the road constantly, and chooses to ignore the issue altogether.
- Amanda uses the company imposed citrix desktop and IT has fixed the browser security issues. But she remains frustrated that IT doesn’t have time to add the printer connection she’s requested, so she can print to the printer in the cubical next to her instead of the one across the building. IT has restricted access to the desktop so she can’t do it herself, even when she knows how easy it is. It just isn’t a priority for the IT department with all the network, server and security issues.
If the company’s technology is being accessed in a variety of ways, the IT team will have a difficult time keeping up on potential threats, or even simple customer service issues. How satisfied is your company with IT support? This may be a sign that the team is struggling to keep up with all the priorities they have to face.
This is where a virtual private data center and virtual desktops can come into play.
For several years now, the blending or moderating of these extremes has been through implementing a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) – terminal servers, citrix, and other VDI alternatives. But these are not easy technologies to implement and master. To be truly effective and stable, they require a high technology investment and ongoing commitment to maintenance. Most small companies and small IT shops either can’t or struggle to afford and maintain this software.
But the world is changing again, and evolution of cloud technologies have evolved and become affordable enough for small IT shops and companies to take advantage of VDIs. Even more interesting is moving the servers to the cloud and not having to maintain physical hardware, just the network. This balance of centralized control, and off loading low-value IT functions (like patch management, backups, etc) is at the heart of virtual data centers.
I’m always on the lookout for great resources that can offer my clients the tools and capabilities for running efficiently in today’s world. And DinCloud has caught my eye as a great resource for running a virtual private data centers and VDIs within your business. They even understand the nuances and complexities of various industries compliance requirements. For example, they are willing to sign HIPAA BAA’s.
If your goal for the year is to make your technology more secure and easier to manage, especially with limited resources, this might be a perfect solution for you. If you have further questions about how best to manage a virtual private data center for your team, I’d be happy to answer your questions.