Nerdio: Why Cloud-Based Virtual Desktops Need Support And Control

Cloud is powerful. Plugging into cloud computing software applications and data services means adopting and opening up an organization’s operational fabric to a powerhouse of functions and IT form factors. While the wider notion of cloud (that the industry at large sells us) is one of simplified flexibility, the reality is often a complex process of fine-tuned software engineering with nuances, snags and trade-offs - whichever of the three major hyperscaler Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) an organization buys its cloud from.

In a world where Mark Zuckerberg thinks cloud computing is too expensive and CSPs try to package up cloud packages in cost-effective bundles known as ‘reserved instances’, we can reasonably suggest that the cloud is powerful, but sometimes quite difficult to buy.

Easier routes to cloud

Because so much of the cloud computing universe has become to be so powerful, we have seen a whole industry evolve that works to try and make things easier. Before a business brings its cloud services online, it often looks to intermediary cloud specialists to get cloud working within practical cost and functionality parameters. Now bolstered by the era of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and generative AI technologies that shoulder human IT management and administration tasks, commercial enterprises and government bodies have ways of getting to the cloud with a helping hand when they need it - which typically, they do.

Situated firmly in this sector of the IT market is Nerdio, a provider of software designed to help a business cost-optimize native Microsoft cloud technologies. A Microsoft advocate and partner, today Nerdio concentrates on developing software application development and cloud engineering skills aligned to Microsoft Azure, Windows 365, Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop and Microsoft Intune.

NOTE: A perhaps lesser-known part of the Microsoft cloud wheelhouse, Microsoft Intune is an endpoint management product built to look after user access to organizational resources and application or device control management.

What is Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)?

But what are virtual desktops? Among the key reasons for using cloud computing in the first place and as clarified by Microsoft itself, Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) enables users to access their company’s computer systems from almost any device (laptop, smartphone, or tablet), eliminating the need to manage, repair and replace a physical machine.

Key advantages of VDI include easier scalability (adding new users is sometimes known as zero-touch enrollment, new employees don’t need to wait to have an operating system and set of applications with corresponding access permissions installed on a new machine), ease of management, tighter security controls, centralized & faster app maintenance or updates - and there's also cost. The cost savings come from lower management costs due to all of the above and the fact that employees can use so-called thin client machines with less power and resources; this means workers can tap into the cloud for everything they need to work remotely or in an office. Once appropriately authorized for access, users can work with company servers, files, apps and services through a secure desktop client or browser.

Coming full circle back to our ease of deployment and adoption argument, Nerdio technology is designed to allow an organization’s in-house IT department (or an external third-party Managed Service Provider (MSP) to deploy, manage and optimize Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) services in Microsoft Azure. But what’s inside the box here and how does this technology work and help those in-house teams and MSPs?

What is cloud provisioning a chore?

Nerdio Manager for MSP is a Microsoft Azure-managed application that automatically handles all the cloud provisioning tasks associated with getting instances of cloud working and functioning. The technology provides a view (IT vendors love to say a ‘single pane of glass’) through an administration portal that allows cloud engineers to optimize virtual desktop environments across a given user base. Nerdio Manager for Enterprise is a packaged Microsoft Azure cloud application designed to be securely deployed in an organization’s own cloud tenant by allowing third-party vendors access to the IT environment. Nerdio itself resides on top of the existing Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) service.

The question then arises, what is cloud provisioning a chore? This is a story in and of itself, but let’s just say that tough stuff Nerdio looks to shoulder here includes the administration tasks associated with specifying the amount of processing power, storage capacity, transactional capability, security protection, disaster recovery ability, system monitoring & observability controls, cloud service dependency allocations, user access policy enforcement and so on… all the way into reporting and documentation (the list goes on, let’s agree to say that provisioning is burdensome) that a cloud has once it is ‘spun up’ and brought to life.

According to Nerdio CEO Vadim Vladimirskiy, “Cloud hyperscalers want to deliver a ‘mass market’ product and with maximum flexibility so that the foundational service on offer is applicable to all industries and as many use cases as possible. This is not a ‘intuitive’ technology for many software engineers, even those working in the most contemporary IT environments with the most modern outlook; so we offer a key route to building and managing virtual desktop environments that avoids provisioning headaches and a proportion of cloud certification requirements as well. But provisioning is just ‘day one’ in any technology lifecyle, Nerdio extends deeply into ‘day two’ technology responsibilities spanning management functions covering everything from cost optimization and performance optimization onward to auto-scaling to make sure virtual desktop environments are making use of the right amount of cloud services - not too much (a typical human desktop is only needed for 40 hours a week) and not too little.”

Just how popular is this whole approach to modern cloud deployment? Nerdio currently says it has doubled its annual recurring revenue as a result of customer growth, new product services and partner expansion. The company suggests that businesses across a range of industries are transitioning from traditional VDI solutions to Microsoft's Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) and Windows 365.

Vladimirskiy explains that his company ‘adds value’ on top of the capabilities in Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop, Windows 365 and Microsoft Intune by delivering features that simplify management, ensure efficient operations and lower Azure compute and storage costs by up to 80% via automation.

“As an Independent Software Vendor (ISV), we add value ‘on top of’ what a cloud hyperscaler delivers. To put it simply, if the Cloud Service Provider provides the foundation and the materials, we’re the tools that help you build the house. We take the infrastructure of Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop and leverage it to build end user computing services for modern use cases across industry and business,” said Vladimirskiy. “We anticipate further growth throughout the year, nearly doubling our headcount to meet the evolving needs of customers seeking to modernize their workforce” he added.

Helping hybrid workforces

By using Nerdio, its partners are promised a route to managing customers' cloud environments through what is described as streamlined, multi-tenant, workflow-powered technology that allows them to create and grow cloud-based recurring revenues. According to the company’s core pledge, enterprise IT professionals can use its technology to deliver and maintain a wide range of virtual Windows endpoints across hybrid workforces and fine-tune End-User Computing (EUC) services using monitoring and analytics

This year the company has previewed product developments aimed at transforming the management and cost optimization of virtual and physical desktops, applications and Microsoft Azure infrastructure. This includes the infusion of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into Nerdio's products and transforming infrastructure management from a reactive to a predictive model. The introduction of generative Al assistants is designed to aid IT administrators in tasks such as scripted action generation, report creation, data analysis and providing guidance across the product interface.

“Nerdio is also addressing the intricate challenges in application storage and delivery for MSPs and enterprises by offering a unified approach to manage application delivery and updates across physical devices and virtual desktops,” noted the company, in a press statement. “The company has [also] intensified its focus on bolstering partner initiatives with a new community forum to foster community through knowledge sharing and an improved enterprise partner program for increased profitability.”

Is virtual desktop the future?

We must surely now ask, is virtual desktop the future?

If the gaming industry has anything to teach us (and it has lots), we know that cloud gaming access from mobile devices and via consoles such as the Xbox is on the rise. Statistics detailed on Statista say that “This growth [in cloud gaming] is expected to continue, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 33.59% from 2024 to 2028.” Not everyone needs to go to the store and buy the box to experience the experience it seems… and we all know that trend is also played out (pun intended) in music streaming.

“Gaming and streaming (of all kinds of media) is a fair enough reference point and you can draw that parallel to a degree, but the reality of virtual desktop use is validated by business-level adoption that we see with customers every day,” said Vladimirskiy. “Think about Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and the growth of call centers as a perfect example where virtual desktop use makes sense i.e. with many staff being temporary workers or contractors, no business wants to give this level of staff access to physical machines with potential access to all company data. Teaching is another prime use case and always mobile (and cash-strapped) students using thin clients is a solid trend, as is healthcare with nurses able to tap into patient records on devices while moving from ward to ward, but remaining connected to a central repository of records and often sensitive personal information.”

Looking at figures offered by market analysis business Industry Research, “The global Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) market size was valued at USD $ 19574.59 million in 2022 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 18.33% during the forecast period, reaching USD $ 53735.6 million by 2028.”

Taking the statistics and the reality of the use cases happening today together - and perhaps also considering the use of thin-client devices like Chromebooks, we may be able to see the trend, virtual desktop reality is real.