What is a Hosted Desktop Service?

A hosted Desktop service is able to provide high speed access to your computer desktop by using server based computing. This is achieved by centralising your desktop onto high performance servers, and then using a connection to the server which passes keystroke and display information back to the remote computer.

Traditional networks have used what are called “fat clients” using this method all of the data which is required by the remote computer is passed backwards and forwards across the network or VPN. This means that access to applications is often so slow as to be unusable.

Hosted Desktop technology which relies on server based computing “hosts” your desktop remotely allowing you to access this from a wide range of locations. In fact, from almost anywhere. What’s more you can also access your desktop (and all of the associated data and applications) from a range of computers, without having to copy the data between the different devices. All your data is stored securely on central servers which are backed up daily. Where ever you are in the world, as long as you can connect to the internet, you can access your applications, e-mail and data, (entire desktop) safely and securely.

There are a number of different technologies that can be used to deliver these services and there are fundamental differences in the deployments. The current solutions available are typically built using Microsoft, Citrix (which is a bolt on to Microsoft), or VMware.

In order to access the service, you can use your existing equipment, which in reality becomes a 'thin client', meaning that the equipment is just used for display and input purposes only. In addition, you can log in to the desktop from any location, making remote working and hot-desking easy.

With the server, applications and data hosted in a secure environment, you are protected from any mishaps that may occur. System administration is also improved, with tasks such as backups, patch management, system upgrading etc. all being managed on your behalf. This saves you both time and money.

Moving to a Hosted Desktop Solution removes the need for you to continually worry about updating virus definitions and the like, in addition the enterprise levels of security help protect your organisation from malware in the form of spam, viruses, adware etc.

Below are just some of the typical benefits outlined that a Hosted Desktop offers:

ü  Reduce your ongoing annual IT costs

ü  Remove the need to own any server, backup or Back-office equipment

ü  Remove the need to own any software licensing (including Microsoft)

ü  Allow you to utilise Enterprise level infrastructure with ultra high levels of redundancy

ü  A Disaster Recovery solution allowing staff to work from any internet enabled location

Hosted Desktop Comparison belives that in addition to the technical advantages of hosting your office applications, there are also a number of key financial benefits too. Hosted Desktop is a subscription service and charges are calculated on the basis of the number of users. Fees are paid on a monthly basis and often no extra set up costs are required to setup new users.