I’ve been reading a lot of posts lately about the “why” around Cloud PC, why and when you would use a Cloud PC and what the scenarios could be. This inspired me a bit!
The way we often see virtual computers is that “yeah they are great, but this is way too complex for us” or the more common one “we triend that 5 years ago, we won’t go down that route again”.
My idea for this post is to talk a little bit about why you should move to Windows 365 for the bulk of your users and use AVD for those niche implementations where Windows 365 can’t really fulfill your needs today.
Why would you work from a Cloud PC?
Image that you are like me, a consultant, who collaborates with several different customers who all have their own environment. Or maybe you have taken the decision to support Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), which would be a similar scenario for consultants.
When I talk to customers and other people about Windows 365, we often discuss two scenarios:
- Consultants/part time workers,
- Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A).
The first one is way more common to be honest since most organisations today have at least some consultants in their team.
If you look at a consultant, they usually work for some kind of company which provides them with a computer which they take with them everywhere they go (I know I do). Since they already have a computer, why give them yet another one to fill their backpack with? Why not use a Cloud PC which they can access from a device of their choice, which you can configure in such a way that information cannot leave the Cloud PC.
Using a Cloud PC, you can give a consultant or employee access to the internal network without them having to install anything on their, by your company, unmanaged device. The device they will work from will be fully managed and you can be sure that you have done everything in your power that you have secured your data.
Working from a Cloud PC isn’t that different from using a physical, since all we do today requires an internet connection anyway. Sure, you get reliant on always having an internet connection (until Windows 365 introduces the offline mode). But let’s face it, we are already reliant on that for collaborating in our daily work, I’m myself never offline unless basically traveling on an airplane.
Environmental impact
There is also another aspect of this, which we might not always talk about, but I find interesting. It’s the fact that getting new computers has a significant impact on the environment, and getting hold of hardware isn’t always that easy nowadays (long lead times).
Using Windows 365 has some environmental benefits compared to physical computers. Firstly, it reduces the amount of energy, water, and resources needed to produce and dispose of physical hardware. Secondly, it optimizes the use of computing resources and reduces energy consumption, which lowers the associated carbon emissions.
However, using virtual desktops needs a reliable internet connection and raises concerns about data privacy and security. Overall, while the environmental impact of using Windows 365 compared to physical computers is complex, cloud-based computing services can reduce the need for physical hardware and use computing resources more efficiently, thus benefiting the environment.
The fact that we can run Cloud PCs on any hardware, this also means that older hardware can be used longer (but be careful using Windows 10 after 14 of October 2025 since it will no longer get patched). There are many ways of making use of older hardware without needing to install Windows on them even. IgelOS is an awesome example of this, and there are many other products like them!
The takeaway
So, what do I think you should take away from this blog post?
Firstly, I think you should seriously consider STOP giving your consultants PCs and have them use Cloud PCs instead. This will save you time and money since you will not have to source computers for them, and it’s not too uncommon that we provide consultants with older hardware which might have reached the end of its lifecycle and might not be too reliant anymore.
There are great examples of this, such as the Swedish manufacturing company Alleima who in a Microsoft customer case describes how they look at this. There is also another Swedish example with the energy company Kraftringen who also went down the same path with using Windows 365 for temporary workers.
Secondly, let’s face it. The consultant already has one computer which they bring wherever they go. Why give them yet another computer they need to fit into their already filled up backpack? And when the assignment is over, you have the hassle of getting that computer back, especially if you have used resources which are not local to your area. Then it needs to be shipped or a visit to the office planned and coordinated.
Using a Cloud PC, you can have a consultant up and running within a few hours, without having to get any kind of hardware to them!
But as always, there are of course instances where a physical machine is required, but I would say that you could solve the consultant situation 80-90% of the time! 😊
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