For years, client virtualization has been beneficial for federal agency IT leaders. With the recent rise in hybrid and remote work, it has seen a resurgence.
For example, in July 2022, Microsoft received Department of Defense accreditation for its client virtualization service and made it available to its federal agency customers working with secret-level data. Months later, the Army introduced the capability to its users.
Rather than equipping every agency employee with a desktop computer full of data and licensed software, client virtualization moves the data and software to servers in the organization’s data center. Each desktop or client connects to the server.
Using zero clients, thin clients or BYOD mobile devices instead of traditional desktop machines, IT teams save money by not having to buy and set up thick clients, and the devices are more energy-efficient. Because applications are run and data is stored in a central server, rather than on clients, IT teams have an easier time managing and securing the information.
Decoupled from the physical desktop in physical agency headquarters, employees can work from anywhere. Although government employees are making their way back to the office, IT leaders must maintain flexibility to support them wherever they are working.
Desktop as a Service may allow them to do that. One of the major types of client virtualization, DaaS came to prominence during the pandemic because it enabled agencies to scale up quickly and relatively inexpensively to support employees for remote work. Research from Gartner shows that spending on DaaS will continue to climb in 2023, driven by continued cloud migration.