Benefits of Virtual Workspaces
By: George Nicholas and Matthew Darby
The benefits of cloud-based virtual workspaces or desktops for businesses and non-profits are increased productivity, enhanced security and reduced IT operating expenses.
Productivity thrives when employees, contractors and clients can easily access private and shared folders and documents from their browser anywhere and at any time. A desktop in the cloud provides a very fast internet connection for running applications efficiently. A bidirectional sync between folders and files in the cloud and on local computers may be enabled if offline work is desired. Virtual workspaces enhance collaboration among team members. View only or contributor status may be selected. The latest edits and versions of documents are immediately available.
At Apian Systems we utilize the top cloud infrastructure providers (e.g. Amazon Web Services) for our clients' workspaces. A reasonable level of security for virtual workspaces is standard including encrypted file storage and redundancy. If data sensitivity, regulations or compliance require very high security then additional layers of security and redundancy may be added. As a practical matter migrating data to cloud servers removes the physical threats associated with onsite systems. Workspaces can be configured to limit a user’s “access” to only the folders and data required and rights needed to perform assigned tasks (e.g. read only, edit, etc.).
Whether your business culture is BYOD (bring and use your own device) or dedicated local computers cloud-based workspaces save costs by eliminating hardware, software and IT management costs associated with onsite systems. Additionally, virtual workspaces provide bundled OS (e.g. Windows) and popular software (e.g. MicroSoft Office Suite) that automatically update. At Apian Systems we help client’s save costs by providing only the “fractional” IT services necessary to configure, maintain and, if needed, monitor the workspaces in their virtual offices.
George Nicholas is the Chief Executive Officer of Apian Systems and a lawyer.
Matthew Darby is the Chief Technology Officer of Apian Systems and a computer scientist.
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