It’s Time to Consider A Remote Hosted Desktop

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For many organizations, their ability to remain afloat in 2020 and for the foreseeable future, very much depends upon supporting a remote workforce. While there can be many advantages to working remotely or on the go, this relatively new form of work, especially in such volume, likely makes more than a few employers a little nervous. Not only do they not have direct physical oversight of their employees, but they also don’t have as much direct control over the workstations and devices their employees are using either. In this article, we will discuss some of the benefits employers can expect to experience by using a remote hosted desktop. In the end, many organizations will likely view them as an effective way to regain a significant amount of organization and control over valuable assets.

What is a Remote Hosted Desktop?

A remote hosted desktop has its infrastructure, consisting of working memory, software, data, and operating system, residing in the cloud. One of the obvious advantages to this is that IT administrators can now have easier access to the configurations of desktop machines throughout a company even though the employees using computer equipment are all working throughout a broad geographical region.

Powerful and Affordable

Employees that use software requiring significant amounts of computing power can benefit from using a remote hosted desktop model. Anyone that uses graphic-intensive apps such as Adobe editing software or AutoCAD will appreciate both the scalability and affordability of hosting these processes in the cloud rather than from an independent machine. Computing consumption can be more economical as businesses only have to pay for a virtualized GPU. Hosting subscriptions can often be less expensive than buying the high-powered workstations required by such power-intensive apps.

Manage Remote Hosted Desktops Anywhere

Anyone that works in retail knows that managing inventory, along with assets and supply chain components, typically means working between both online and mobile environments. Using a remote hosted desktop configuration, employees can manage processes from any device in any location. Retail processes that specifically benefit from a remote hosted desktop include deploying software updates and evaluating warehouse inventories across multiple locations.

New Options for Healthcare

Healthcare has always been slow to adopt technological changes, largely due to heavy regulations intended to protect confidential patient data. However, with the advent of COVID-19, the use of telemedicine has skyrocketed throughout the globe. Now physicians and other healthcare experts can deliver helpful medical care to patients through the use of virtualized desktops. With the great demand for and overall success of telemedicine, it’s likely that the delivery of effective healthcare has permanently moved in a new direction.

Call Centers

It’s already fairly well known that call centers were one of the first groups that moved to working from remote locations. This type of work typically has a high employee turnover rate and available bandwidth has substantially improved in the past few years. Thus, it should come as no surprise that this type of work will also likely permanently shift to remote positions only.

A cloud-based workspace is ideal for these types of positions since employees typically require all the same applications. Multi-factor authentication and data encryption security features can be built into remote hosted desktops. This provides greater incentives for companies to switch to cloud-based workspaces for these types of positions.

Freelancers for Remote Hosted Desktops

Although companies continue to operate mainly outside the traditional office setting, they still may need to contract with freelancers. Especially during the upcoming holiday season. Remote hosted desktops allow companies to hire the temporary employees they need. Without being burdened by some of the more traditional steps associated with onboarding new staff.

Cloud-based remote desktops offer employers much in the way of tighter control and security over valuable data. IT administrators can easily limit freelancers by only giving them access to the tools and files they need to perform their duties. Onboarding is also simplified, as companies can bring freelancers on simply by providing them with a username and password.

If you’d like to know more about the benefits of remote hosted desktops, please contact us.

#WorkingFromHome Solutions with Microsoft Teams

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Staying home together can be a challenge when it comes to staying connected and apart. Many small to mid-sized businesses are feeling the anxiety of the #WorkFromHome life, just as many employees struggle to maintain a sense of normalcy and minimal disruption to their departmental teams. Business owners can use technology to ensure processes continue to run smoothly during COVID-19.

Microsoft Teams is the essential remote worker’s suite for empowering companies and keeping colleagues connected.

All-In-One Platform

One of the biggest fears many companies harbor is the loss of productivity during this difficult time. The idea of transitioning an entire company to working remotely on minimal notice is a daunting undertaking. With the looming uncertainty and adjustment to new operating procedures, profit loss seems inevitable. Busy companies can’t afford a day off, let alone an undefined furlough.

Now that we’ve covered the doom and gloom, it’s time to look at the vast opportunities this “new normal” presents. There’s no need for productivity to drop off due to transitioning to a remote office. Remote work has been on the rise with many of the top-growing companies over the past few years. The key to success lies in the right tools.

Microsoft Teams eliminates the learning curve by keeping new technology simple. The user-friendly, all-in-one platform centralizes software, CRM databases, spreadsheets, messaging, and more in a secured Cloud based location. 

The result? Reduced employee downtime.

According to the Forrester Study: The Total Economic Impact of Microsoft Teams, “having resources available online in Teams reduces downtime by 14.6 percent.” This allows for streamlined compliance and security while keeping your business on the upward growth curve.

Collaboration Made Simple with Microsoft Teams

The benefits of a dynamic team are often erroneously linked to a shared, brick-and-mortar office. The reality is that it’s quite common for key executive members to operate on a long-distance basis, with flexible hours and remote work quickly becoming the best way to attract high-quality talent. 

Teams makes collaboration a snap with easy documentation, screen sharing, data exchange, and personable communications. In fact, a recent Forrester Study found that “information workers were able to save 4hrs/wk through improved collaboration and information sharing.” This leaves extra hours to catch up on backlogged projects.

The fast, real-time environment of Teams allows businesses to hold morning meetings, schedule conferences with core clients and investors, and check in anytime, anywhere. If your company is growing fast, there’s no reason to pump the brakes quite yet. Interviews are simple and timely via Teams, allowing multiple executive members to be a part of the process.

Best of all, Teams keeps your company together. The sense of camaraderie between our colleagues has never been more needed. Support your staff during this difficult time by fostering a culture of positivity and teamwork.

Budget Friendly for Reduced Overhead

Maintaining fiscal responsibility is more vital now than ever. There’s no need to invest in high-tech solutions to keep your company running from home. Microsoft offers a range of affordable Office 365 and Microsoft 365 options depending on your company’s needs. Best of all, Microsoft Teams is proud to feature small business solutions. If you aren’t looking to purchase a bundled option, the basic app for Teams is free to download and can host up to 300 members.

In addition, travel costs were greatly reduced, freeing up overhead expenses. The Forrester Study found that “an average of 150 overnight trips [were] replaced with online meetings by year 3 [of implementation].”

We know the current state of #WorkingFromHome has yielded a lot of uncertainty, but in the transition to remote work, innovative, new opportunities are being discovered every day. Your friends at Bluwater Technologies are here to support our business clients now more than ever with on-demand IT services for small businesses.

Contact our experts for more COVID-19 guidance and tips on transitioning your office to a robust remote workforce.

How Cloud Technologies Can Streamline Your Business Processes

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Companies probably notice there is frequently a lot of buzz about the cloud in the technological world. However, there are good reasons as to why a business would want to investigate cloud technologies further, mainly because the cloud allows companies to accomplish more while using fewer resources such as their time and money.

Companies who want to always stay a step ahead of their competition are wise to research the tech world’s increasing promotion of cloud technologies.

So what kinds of advantages do cloud services really offer a company? A few of the advantages include concepts like:

  • Availability 24/7 – Support teams for cloud services are available 24/7, meaning employees working on a task late at night don’t have to wait to get help from the more traditional 9-to-5 IT center as in years past.
  • Accomplish Work Tasks Anywhere – Many employees work at home or on the go or spend most of their work day with clients at their offices. As this trend continues, employees and their managers will increasingly expect higher levels of mobility from their technology. Cloud services are delivered anytime, anywhere.
  • Greater Connectivity – Businesses, especially those who are taking advantage of the newer IoT technologies available, find vital information from scanners, smart meters, phones, etc., all working together to create instant information connections through the main access point of cloud services.
  • Increased Collaboration – Having instantaneous information connections allows employees to collaborate with each other at any time and from anywhere. An employee working on a report at their corporate headquarters can work directly with another employee halfway across the country in real-time on the same report.
  • Reduced Storage Costs – Companies also find that cloud services are simply more practical from a hardware perspective. As businesses grow, it can become quite expensive to house all the hardware necessary to support their increased data. Cloud technologies cut down on these storage costs so businesses can use their funds for other purposes.

Want to know more about what cloud services can do for your organization? Contact us.

5 Top Extensions for Microsoft Edge

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Microsoft Edge is the new default Windows browser for Windows 10. It doesn’t have as many browser extensions as Chrome or Firefox. However, there are already a few awesome extensions for Microsoft Edge you should know about.

Adblock Plus

Nobody enjoys seeing endless ads on their computer screen when all they want to do is read their favorite news sites. Adblock Plus is an extension that will help block unwanted ads. Use it to enjoy an ad-free browsing experience.

Ghostery

Afraid of websites tracking your browsing history and collecting data? Ghostery will stop tracking codes that are found in websites you visit. Doing this will also speed up the load times of those sites.

LastPass

In this age of cyber threats, it’s important to safeguard your online data by using secure passwords. One way of doing this is by using a password manager, which will generate a different password for every site you have an account on. You can control all your passwords and log in to any site by accessing your password manager. You can sync your accounts on multiple devices.

Save to Pocket

Ever saw an interesting article that you wanted to read, but couldn’t because you had no time? With Save to Pocket, you can now save interesting articles to your Pocket account. You can access your saved articles from any device.

Office Online

Office Online lets you access your Office 365 account straight from your browser. You can access and edit your documents. You can also create new ones.

For more computer tips, just contact us!

Cloud Servers vs. Dedicated Servers: What’s a Better Fit For Your Business?

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Cloud Servers

With everything moving online through SaaS like Oracle, Taleo, and Salesforce, data backup is becoming a less and less unfamiliar idea. Many companies have employees that telecommute or sell software in the field, and having established networks so people can securely access information from anywhere is becoming more and more business critical. So one of the few remaining questions is: should your business store data on cloud servers or dedicated servers?

Benefits of Cloud Servers

Data is increasingly compact even as available storage grows exponentially beyond what experts thought possible even a decade ago. All of your business’s client information, employee files, and financial records will most likely take up less than a whole server or storage array, so you shouldn’t have to pay for one.

Cloud servers let your company use whatever percentage of a server you need to run your business. They even take into account dips and surges in what you need during your business’s busy season. Backup as a service also means your data is managed by a third-party company. You can access your data in a managed virtual environment that’s easy to read and search.

Benefits of Dedicated Servers

Sometimes businesses aren’t allowed to use cloud-based servers due to stringent security requirements and classified information. Then, they need to store company information on dedicated servers that are physically isolated and protected.

Mega corporations with dedicated IT departments and highly predictable usage might also benefit from using dedicated servers. But if you have a small or growing company, managing your own data without the flexibility of the cloud for spikes or idle periods can be costly.

Cloud-based backup is quick, cost-effective, and grows with your business during its ups and downs. Start getting the data backup that fits your business in minutes with Bluwater Technologies’s back up solutions here.