Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, Virtual Application solutions, and Remote PC/Remote Desktop (collectively referred to as VDI here) have been around since the mid-1990's, but with the pandemic induced forced move to "work from home", and now the on-going hybrid work environments that are prevalent in the marketplace, they've gained a much bigger market share, and larger footprint within Enterprise IT environments.
With this larger footprint they've become a more strategic part of your Enterprise IT infrastructure, which means they demand more attention and resources to assure that they're performing optimally.
When VDI environments are properly designed, deployed, and maintained, they offer a tremendous value in terms of end user enablement to work from anywhere, reduced IT operations overhead by maintaining a centralized system vs. hundreds or thousands of "applications and data islands" also known as PC's, and a reduced attack surface for your Enterprise IT because everything is maintained within a datacenter rather than dispersed across multiple office locations and end user home locations.
When VDI environments are not tuned correctly for one reason or another, the slowness, inability to print or perform other common tasks, and the lost productivity from the session locking, or dropping, or something else is extremely frustrating and will have an adverse effect on user (and administrator) morale. This is the dark side of VDI.
Either of the two VDI experience scenarios above can happen with any manufacturer's solution. Whether you're using Citrix, VMware Horizon, Azure Virtual Desktops, or Amazon AppStream and/or Workspaces, if they're misconfigured or out of tune in any way, you and your end users can experience the dark side of VDI.
With VDI market share at perhaps its highest level in the history of virtualization, the two biggest VDI makers, Citrix and VMware, are creating turmoil in the VDI universe based on buyouts, lay-offs, licensing changes, and support model changes. Where does that leave you? If you need support for your Citrix or VMware VDI environment, who will you call? Or maybe more pointedly, who will answer your call?
Schedule an initial conversation with one of our Managed Services Specialists. Let's figure out how to help you!
MK7, LLC will!
Members of MK7, LLC have 30+ years of direct experience in assessing client needs then designing, deploying, and managing VDI environments. Our VDI support team boasts 40+ highly skilled VDI engineers and administrators. Our proven, repeatable methodology in delivering highly performant VDI environments will assure you that you'll gain maximum value from your VDI investment.
We support the top 4 VDI solutions: Citrix, VMware (soon to be something else for VDI), Azure, and Amazon. We support the top ADC solutions: Citrix Netscaler and f5. We support most load balancer appliances.
Many long-time customers of one manufacturer or another are suddenly deciding its time to explore other options in the VDI marketplace. Rising license prices, deteriorating customer support services, and the feeling of being "locked in" to an existing platform are mitigating factors driving this exploration.
MK7, LLC is here to help you make informed decisions regarding VDI platform options that may be a better solution for you and your Enterprise. Our relationships with multiple platforms allows us to know these solutions from the inside out, and know what may or may not work best for you.
The methodology we leverage with our customers undertaking a VDI initiative is comprised of the four phases mentioned below. This methodology has been applied during multiple years of our VDI journey and has been tailored to fit the needs of challenges presented in any cloud architecture.
Assess
Design
Deploy
Manage
MK7, LLC's VDI Support Services can be categorized in these four groupings:
Implementation Support
Assess
Design
Deploy
Provide Implementation SOW
Performance Optimization
Environment Assessment
Review Findings & Recommendations
Remediation SOW
Migration Services
Architecture Discussion
Types of Migration Projects Supported
Platform Upgrade with your existing solution.
Platform Change from your existing solution to a different platform.
On-premises to Cloud hosting (Amazon, Azure, Google, Private cloud targets)
VDI Platform merge/separation due to Merger & Acquisition activity.
VDI Managed Services
This service is targeted for VDI environments with 500+ users. The Simplify management of your on-premises and public cloud-hosted desktops. MK7, LLC offers proactive management, monitoring, automation, and advanced diagnostics to optimize your virtual desktop environment.
In order to streamline your support resources, MK7 also offers managed services around several additional ITSM components. You can select any service or services in any combination that makes the most sense for your environment and situation.
These additional offerings include:
NETWORK MANAGED SERVICES
Optimize your network with expert ADC management. We handle NetScaler, F5, and other leading ADCs on any platform – physical, virtual, or cloud-based for cost-effective performance.
MS EXCHANGE O365
Optimize O365 and Exchange server performance, security, and compliance. Our team integrates tools for data protection, threat filtering, and proactive incident management.
APPLICATION LIFECYCLE MANAGEMENT
Streamline collaboration and technical guidance among client teams involved in every aspect of the application life cycle while governing processes, tools, and stakeholder management in order to meet business goals.
OPERATING SYSTEM
Simplify management of your Windows & Linux OS assets. We handle physical, virtual, and cloud-based servers via proactive management, monitoring, automated tasks, and security expertise for optimal performance and uptime.
CLOUD SERVICES AWS/AZURE
Streamline management of cloud infrastructure (instances, storage, networks, and native services) with on-demand scaling and expert support for resource optimization and automation.
Schedule an initial conversation with one of our Managed Services Specialists. Let's figure out how to help you!
PATCH MANAGEMENT
Refine patching for all devices. We manage Windows & Linux patch deployments across all platforms, providing timely updates, real-time monitoring, and expert support for optimal security.
MONITORING AS A SERVICE
Optimize monitoring stance while integrating any platform (SNMP, CIM) and databases alongside your existing workflows. Our solution generates custom alerts and reports based on your needs, enabling proactive issue identification.
