How Hosted VDI Helps Accounting Firms Manage Their Work Remotely

What if you could access your work data even when you’re not in the office? Hosted Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is the solution you and your firm or organization need. Here we will discuss how hosted VDI helps accounting firms manage their work remotely.

What is Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and what can it be used for?

Have you ever wasted hours stuck in traffic while commuting to the office? If yes, you must realize how frustrating and annoying it can be. It decreases your motivation to work as you have to compensate for it by working late. In addition to this, your personal and family time gets negatively impacted. 

VDI is the technology that enables you to create virtual office desktops on the cloud, with all your apps installed (just as they are in your office system). 

So why wait to reach the office to start your work when you can easily access your desktop from any part of the world?

Many businesses have adopted this technology and are benefitting from it. Accounting firms have also realized its potential and are now moving their desktop environment to the cloud so that their employees can work remotely, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before we understand how hosted VDI helps accounting firms manage their work remotely, let’s first understand the technology. 

How Does VDI Work?

Employees can access their work PC by accessing it from the device of their choice. They login the virtual desktops through their credentials and the screen of the virtual machine is transferred to the device they’re using. 

They’ll feel as if they’re sitting in the office and using their work PC. Instead, they’re remotely controlling a virtual desktop with the help of the keyboard and mouse.

Differences Between VDI and Hosted VDI

VDI is a technology that lets you create a virtual desktop environment on secure cloud servers. These machines allow users to access their data remotely. Hosted VDI is a service offered by third-party vendors, where they provide you with virtual desktops as per demand. 

For instance, it takes a lot of time to configure and maintain multiple desktop PCs for the entire accounting firm. With hosted VDI, the firm is released from this tedious task, and the service providers take the responsibility of configuring and maintaining the virtual desktops. 

How Hosted VDI Helps Accounting Firms Manage Their Work Remotely

Financial or accounting firms do not wish to invest in IT infrastructure if their employees are working remotely. They need an infrastructure that supports fast growth and unpredictable times. Also, they need to concentrate on their business operations rather than spending time on managing their employees. 

With hosted VDI, employees use their devices (with the implementation of BYOD) rather than using company-owned devices – they can access the company data through their credentials. Here are some aspects that make hosted VDI the right choice for accounting firms to manage their work remotely.

Keeps Data Secure

The first thing that comes to mind after hearing ‘remote work’ is ‘data security’. And, for accounting firms, data security has always been a primary concern. For accounting firms to manage data security (along with managing their remote employees) is a tedious and expensive task. It also deviates them from their core business operations.

Reputed VDI hosting providers offer enterprise-level data security by constantly monitoring the data with the help of the latest firewalls and antivirus. So, the users are technically accessing a secure and protected system, even with their personal devices. 

To ensure complete data safety, the VDI can be configured to restrict the transfer of any data to and from the devices used by the employees. All these ensure that even while your employees are working remotely, your data is in safe hands.

Enhances Employee Productivity

Employee productivity is an essential pillar behind any accounting firm’s success. Remote access to official data offered by hosted VDI significantly enhances the productivity of employees. 

Moreover, the time that they used to spend on traffic can be utilized for productive official and personal tasks. Some other factors that contribute to increased employee productivity are:

• Employees feel that they’re trusted by the employer which boosts their morale
• Employees feel more accountable for their tasks
• Workers can work with more focus without in-office distractions 
• The flexible working environment makes workers more comfortable and productive while working.

All these factors contribute to increased employee productivity and making employees more focused and accountable for their tasks.

Cut-Down On Technical Support Time

 A common problem for accounting firms with remote employees is technical support. Without hosted VDI and with every employee working on their own device (and these devices run on different operating systems), support issues take longer to get resolved. 

This is because the support team has to gather tons of information about the device and its configuration before solving the problem. 

However, hosted VDI speeds up this process as the IT team has all the information available with them. Thus, if the employees face connectivity or login issues, the service provider’s support team looks into the matter and offers a lightning-fast solution. 

The device of the employee still plays a role in this, but it becomes significantly less important than before.

Work-Life Balance

No one wants to work all day, and with the flexibility offered by hosted VDI, definitely not. Employees desire for a comfortable and flexible working environment so that they can balance their personal and professional lives. Hosted VDI is the technology for remote workers to maintain the perfect work-life balance. 

For instance, accountants do not need to worry about client meetings or calling the IT guy to get an issue fixed. Also, hosted VDI doesn’t mean slow file transfers (the employees will not be spending hours sharing data with each other). 

Even though the user is accessing the data remotely, the file access is local to the LAN. Employees do not need a VPN to transfer files; the virtual desktop sits within the LAN so that the users can enjoy the same fast file transfer. 

These benefits also mean less physical and mental stress, which is a must for proper work-life balance.

How Hosted VDI Helps Accounting Firms Manage Their Work Remotely – Conclusion

Hosted VDI offers multiple benefits to accounting firms and their remote employees. 

The ability to enhance productivity while working remotely is one of them. People can access their work data from the device of their choice and do not need to worry about configuring or maintaining their virtual desktops. 

Hosted VDI also acts as the perfect technology for a stable balance between personal and 

professional lives while working with the desired flexibility. VDI hosting is transforming what people think about virtual desktops by giving them a more mobile and secure solution.

For more articles detailing trending topics in accounting, business, and finance, check out this section of our site.

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About the Author

Sharad Acharya is a technical content writer at Ace Cloud Hosting, a renowned accounting, and business application hosting provider. When not writing about the latest developments in cloud, VDI, and cybersecurity, he loves to watch movies and ride bikes. You can follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn.