Dieter Kempeneers

Are you prepared for the evolution of VDI? Embrace the next level of experience with Windows 365 Cloud PC. But let’s delve into what a Cloud PC truly is and explore its benefits.

About Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

Windows 365 (Cloud PC) is the latest addition to the Microsoft VDI family. But what does that entail? A Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) provides access to a managed virtual Windows environment, enabling secure work from any location on your preferred devices, including those not managed by your organization. Yet, this concept isn’t new.

Microsoft has long offered Remote Desktop Services (RDS) as a VDI solution, it was the first way to delivery Windows in a multisession context for concurrent use by multiple users on a single server.

With the shift towards cloud, Microsoft introduced Windows Virtual Desktop in 2019. Now known as Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD), it integrates smoothly with other Microsoft services like Microsoft 365 and upholds security through Entra ID, enforcing multifactor authentication via Conditional Access policies, among other user risk-based policies and settings.

Windows 365 builds on the AVD’s framework. But has additional benefits in the form of a fully managed cloud solution.

Is it worth to keep following traditions?

Citrix remains a significant player in the VDI landscape, offering unique capabilities for specific business needs and scenarios. The big contrast with Windows 365 lies in the management aspect. Traditional VDI solutions like Citrix require you to handle the configuration, upkeep, and security of your infrastructure, among other responsibilities. Which is a lot of work and time you need to spend.

Windows 365, however, simplifies this by having Microsoft manage most of the operational aspects. This significantly reduces complexity. Moreover, it operates on a licensing model as we know from Office 365 and Microsoft 365, where you pay a monthly fee and gain immediate access to all new features without incurring extra costs.

Why choose for Windows 365?

Beyond the added management and the predictable monthly cost, Windows 365 has some other advantages that make it worth considering. Let’s have a look at them.

Easy to setup – no IT knowledge required

Windows 365 has its focus on simplicity and user-friendliness. Microsoft provides a fully managed solution that’s super easy to setup, even without any technical knowledge. Simply add users to a security group, and the provisioning of the Cloud PC’s goes automatically. No gateway, database or web interface needed!

Windows 365 does not run within your Azure subscription. It’s fully hosted in one of Microsoft their datacenters. All management is done through Microsoft Intune.

The flow works like this:

• Create a provisioning policy – super easy!
• Add a user to a group to provision them a Cloud PC – You are done!
• Optionally: Define a policy to specify is you want to connect to your Azure environment or not
• Optionally: Specify if the user gets admin rights and whether they are able to restore to a previous restore point.

Connectivity and backup are automatically covered, but so are business continuity and disaster recovery. Having a high available VDI solution can be very expensive, Windows 365 offers you this as part of your license. No additional costs!

BYOD and true automatic scaling!

Windows 365 also stands out as an ideal solution for external users like freelancers, partners, or suppliers. This are often devices you don’t have any control over and fall in the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) categorie. With Windows 365, you grant these users access to a Cloud PC equipped with all necessary policies and applications, without the need to fully manage their devices.

This ensures that users have access to your company’s data and the tools that they need, while your data remains secure and never resides on an unmanaged device.
Should an employee depart from your company, or the partnership with a partner has ended. You can simply delete their Cloud PC.

One of the key features of Windows 365 is its automatic scaling, it’s not limited and you easily scale from 10 users to 1000, by just adding them to a security group.
That’s all the effort that’s required. Can you imagine the headaches you’d have when you had to scale a traditional VDI?

Moreover, Windows 365 serves as a cross-platform solution that is compatible not only with Windows but also with Mac or Linux systems. There are apps available for all platforms and even a HTML5 web interface.

Easy to manage

A traditional VDI solution can be quite demanding and challenging for your IT department, often overwhelming them with tasks such as ensuring optimal backup operations, resolving user issues, and performing updates, all this in addition to their regular work.

However, with Windows 365, Microsoft is responsible for the bulk of VDI management responsibilities. Your IT team simply needs to add new users to a group, and everything else is configured automatically. This shift allows your IT department to have more time to concentrate on more important projects and/or R&D.

Kickstart your Cloud-Only journey

Are you still using hybrid-joined endpoints? Are you looking to go “Cloud Native“? Start here.

Starting your native Entra ID joined journey with Windows 365 is a seamless and efficient process, eliminating the need for any hardware requirements. With Windows 365, you can instantly provision Cloud PCs that are ready to use, and allow for easy testing. Get your policies together for Windows 365 and expand to your physical endpoints afterwards, ensuring a smooth transition to a modern, cloud-first IT environment.

Licensing

Windows 365 has some different license models that you can choose from, ensuring there’s a perfect fit for every business. Regardless of their size.

Windows 365 Business

The entry version, not suitable for most use cases. This version cannot integrate with an Azure network, cannot be managed with Mobile Device Management (MDM), and the setup uses default settings that cannot be adjusted.

Choose when:

• 1 license = 1 Cloud PC
• You don’t have MDM
• You don’t need Azure connectivity
• You just want a Cloud PC

Windows 365 Enterprise

The most powerful version, integrates seamlessly with Intune allowing you to customize the Cloud PC with all your current Intune policies. You can optionally route all your traffic over your Azure network connection and therefore also your Azure Firewall. This is the most feature-rich version.

Choose when:

• 1 license = 1 Cloud PC
• You want multiple Cloud PC’s
• You want (and you should) manage it with your own Microsoft Intune policies
• You optionally want to connect it with your Azure network.

Windows 365 Frontline Dedicated

This version is a spin-off of the Enterprise version and offers additional flexibility for companies that have large numbers of users or work with employees in shifts. The functionality is identical to Enterprise with the added benefit that one license can be used by three different users, as long as they do not log in simultaneously. This provides extra cost optimization

Choose when:

• 1 license = 3 Cloud PC
• You have shift workers
• You want all the features from enterprise

Windows 365 Frontline Shared

Windows 365 Frontline Shared (FLS) uses the same license as dedicated mode, it’s just a selection that you can make during the setup of Windows 365. This is a new non-persistent mode where Cloud PCs can be used by other users as well (shared), but still maintaining the one user per Cloud PC concurrency, so it’s not multisession. The power here is that it will wipe the user profile each time a user logs off, offering simple to setup, non-persistent VDI solution, unseen before in the world of VDI.

Choose when:

• 1 license = 1 shared Cloud PC
• A group of multiusers can be assigned to make use of the same Cloud PC
• You only require access to a Cloud PC for a limited amount of time in a month
• You require a non-persistent VDI solution
• I dedicated a post to this mode.

Conclusion

Windows 365 is an easy to use Cloud VDI solution with flexible licensing options. Easily provision Cloud PC’s to users, all without requiring any VDI knowledge. Use your existing Intune policies, and manage Windows 365 all from a single pane of Intune glass. Looking to kickstart your Cloud first strategy? Start here!