Rohit Badlaney, VP of Product Management and Strategy, IBM Cloud, joins Neha Kulkarni to discuss why Desktop as a Service is becoming an increasingly important technology investment for IT teams. Badlaney talks about the checks his IT team needs to perform before finding his DaaS his package that fits their needs.
In this Tech Talk, Badlaney explains how companies can strategically tie their DaaS investments to their goals. He also advises on the training and expertise his IT team needs to manage his DaaS from the ground up.
Key takeaways on why investing in DaaS is important:
- Give users convenient and consistent access to applications and data across devices
- Eliminates the need for companies to ship physical devices to new employees
- Enterprises don’t need to upgrade endpoint devices frequently
Below is an edited excerpt from an exclusive interview with Rohit Badlaney, VP of Product Management and Strategy at IBM Cloud.
Rohit Badlaney, VP Product Management and Strategy, IBM Cloud
SWNI: Tell us about your role at IBM Cloud and how you got to Desktop as a Service (DaaS).
Rohit: I am a longtime IBM employee and have been with IBM for over 20 years, holding roles across our software, systems and cloud portfolio. During my time at IBM, I have used my computer engineering background as a member of the core product engineering team, playing a role in customer success and managing profit and loss. Currently, I am the Chief Product Officer for IBM Cloud, driving the strategy and product management organization. Various roles over the years have all helped prepare me for today’s work.
At IBM Cloud, we are always looking for ways to innovate and deliver the best solutions to maximize productivity as our clients move to hybrid cloud. With the rise of remote work, especially during the pandemic, our clients realized they needed to squeeze years of digital transformation into monthsThis has made Desktop as a Service (DaaS) come to mind in the quest for continuous productivity regardless of location. That’s why we’re innovating (DaaS) offerings that give users convenient and consistent access to applications and data across devices.
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SWNI: How does DaaS work and why is it becoming an increasingly important technology investment for IT teams?
Rohit: DaaS is a method of providing users with a complete virtual desktop environment, including operating system, applications, files, and user settings, from the cloud. As employees and workplaces become more flexible, DaaS services enable users to access their desktop environments from anywhere and from a variety of devices including PCs, laptops, tablets, and smartphones.while the desktop is running virtual machine Hosted on compute, storage, and network infrastructure managed by cloud providers, users get the same desktop experience regardless of the device they use.
“This technology has become increasingly important, especially as remote work has become more popular over the last two years. We need to provide an engaging user experience to maximize remote and mobile productivity.”
With a DaaS solution, employees can rest assured that they can easily access the same applications and data to complete their work from anywhere, regardless of the device they are using. This also applies to contractors and temporary workers, as DaaS eliminates the need for companies to ship physical devices to new employees. Instead, users have direct access to company applications and files for the duration of their employment, facilitating the onboarding process. Organizations can simply revoke access when a user leaves the company.
SWNI: Security and compliance standards vary by industry and organization. What checks should the IT team perform before finding a DaaS package for her that fits her needs?
Rohit: Before deciding which DaaS package fits your company’s unique needs, your IT team should consider the types of security protections deployed by the DaaS provider. Specifically, features such as data encryption methods, multi-factor authentication, and data resilience should be evaluated. In addition, he must determine if there are specific laws in his country that require data to remain in the country even if the user is in another location. In that case, it’s important to ensure that your DaaS provider has the ability to store data where you want it. In addition to it, Providers should have extensive DaaS experience and expertise.
“Setting up and managing a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) environment for DaaS, including the virtualization layer, servers, storage, and networking, can often be a complex task that consumes time and resources.”
Not to mention, staying compliant and passing audits can be very time consuming as well. To facilitate this and avoid creating risks, choosing a proven provider with DaaS and VDI expertise is very important. Doing so will reduce the burden on the company rather than increase it.
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SWNI: Initial investment is more cost-effective for DaaS than virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), but organizations wonder if the subscription model can incur higher costs over a given period of time You may wonder. How can companies best ensure that their DaaS investments are strategically fit for purpose?
Rohit: I think the first step is to understand your long-term performance needs as a business to make sure you’re investing in the right areas. For example, do sophisticated 3D animations require high-performance vCPUs? Is a streamlined system used primarily for productivity applications useful or unnecessary for your organization?
“Once you know your organization’s application needs, you can deploy the right mix of high-performance and low-power virtual desktops while giving your employees the tools they need to succeed. to make sure we’re leveraging the features that are most relevant to our business needs and putting our resources in the right places.”
Additionally, DaaS eliminates the need for companies to frequently upgrade endpoint devices. For example, DaaS Desktop works just as well on a four-year-old device as it does on a new device. This allows organizations to save capital and allocate resources to other areas.
SWNI: Desktop as a Service is managed by the provider, but the organization’s IT team must maintain functionality and specific endpoints. What training and expertise will the organization’s IT team need to finally manage her DaaS?
Rohit: DaaS is managed by the provider, but it’s important that your IT team has a basic understanding. This allows you to make relevant updates to maintain your DaaS infrastructure. Specifically, IT teams are typically responsible for maintaining apps, data, software licenses, managing user access, and maintaining endpoint devices.
“The IT team best understands the performance needs of the business and should be able to confirm that a DaaS product will help them meet those goals, and identify when it doesn’t.”
Providers often offer training or webinars that you can attend to provide tips and tricks on how to make relevant updates beyond what the provider controls.
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SWNI: DaaS can provide better security than traditional workstations, but they are not immune to vulnerabilities. What checks should an IT team not overlook when simplifying DaaS storage across clouds?
Rohit: Leveraging insights from DaaS providers is paramount when it comes to simplifying storage across clouds. While it is important to have Proven organizations focused on optimizing cloud desktop delivery as DaaS providers should also ensure that they have implemented additional security protocols.
For example, it’s important to use multi-factor authentication and leverage services that are regularly patched and analyzed by cybersecurity teams. Also, security should go beyond her DaaS itself. Users should ensure that the devices on which DaaS is deployed are protected.
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SWNI: With desktop-as-a-service adoption increasing, which DaaS trends will shape technology investments in 2022 and beyond?
Rohit: The influx of remote and hybrid work will not slow down or disappear entirely. As a result, DaaS providers will continue to invest in higher functionality. A turnkey solution for enterprises to ensure business continuity. The DaaS market is growing year by year, $17.8 billion by 2029, according to Recent reports.
“The goal of many technology providers is to simplify and optimize the use of their clients’ data, whether through cloud-based infrastructure or another type of solution.”
We are working toward this goal with DaaS, and this will continue to shape our investments for years to come. Gartner expects DaaS to overtake his VDI deployment by 2024, and he may even see DaaS become the dominant model for enterprises, replacing the traditional desktop model. As organizations adopt a hybrid cloud approach and the cloud computing industry as a whole continues to grow, the DaaS market.
About Rohit Badlany
Rohit Badlaney is Vice President of Product Management and Strategy at IBM Cloud. He is responsible for product management and go-to-market execution for IBM Public’s cloud portfolio. During his last 20 years at IBM, Rohit has held many other product roles in his IBM Systems, Software, and Cloud divisions, most recently as Vice President of IBM Z Hybrid Cloud (DevOps, AIOPS, Cloud Portfolios). served.
Prior to that, he was Director of the Systems Management and Ops Analytics business at IBM Z Software. Prior to that, he held several middle management and technical leadership roles in the IBM Software and Systems group.
About IBM
IBM is the world’s leading hybrid cloud and AI and business services provider, helping clients in more than 175 countries harness data insights, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain a competitive edge in their industries. We help you get a Nearly 3,800 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure sectors such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to make their digital transformation fast, efficient and secure. is proceeding to IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions, and business services offer clients open and flexible options.
About Tech Talk
Tech Talk is an interview series featuring prominent CTOs and senior technology executives from around the world. Join us in a conversation with these tech and his IT leaders who share their insights and research on data, analytics and emerging technologies. If you are a tech expert and would like to share your thoughts, neha.pradhan@swzd.com
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