Hosted Virtual Desktop Providers (DaaS)

The table below should give you a better understanding of which virtual machine to choose. Ideally, though, you should give us a ring on 0161 358 1060 and let our technicians do a thorough assessment of your needs.

Ultimately, we can match you up with the best solution for your business.

You can watch this video to see a side-by-side comparison of the same video played on a Citrix virtual machine and on a VMware virtual machine. Ask yourself: is video playback the most important consideration for your business?

Nothing. Setup is free. Our on-boarding process consists of a needs analysis, project scoping and creation of your new cloud-based system, all completely free, whatever it may be.

Keeping costs down

There are small additional per-user charges, such as migrating all your emails or data from off your old system and onto the new one. However, we try to keep these costs to a minimum and will always be upfront with you beforehand.

We charge a one-off fee of £5 per user to migrate your existing desktop onto your new cloud desktop, and a one-off £13 per user per email address.

In most cases yes.

Functionally, a virtual machine is very close to a physical machine. It can perform almost all the same tasks that a physical machine can, and often faster than a physical machine with identical spec. There are a few exceptions (such as certain versions of Office 365) that are prohibited from running on virtual desktops due to licensing agreements.

Mostly, yes, depending on the task and spec of the machine. A cloud-based virtual machine is also superior thanks to its reliability, security and zero need for maintenance. Additional points include its scalability, no capital layout, space saving and a reduced need for an in-house IT team – Venom IT provides full IT support.

Another factor to consider is internet speed. You would usually have between 30-60 Mbps internet at home, with an office user needing between 70-150 Mbps. The per-machine internet speed at Venom IT’s data centres is between 350-550 Mbps – quite a difference!

It’s true that for certain applications (such as intensive graphic/ 3D design) an ordinary VM might be somewhat slower than a custom-built physical machine. However, we offer bespoke solutions for some of our customers (such as architects and designers) where the VM is equipped with a graphics card as well. These machines can match or beat the performance of a physical machine with similar spec.

In short, yes and no.

For security reasons, we prefer not allowing customers to install their own apps, but at the same time, we understand the occasional need for customers to do this. There are two ways in which we can handle such requests:

1. If you send us all the relevant licensing information, we can do the installation for you, free of charge.
2. Alternatively, we can give you a limited time window during which you can install the apps yourself, after which the system reverts back to its default, high-security setting.

Yes, it does!

In essence, you just need the Office 365 Pro Plus or E3 license. Venom IT does provide a solution that includes the Office suite and an email address on our own Exchange platform

Yes! Your shiny new virtual machine is protected by round-the-clock security guards, and comes with military-grade encryption (2048 -bit), military-grade firewalls and banking-level security (IL4). Venom IT meets G-Cloud 12 security standards, which makes us an approved government supplier for cloud services.

A virtual desktop can be accessed via any device that has internet connectivity and Remote Desktop Service (RDS) – which means most smartphones and tablets, as well as PC, Linux, Chromebook and Mac.

If your equipment previously ran on the machine from which you are running your virtual desktop, then it will also work on the virtual desktop. Our team can assist you with any setup that may be required. Please be sure to mention all the devices you would like to connect when you have your project scoping meeting with your assigned project manager.

Venom IT provides 24/7 business-critical support with full support between the hours of 8-5.30 Monday to Friday.

In short: nothing.

Venom IT offers free upgrades for both Windows and Office, although only upon request. The reason for this is that sometimes your current software, especially custom software, might not work properly on newer versions of Windows or not interface correctly with Office.

Before upgrading, we will perform a thorough compatibility assessment, run some tests, and create a rollback plan in case things go wrong. This enables us to easily restore your system to the way it was before in the event that the upgrades were not compatible.

Either form of Office is great, but each one has some unique advantages for DaaS.

When we built our cloud system, our two main concerns were security against external attacks and data protection from within.

Microsoft 365 is a subscription, similar to the MS Office version that comes with your hosted desktop. But we felt that there were certain improvements that we could make, so that’s what we did.

For example, one disadvantage with Office 365 is that you still need to create your own backups, as Microsoft does not guarantee data protection. Rollbacks are also very limited and accidental or malicious deletions often cannot be undone if committed by a member with elevated privileges.

This also creates complications with regulatory compliance – if you are required to store data for long periods of time e.g. 2+ years, then you would definitely need additional archiving in place, as 365 does not cater for this.

So we set about using ‘normal’ Microsoft Office, but with a few additions and upgrades. All-in-all, it is designed to give you a better user experience, better security, and better data protection and retention to meet regulatory requirements.

The comparison below shows Office (either 2016 or 2019) vs 365:

Yes, a hosted desktop hybrid working model is straightforward to set up. Our top tip is that you seek out a reputable hosted virtual desktop provider.Most hybrid HVD providers will handle the tedious technicalities, such as setup, configuration, as well as data and application migration. For employees, hybrid working hosted desktops are easy to access and require minimal effort.

No, a hosted desktop is not expensive for small business. In fact, hosted desktops are often the more cost-effective option when compared to creating and sustaining an on-premises IT infrastructure. Small businesses can benefit from predictable monthly prices as they only need to pay for the resources and users they utilise. Hosted desktops are a budget-friendly option for small businesses that don’t want to invest in costly hardware upgrades or IT management, but may want to scale in the future or create a hybrid HVD work environment.

Hosted desktops benefit from a range of safety features including regular software updates, frequent data backups, end-to-end encryption, and multi-factor authentication. Top tier hosted desktop providers also offer additional security protocols, such as firewall protection and intrusion detection systems.