On March 20th, ANS Manchester HQ buzzed with excitement as partners and customers gathered for the Partner Power Up: AVD & Azure Workshop.
Hosted by Ryan Martin, Head of Indirect, and Sam Alabi, Pre-Sales Engineer, the event aimed to empower ANS Partners, Solutions Architects and MSPs with the knowledge and skills needed to effectively deploy and manage Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD).
Before We Dive In – What Is AVD?
Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) is a service from Microsoft that allows you to run virtual desktops and applications in the cloud.
You can access a full Windows 10 or Windows 11 desktop, just like you would on a physical computer, from a mobile device (Android and iOS) or laptop.
On top of that, multiple users can share the same virtual machine, which helps in reducing costs. AVD also seamlessly integrates with Microsoft 365 apps, providing a smooth user experience.
In essence, Azure Virtual Desktop provides a flexible, secure, and cost-effective way to deliver a Windows desktop experience to users, no matter where they are.
Highlights from the event.
The AVD Partner workshop provided invaluable insights from ANS’s award-winning Microsoft experts on deploying and managing AVD.
Attendees learned best practices for successful implementations and participated in hands-on sessions to deepen their understanding and skills.
The workshop kicked off with a warm welcome and introductions, setting the stage for a day of learning and collaboration.
ANS Hosts Ryan and Sam guided attendees through identifying Azure/AVD opportunities, building the right fundamentals, and adhering to best practices.
The session on partnering for success and collaboration strategies was particularly engaging, highlighting the importance of teamwork and strategic alliances.
The event concluded with a lively Q&A session, allowing participants to share insights and ask questions about AVD and how it might be beneficial for their customers.
Why Move to Azure Virtual Desktop?
One of the key topics discussed was the benefits of moving to Azure Virtual Desktop for organisations and partner customers.
But what are the main reasons to move to AVD?
1. Staff can work from anywhere.
Okay, let’s start with the most obvious benefit.
Azure Virtual Desktop facilitates seamless remote and secure hybrid work across desktop, laptop and mobile. It’s the affordable latest and greatest for our evolving working patterns.
Not only is this more efficient, but it also helps businesses to adopt hybrid working patterns that attract and retain top talent.
2. It’s safer and more secure.
Organisations might adopt Azure Virtual Desktop to address security, compliance, disaster recovery and data sovereignty requirements.
In a world of increasing cybercrime, having a secure data environment is key.
3. Organisations can scale cost-effectively.
By using AVD, organisations can pay only for what they use, and scale resources up or down as needed. If desktop utilisation is lower, consumption costs will be lower.
This makes AVD appealing to organisations of various sizes.
4. There’s more choice and flexibility (to cloud… or not to cloud?)
Depending on their needs, businesses can run either fully on the cloud or in a hybrid mode with their existing on-premises infrastructure.
Customers can also have the flexibility to transition to a fully cloud-based solution over time.
5. Organisations can future proof their systems.
As Microsoft rolls out the next generation of compute infrastructure in the future, upgrading AVD is hassle-free—no migrations, just a simple click to upgrade.
This could save businesses a lot of time, money, and hassle down the line.
Why Partner with ANS for Azure Virtual Desktop?
ANS leverages 25 years of experience to simplify cloud solutions for partners who may need additional expertise or resources. This extends to Azure Virtual Desktop, as well as many other offerings in cloud, digital, and security.
Put simply, if you partner with ANS, we will help you gain a deep understanding of Azure Virtual Desktop’s features, benefits, and use cases. ANS’s marketing experts will also help you to market and sell AVD to your customers with ease.
As part of the ANS Partner Programme, Partners receive:
- Training and tools
- Dedicated account management
- Sales and marketing resources
- Tech support
- Access to an intuitive portal
Launched in 2023, the ANS Partner Programme looks to foster close, long-lasting partnerships and deeply understand the needs of both partners and their customers.
“Digital transformation shouldn’t be the domain of just the blue chips orgs with big budgets. Every business large and small should have the right to digitally transform. Through the ANS Group Partner Programme, we believe we can do this together, allowing our partners to leverage enterprise-grade technical and pre-sales expertise, built over 25 years.”
Richard Thompson, CEO
Interested in becoming a partner?
Download our Partner Programme brochure or feel free to get in touch with the team at [email protected].