Migrating to a VDI does not have to be difficult. As long as you have a clear plan in place, the migration process involves a series of steps.
However, managing the migration can be a lot of work, which is why many businesses choose to outsource the migration. Whether you choose to do it yourself or partner with a VDI expert, here are the five key steps involved in a VDI migration.
Develop the Business Case
The first step in any successful VDI migration is to understand why you want to migrate your system.
Begin by developing a business case, and take a look at the current challenges you face when it comes to physical desktop management.
For example, your current system might make it difficult for you to comply with regulations, to provide access to remote employees, or to keep your operating system up to date. Compare the costs associated with physical desktop management to the costs associated with managing a virtual landscape.
Finally, create documents that clearly present the business case to all stakeholders. This should help everyone understand the importance of VDI migration and the benefits it can bring to your business.
Review Your Existing Infrastructure
To successfully plan a VDI migration, you need to have a thorough understanding of your company’s infrastructure.
You also need to decide if you want to upgrade your technology to offer better performance. You can research the benefits of fiber channel (FC), network attached storage (NAS), direct attached storage (DAS), and Internet small computer system interface (iSCI) and examine which one is best suited to the needs of your company.
Understand Your Users
One of the main goals of a VDI migration is to provide a better user experience for individuals. Therefore, it is vital to understand the needs of those individuals.
Begin by working out what percentage of your users are non-employees, for example, contractors and partners. Break down the user base even further by dividing them into knowledge users and task users.
This will help you identify what requirements will need to apply to the new VDI environment. For example, your users might require multiple desktops, user profile persistence, printing, USB redirection, monitor support, or other important features.
You should also consider the performance requirements users will place on the VDI environment. How many users will there be in total and which applications will they need to use?
Carry out an application virtualization assessment to predict how long applications will take to load and how they will perform. This should help you decide whether your planned VDI environment will be able to cope with the needs of your users.
Keep in mind that the peak performance needs of users can be much higher than their usual requirements. This means you need to build extra capacity into the system to avoid bottlenecks and downtime during periods of peak activity.
Pilot the VDI Solution
To find out whether a particular VDI solution is right for your business, set up a pilot implementation for a subset of users.
Select users who are representative of the way individuals work across your organization. This will allow you to see the solution in action before you roll it out across the entire organization. To determine whether the pilot implementation has been a success, make sure you define test metrics that closely match the needs of your users and business.
Map Out the VDI Migration
Decide on your priorities for implementing your VDI environment.
Which users should you set up first? How can you manage the VDI migration while causing the minimum possible amount of disruption to your employees, partners, and contractors? What training will your users need to help them get to grips with the new system, and when and how will this training be delivered?
Making a detailed roadmap for your VDI migration will increase the chance of the implementation going smoothly, with minimal disruption for your business and your employees. Once you’ve set your rollout date, you can move forward with the migration and remain confident in your decision to do so.
Outsourcing Your VDI Migration
While VDI migration does not have to be a difficult process, the planning and implementation stages can involve a large amount of work. For this reason, many businesses choose to outsource their VDI migration to an IT consulting company.
Professional IT consultants can work with you to complete all the steps outlined above. That includes helping you determine which VDI solution would be best suited to the needs of your business.
When you place your VDI migration in the hands of experts, you can be certain that the implementation process will be handled as quickly and smoothly as possible, minimizing potential disruption to your business. As a result, you can rest assured that you will end up with a VDI environment that meets your needs, delivered on time and on budget.
Want to keep reading? Check out 4 Signs You’re Ready For Virtual Desktops.