What Is Microsoft Windows 365 Cloud PC?

Microsoft Windows 365 Cloud PC

According to Growmotely, about 97% of employees embrace the flexibility of remote working and would prefer working from home than in a physical office. This means the COVID-19 pandemic introduced an era of hybrid work which saw more and more organizations relying on a remote workforce to facilitate operations. But with workers returning to the office on a part-time basis, organizations are facing challenges providing the needed support, especially with the intricacy of setting up a hybrid workforce.

To offer a reliable solution in today’s era of hybrid work, Microsoft introduced a new service that provides organizations with a more flexible and secure approach to empowering their employees irrespective of geographical area: Windows 365 Cloud PC. Generally, the service aims at making a non-IT workforce more productive by allowing access to a single-user cloud PC from anywhere. But what exactly is Microsoft’s Windows 365 Cloud PC and why is it important? Read on to find out.

What Is Windows 365 Cloud PC?

In a nutshell, Microsoft’s Windows 365 Cloud PC refers to a hardware virtualization platform, providing virtual PCs installed with Windows. It is the first cloud PC that works the same as a physical computer and a modern hybrid personalized computing system. A cloud PC allows employees and business customers to stream an organization’s desktop, settings, applications and data securely in the cloud from anywhere.

Windows 365 is a relatively new service provided by Microsoft and works across different devices and operating systems. Besides, users can switch between devices and access their cloud PCs and pick up where they left off without requiring the same computing system. The service is available for businesses and comprises two editions: Business and Enterprise. Both Windows 365 Cloud PCs are powered by Microsoft’s Azure Virtual Desktop and can be easily configured in a single CPU, 2GB RAM and 64GB storage system or an 8-CPU system with 32GB RAM and 512GB storage.

With Windows 365 Cloud PC, users can stream Windows 10 or Windows 11 from the cloud from any web browser through Microsoft Remote Desktop App. The service also comes with an instant-on boot experience whether you are using iPads, Macs, Linux machines or Android devices. Once your virtual endpoints are deployed and well-managed in Microsoft Endpoint Manager, you can minimize costs and complexities associated with Windows 365, as well as eliminate the need for Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI).

How Windows 365 Cloud PC Works

Windows 365 is designed as an enterprise product primarily used by small businesses with a handful of employees and large organizations with thousands of employees. The intent is to provide flexibility and a more flexible way of empowering their workforce. Besides, it helps streamline hybrid work to ensure employees become more productive and connected irrespective of location.

Microsoft’s Windows 365 Cloud PC enables organizations to bring their operating systems to the cloud where authorized personnel can access the OS on a single-user approach. However, specific businesses have to set up and configure the service before making their PCs visible in the cloud.

Setting Up Windows 365

Setting up Microsoft’s Windows 365 is a tedious, intricate and time-consuming process for an organization. Hence, leaving it for professional IT managers is crucial to ensure the service is well set, assigned and configured in the cloud. Although Microsoft has assured that the process is relatively effortless and seamless, an IT manager ensures the Windows 365 specs of Cloud PC correspond readily with the device in use.

Matching Cloud PC to different devices requires adequate resources to guarantee seamless access to the virtual PCs. Besides, it allows the organization to determine the right amount of resources to incorporate in their Cloud PC, ensuring maximum productivity for their remote workforce. IT managers can also determine the precise period to add more RAM, storage space or CPU cores and increase performance.

Configuring Windows 365

Using the Microsoft 365 Admin center portal, you can determine the performance of your Cloud PC depending on the per-user-assigned licensing option. Windows 365 Cloud PC gives organizations the freedom to launch sturdy Windows 365 to their workforce with ease. Regarding configuration, Windows 365 works almost the same way when acquiring other Microsoft licenses, for instance, Microsoft 365 E3/E5.

Windows 365 Safety Features

With cyberattacks being a huge concern, especially with workers working from home, Microsoft’s Windows 365 Cloud PC accompanies a Zero trust Architecture built-in security feature. The service also comes with the least privileged access to enhance the admin and user experience while bettering Cloud PC safety. Besides, Windows 365 does not store user data on the device in use, as all user logs and other information is kept within the cloud, adopting spectrum encryption.

Network traffic from and to the Cloud PC, user logs, all information and Windows 365 incorporate an end-to-end encryption feature. This ensures access to the service using any device and from any location is safe and inaccessible by unauthorized personnel. IT managers can also activate Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) or password-less authentication to add a layer of security to the service. Microsoft Defender also works efficiently with Cloud PC to offer more protection to the service.

Benefits of Microsoft 365 Cloud PC

Compatibility

Windows 365 offers a constant Windows experience irrespective of device or operating system. Whether you are using Mac, iOS, Android, Windows or Linux on any device including tablet, laptop or smartphone, your employees can readily access your Cloud PC seamlessly. The service also supports Dynamics 365, multiple third-party apps, and a line of business applications. Microsoft offers a free App Assure service for organizations with 150 or more users, facilitating app compatibility concerns.

Availability

Microsoft 365 Cloud PC provides an instant-on boot, allowing users to stream personalized apps, data, settings and tools from the cloud, regardless of location. This enables users to continue working using any device and pick up where they left on the other device.

Security

The service is also highly secured with Microsoft incorporating advanced safety features to prevent cyber threats to the cloud. MFA and Microsoft Defender integrate additional safety into the service, ensuring maximum protection against attacks.

Flexibility

Microsoft’s Cloud PC is flexible to ensure organizations choose their preferred size of the cloud based on business needs. It ensures companies grow and expand efficiently without the need to incorporate new hardware into their IT infrastructure. With a per-user, per-month pricing model, it is an effective approach that helps businesses to use the cloud without compromising certain operations.

Limitations of Microsoft 365 Cloud PC

For any organization, considering Microsoft’s Windows 365 Cloud PC requires adequate research to determine if it is the right step to take. Because Windows 365 accompanies a range of benefits, it has its share of pitfalls, meaning it is not a perfect solution for every business. That said, here are some limitations to using Windows 365 Cloud PC.

• Renewals can be confusing: Because not all businesses are the same, some organizations can activate the auto-renew feature to continue using the service, while others will not. Besides, some businesses may find it hard toggling the settings to activate the auto-renew feature. Others may find it hard to complete subscriptions and some may find their subscriptions have expired, causing productivity issues.
• Compatibility problems: Some businesses have systems that cannot support Windows 365 because these systems might be outdated or incompatible with the service. This poses a challenge to these organizations, inhibiting them from using Microsoft’s Windows 365 Cloud PC.
• Presence of data control and privacy issues: Most businesses prefer storing and managing their data. But with Windows 365, your company data is managed by a third-party that handles, stores and manages lots of data, including confidential data. This causes concerns over privacy and data control among businesses.
• Low productivity in case of internet failure: Microsoft’s Windows 365 Cloud PC relies on the internet to work. Suffering from internet failures means the inability to complete assignments or access to crucial business data.

Windows Support In Philadelphia

Although Windows 365 Cloud PC is identical to alternatives already in the market such as Microsoft’s Azure Virtual Desktop, it is largely designed for today’s remote working and hybrid work. Besides, Windows 365 intends to be better in administration and simplicity of use. Here at Menark Technologies, we can help you get more insights into Microsoft’s Windows 365 Cloud PC. For more information, contact us to learn more or get started with Microsoft 365 Cloud PC today!