4 Step Action Plan To Equip Your Remote Workforce
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Have you assessed the tools your technical and creative professionals need to thrive in and out of the office?
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The trends of remote work environments and the need for tools to collaborate remotely have accelerated in recent years. As an IT decision-maker, you must be ready for the changes that enable this shift.
For many knowledge workers, remote access to files through virtual private networks (VPNs) and meeting bridges is sufficient. But many technical and creative professionals—like engineers, designers, and data scientists—depend on the powerful systems, software, and infrastructure that are typically found only in the office. For the work they do, professional remote-capable desktop software is needed.
ITDMs can adapt the steps outlined here to their own needs as they choose tools to enable their remote users who depend on workstation-class resources for their job functions.
Z by HP Remote Access Solution
for Workstation Users
Z by HP delivers a purpose-built solution for remote workstation access that rivals the experience of working locally, with significant performance, cost, and security advantages over other approaches.
• Z by HP Desktop Workstations can be centralized and rack-mounted to keep the performance close to the data and provide dedicated remote performance for compute-intensive workflows.
• HP Anyware1 software leverages PCoIP remote display technology and provides high-performance, high-fidelity remote workstation access.
• HP Anyware Manager1 software manages access between groups of users and pools of workstations available.
Assess Your Current Environment
The first step is to take stock of how well your existing environment serves the needs of your remote users. This assessment will help you understand where the strengths and weaknesses lie in your current approach.
• Start with end-user devices:
Can laptops provide all the compute performance your power users need?
• Identify data-access requirements:
Do those users need frequent, fast access to design files stored on-site?
• Factor in complexity:
Does setting up a virtual environment seem too costly, and will you able to deliver the performance needed?
The shift to having remote teams for the long haul brings challenges and opportunities to rethink the current environment compared to one that is built and optimized specifically with flexible workstation access in mind. The Z by HP Remote Access Solution delivers an excellent user experience, cost efficiencies over other approaches, and secure remote access to workstation resources.
Plan for Performance Needs
After assessing your current environment, start considering what an optimal remote work environment for power users would look like. To support remote workforces, you may need to consider new approaches to providing user access to applications and data.
• Survey power-user workloads:
Which are your most performance-intensive power-user workloads?
• Determine infrastructure suitability:
Do virtual or cloud instances offer the performance those workloads need?
• Investigate infrastructure options:
How do the cost and performance of various potential solutions compare?
A centralized computing infrastructure can deliver high-end performance. Even organizations that are dedicated to server-based or cloud-based workstation virtualization find that layering HP Anyware1 remote access software on top of their existing solutions can dramatically improve performance and user experiences.
Survey System Requirements for Specific End Users
Having identified the current state of your environment and begun understanding the overall organization’s immediate and future needs, consider the requirements of individual end users and user groups. You may find significant variation, from their frequency of workstation access to the types of devices they will use to access those resources.
• Decide which end-user devices are needed:
Will some work be done from the end-user device, or will the device be used only as a portal to a remote workstation?
• Identify workstation-usage patterns:
Do specific workstation users need constant or more sporadic access?
• Identify the jobs that require dedicated performance:
Which users and workflows need the full workstation performance to ensure they get the job done in a timely fashion without errors?
The Z by HP Remote Access Solution offers the unique ability to move desktop workstations from employees’ desks to the compute room, install HP Anyware1 software on the workstations and end-user devices, and enable them to access those resources both in the office and remotely. HP business PCs or Thin Clients can be used remotely when only certain tasks require the additional performance of a racked workstation. Users who regularly need to perform compute-intensive work from their device can benefit from ZBooks—compact, portable workstation laptops. Individual workstations can have one dedicated user or be available to a broader group of users and checked out when needed. Entire facilities have made the switch within 24–48 hours.
Evaluate Security Ramifications
Having remote users work on data-intensive projects from outside the controlled confines of the business raises the need to protect that data. Especially when devices that aren’t company-issued become involved, data owners are rightly concerned about unauthorized access and compromise.
• Assess all the locations of your data:
Are you comfortable having critical data outside IT’s control?
• Gauge priorities of performance versus security:
Could your performance needs compromise data protection?
• Integrate connectivity and security:
How good is interoperation with measures like VPNs and single-sign-on (SSO)?
Data never leaves the data centers of organizations that adopt the Z by HP Remote Access Solution for remote workstation users. All processing and visual rendering is done on the racked workstations within a secured environment.
HP Anyware1 streams highly interactive desktop displays between virtually any host and end-user device. For additional security, HP Thin Client devices can be used for secure, low-maintenance end-user devices.
Keep sensitive data and IP secure with Z by HP Workstations and HP Anyware,1 which transmits only pixels over the network to remote users
Conclusion
Strategies for remote work must satisfy cost, performance, and security requirements. If you’re supporting technical and creative professionals, this often means that traditional virtualization and remote desktop tools are not the best approach.
Z by HP offers innovative solutions with world-class performance, security, and reliability at considerable savings for remote power users.
Z by HP for
IT Professionals
Equip your workforce with highly secure, upgradable tech so they can keep evolving — whether working from home, the office, or everywhere.
Exceptional performance
with Intel® Xeon®
and Intel® Core™ i9 processors.
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Disclaimers
- Network access required. HP Anyware supports Windows®, Linux®, and MacOS® host environments and Windows, Linux, MacOS, iOS®, Android®, and Chrome OS® end-user devices. For more on the system requirements for installing HP Anyware, refer to the Admin Guides at: https://docs.teradici.com/find/product/cloud-access-software. HP Anyware is based on the Teradici CAS software and licensing platform and is available through a 1- and 3-year subscription. HP Anyware subscriptions are based on the number of concurrent PCoIP connections used (pay for the number of host connections, not the software) with a minimum order quantity of 5. HP Anyware subscriptions give you a license key to activate a connection to a hosted desktop as well as support and updates to the PCoIP Agents, PCoIP Clients and the Anyware Manager available for download here: https://docs.teradici.com/find/product/cloud-access-software. For a limited time, an HP Anyware subscription also includes access and support for ZCentral Remote Boost and ZCentral Connect and is available for purchase through an HP Teradici seller or by contacting sales at: hp.com/Anyware
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The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.
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4AA8-2346ENW, November 2022