Hosted Desktops for New Zealand Businesses
Exodesk designs, deploys and supports hosted desktops for businesses that need access to Windows applications and files from different locations or suitable devices. We check the work your people do before recommending which users need a hosted desktop and which can stay on their current setup.
Desktop virtualisation moves the desktop environment onto centrally managed infrastructure. Your team still needs a supported device and a suitable connection, and the design determines how users sign in, where files are held and what can be copied or printed locally.
Supporting New Zealand businesses since 1989
What is a hosted desktop?
A hosted desktop is a Windows desktop or application set that runs on centrally managed servers and is reached over a network. The device in front of the user displays the session and handles input, while applications, files and settings are held where the design puts them.
Hosted desktops are also sold as Desktop as a Service, a provider-managed virtual desktop offering. That is different from Device as a Service, which covers physical equipment, although the two share the DaaS abbreviation. A hosted desktop still needs a suitable endpoint, whether it is owned, leased or supplied under a device agreement.
Exodesk has supported New Zealand businesses since 1989. Today, our Christchurch and Dunedin teams support businesses nationwide, with hosting location, support hours and any site attendance confirmed in the proposal.
When hosted desktops can suit a business
Where the people who need business applications do not line up neatly with the computers it makes sense to own, a hosted desktop is worth assessing.
Access across sites
Staff who need the same business applications at branches, at home or on the road, without a server at every site.
Controlled access
Contractors and short-term staff who need your systems with agreed access rules, rather than a company laptop for every engagement.
Varying user numbers
Teams whose numbers rise and fall, where desktops can be added and removed as people join and leave.
Shared shifts are worth reviewing, but they do not automatically make virtual desktops cheaper. A managed laptop or access to one hosted application may be the better fit, and a mix of local devices and hosted desktops can serve a business best. Graphics work, video calls and large files need testing with representative tasks. The wider device and access questions sit with our remote work IT guidance.
Choosing the right desktop model
There are different ways to deliver the desktop. A personal desktop is assigned to one user, a pooled desktop shares session hosts across users, and a published application gives access to one program without a full desktop. Microsoft’s Azure Virtual Desktop terminology sets out how personal and pooled host pools differ in persistence and capacity.
Exodesk delivers hosted desktops on its own New Zealand-hosted platform, and on Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop or Windows 365 where they suit the requirements. Windows 365 includes options such as Flex, with dedicated and shared modes that follow different concurrency and persistence rules. The proposal names the platform, operating system model and hosting location for your design rather than treating the options as interchangeable.
Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) is used by many hosted desktop systems, as well as for connections to individual office PCs. Virtual desktops can also run on infrastructure you own, which our server virtualisation page covers from the server side, and the wider hosting offer sits with our cloud solutions.
What Exodesk covers in a hosted desktop project
The setup project and ongoing management are scoped separately, so you can see what is a one-off piece of work and what continues each month.
- Application and peripheral checks. Vendor support, licence terms, printing, scanning, labels, USB equipment and calls, checked before the model is chosen.
- Sizing and concurrency. Users, simultaneous sessions, workloads and storage, with capacity reviewed as usage changes.
- Access configuration. Sign-in, multi-factor authentication, device requirements and session rules. Multi-factor authentication is an important control, not protection against every access attack.
- Data paths. Where files and profiles are held, and the rules for downloads, clipboard, drives and printing.
- Pilot, migration and handover. Representative users and devices first, then a planned move with fallback. Larger moves link to our cloud migration work.
- Ongoing management. Updates, user changes, capacity and cost reviews, and recovery checks, agreed in the support arrangement.
Hosting, security and recovery
Central hosting can reduce what is stored on local devices, but it does not remove every route out. Downloads, clipboard, drives and printing depend on policy: in Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365, clipboard redirection is one of several settings the design controls. A lost laptop may still expose credentials, sign-in tokens or information on screen, so supported endpoints, access controls and session handling still matter.
Hosting alone does not establish backup coverage. Recovery is scoped in the proposal: which desktops, files, profiles and application systems are protected, how long copies are kept, the restore granularity and the data dependencies. Native features vary by platform; Windows 365 Enterprise, for example, offers point-in-time restore for Cloud PCs, and changes after the restore point are lost. A rebuilt image is not automatically a recovered working desktop. File and system protection links to our backup as a service.
A hosted desktop depends on the connection it is reached over. Users may lose access during an outage, so check the connection and any failover at each site, and test reconnection behaviour in the pilot.
How a hosted desktop project runs
Each hosted desktop project starts with the work people do, and acceptance checks are agreed before the pilot begins.
Understand
Identify users, workloads, sites, current costs, data locations and application vendors, and establish whether a full desktop is needed.
Design and quote
Specify the platform, capacity, licences, access rules, data redirection, file storage, recovery and ownership, with included support and exclusions defined.
Pilot
Use real users and representative devices to check sign-in, applications, printing, calls and shared peripherals, plus peak performance and reconnection.
Roll out and manage
Plan cutover and fallback, hand over access instructions and support contacts, and agree updates, user changes, capacity reviews and recovery checks.
What affects the cost of hosted desktops?
The cost depends on users, simultaneous sessions, application requirements, storage, licensing and the management you need. Your team still needs suitable devices and connectivity, so compare total costs over the same period, including the endpoints.
- Setup project. Assessment, design, pilot, migration and handover, quoted as one-off work.
- Hosting. Compute, storage and networking. On Azure, a deallocated virtual machine stops compute charges, while disks and networking can still cost money; powering off inside Windows is not the same.
- Licences. Hosting rights, Windows or Remote Desktop access, Microsoft 365 Apps activation for shared use and application licences, confirmed for the actual design.
- Support and endpoints. Ongoing management, plus the devices and connections users work from.
The quote separates the setup project from recurring hosting, software and support, with assumptions, minimum terms and additional work made clear. Connection sizing and failover sit with our business internet service.
Hosted desktop questions
What is a hosted desktop?
A hosted desktop is a desktop environment that runs on centrally managed infrastructure and is reached over a network. Your device displays the session and handles local input. The design determines where applications, files and user settings are held.
Is a hosted desktop the same as Desktop as a Service?
Desktop as a Service describes a provider-managed virtual desktop offering, which is one way to buy hosted desktops. It differs from Device as a Service, which concerns physical equipment and its management. Confirm the actual service inclusions rather than relying on the abbreviation DaaS.
Do hosted desktops replace company laptops?
They can change what the local device needs to do, but staff still need a supported device and a suitable connection. Existing equipment may be suitable. Compare security, management and the work required before deciding between personal devices and supplied laptops.
Can staff use their own devices?
Potentially. The device, client and access policy must be suitable, and local downloads, clipboard, printing and other data paths need explicit rules. A hosted session does not make an unmanaged device risk-free.
Can users share hosted desktops across shifts?
Some designs support pooled or shared sessions, while others provide personal desktops. Licensing, simultaneous use, profiles and sign-out behaviour determine what fits. The number of shifts alone does not determine the licences or capacity needed.
Do files stay off the local device?
That depends on the applications and the settings for copying, downloading, printing and device redirection. Central hosting can reduce local storage without removing every route out. Agree the controls for the data and devices in use, and test them.
What happens if the internet connection fails?
Users may lose access to the hosted desktop until connectivity returns. A suitable backup connection can reduce the disruption, but failover may still interrupt sessions. Test reconnection and plan for work that must continue during a wider outage.
Are backup and recovery included?
The proposal identifies which desktops, files, profiles and application systems are protected, how long copies are kept and how restores work. Native recovery features vary by platform. Confirm the recovery arrangement rather than assuming hosting includes everything.
Will printers and specialist applications work?
They need checking. Vendor support, licence terms, redirection and device compatibility vary. Test real printing, scanning, labels, USB equipment, calls and demanding applications during the pilot.
How much do hosted desktops cost and how long does setup take?
Both depend on the design, applications, users and preparation needed. Ask for setup and recurring charges separately. Agree pilot and rollout timing once the dependencies and acceptance checks are clear.
Where does Exodesk provide hosted desktops?
Exodesk has supported New Zealand businesses since 1989, and our Christchurch and Dunedin teams support businesses nationwide. The proposal confirms the hosting location, site attendance, support hours and the work included for your business.
Discuss hosted desktops
Tell us how many people need access, how many work at the same time, your locations, key applications, printers and other peripherals, and your current setup. Please leave passwords and client information out of the enquiry.
Plan your hosted desktops
Tell us your business name, user numbers, simultaneous use, locations and key applications, and we will be in touch to arrange a time that suits.
Prefer to talk?
Christchurch
Level 1, 85 Riccarton Road
Christchurch 8011
03 343 3124
Dunedin
Level 3, Bartons Building
2 Stafford Street, Dunedin 9016
03 479 2941