Nerdio announced features in Nerdio Manager for Enterprise that allows organizations to optimize Windows 365 licenses to reduce the overall cost of their virtual desktop environment.
Windows 365 is Microsoft’s subscription-based Cloud PC service. It offers organizations the ability to pay a fixed monthly price per user and access Windows in the cloud through a dedicated, personal desktop, called a Cloud PC, that can be streamed to any device. The cost of Windows 365 Cloud PC is included in the monthly license subscription and is independent of actual usage.
“Rather than paying license costs for any employee in an organization who could use a Cloud PC, we’re making it astonishingly easy for enterprises to pay only for those users who actually do,” said Vadim Vladimirskiy, CEO and co-founder, Nerdio. “Nerdio Manager and Windows 365 together alleviate traditional desktop-as-a-service (DaaS) concerns around cost, management, and scalability, making the combination a compelling asset for any remote work or digital transformation initiative.”
The Windows 365 license optimization are listed below and the features are available in Nerdio Manager for Enterprise v3.4 and above.
- Windows 365 License Auto-Assignment – Nerdio Manager allows organizations to avoid paying for unused licenses by assigning users a Windows 365 license only upon first login. Users who never log in will not consume a license. Nerdio Manager will alert admins when too few available licenses remain, when an organization reaches its self-identified number of unused licenses or when Cloud PCs are scheduled to be de-provisioned and removed.
- Windows 365 Unused License Reclamation – Nerdio Manager detects when users who have logged into their Windows 365 desktop at one time are no longer using it and reclaims the unused license making it available for other users. Admins dictate how long the Cloud PC must not be used to be considered “unused” and can remove the license to save on monthly subscription costs or re-assign it to another user.
- Windows 365 Inactive User License Parking – Nerdio Manager equips the user with a less expensive license to replace a typical, full-size license when it is not connected to the Cloud PC to maximize cost savings. Nerdio Manager will monitor user activity so when the user is no longer connected to the Cloud PC the license is transitioned to a parked license and then back to a full-size license when the user reconnects to the Cloud PC.
Nerdio Manager for Enterprise adds value on top of the powerful capabilities in Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365 by delivering more than 200 additional features. It is the only Azure management platform that allows admins to provision and manage deployments of both Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365 side-by-side seamlessly.
