NerdioCon 2023 Location Announced! 

Back in late February we kicked off NerdioCon 2022, our first-ever in-person user conference and industry event. It was a smashing success and one met with a fantastic reception by the global managed service provider (MSP) and channel community.  

Not only were we able to engage in-person with partners and MSPs from all over the world – but they were able to meet, learn and connect with each other and the channel’s top vendors and thought leaders. Attendee feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with many expressing appreciations for the venue, location, and dedication to creating community.  

But the question on everyone’s mind (and in our inboxes!) is undoubtedly… “Where and when will NerdioCon 2023 take place?!” 

The number of inquiries about this in the months following NerdioCon 2022 already has us super excited for our next user conference. And thinking hard on how we can replicate the success of this year’s event with a dedicated enterprise track for our Nerdio Manager for Enterprise customers and community. While many details are still being ironed out – we couldn’t hold our tongues anymore.  

We’re announcing that we will be returning to beautiful Cancun, Mexico in February 2023 for another amazing all-inclusive event!  

Watch prominent channel leaders from Nerdio, Datto, Pax8 and Blackpoint Cyber in the video above discuss NerdioCon highlights and overall takeaways. Sign up at www.nerdiocon.com to stay informed on event updates and when tickets go on sale!  

Nerdio Training Camp – What to Expect and MSP Takeaways

In partnership with Microsoft and Intel, Nerdio Training Camp allows MSP technical staff to spend the day with us growing their Azure knowledge and learning the technical skills needed to be successful with Microsoft’s virtual desktop services. The one-day, in-person workshop provides hands-on learning where attendees can build a completed Azure Virtual Desktop or Windows 365 environment from scratch — learning everything from the basics to 300 level provisioning and administration skills.  

This is a completely FREE opportunity to provide MSP technical staff with valuable training to help them better understand Azure, Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) and Windows 365, and how to easily manage them all in Nerdio Manager for MSP. In doing so, this helps MSPs to efficiently and easily extend the benefits of these services to their clients while keeping costs low, margins high, and employees satisfied and engaged.  

Take a look at the detailed workshop agenda for more insight into the Training Camp content and scroll below for real-life feedback from Camp attendees and photos from our first event in Philadelphia on April 6. And register for one of our upcoming events near you!

Attendee Feedback, Highlights + Photos  

Ongoing management of AVD environments involves understanding and using all of the Azure services AVD runs on as well as elements like image and storage management, host pool creation and maintenance, updating security permissions, and much more. It can often be intimidating and time-intensive to learn the ins and outs of the service and how to best optimize and manage it.  

We connected with attendees of the Philadelphia event and wanted to share a few of their self-reported educational benefits of Training Camp that speak how it can help MSP staff easily and better manage AVD.

### 

“I came out of the Philly training camp with more confidence in AVD than ever before, as well as meeting other IT professionals who have shared similar hurdles as myself. Thanks for putting this together, I had a great time!” 

  • Tyler Reino, Systems Engineer, Overview Technology Solutions 

“I felt that the pacing was perfect, and it really helped to be in a room with people who are at so many different parts of their Nerdio/AVD journey. It helped remove some of the mystery and makes me feel like we aren’t behind the curve when asking questions or looking at different ways to grow our business. Though I didn’t have questions personally, the environment was comfortable where I felt as though I could have asked anything. 

The most helpful area of the training for me was reviewing the correct upgrade paths for images. Seeing the “best practices” really turned some lightbulbs on for us. Scripted actions are something we haven’t utilized previously but have already created a plan for going forward. The mini session during lunch where you explained the factors that matter when purchasing reserved instances was critical to helping me feel confident with future projects.” 

  • Chris Morozin, President, VMX Technologies

Register Now!

Register yourself (or your team) for an upcoming Camp in Tampa, Dallas, LA, Chicago or Toronto via this registration and landing page! 

Nerdio Welcomes Gavriella Schuster to Board of Directors 

It seems every other week we are welcoming a new team member as we continue to help more customers and partners from all over the world successfully optimize their virtual desktop environments in Microsoft Azure. We’ve welcomed new hires in Australia and the UK recently, in addition to expanding our MSP and enterprise sales teams based in the U.S.! 

And we are extremely proud and excited to share today that Gavriella Schuster has been appointed to Nerdio’s board of directors.  

As a leading diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) advocate and former Microsoft Corporate Vice President, Gavriella is a widely recognized business leader, particularly within the channel community given her tenure as Microsoft’s Global Channel Chief. She has been a friend and collaborator to Nerdio over the years and recently presented at NerdioCon 2022 to our MSP partners and attendees about growing their businesses through DEI. You can check out her ALLIES eBook for a framework anyone can use to become an ally through six simple actions. 

We are incredibly excited to continue our global expansion with the involvement and support of Gavriella and our other board members. She joins Bret Maxwell, MK Capital; Harry Zoberman, Zoberman Advisory Group; and Andy Lees, another former top Microsoft executive with extensive product and enterprise go-to-market (GTM) expertise. Additionally, our CEO and co-founder, Vadim Vladimirskiy is a member of the board.  

Our Chief Revenue Officer Joseph Landes had the opportunity to sit down with Gavriella for a conversation around her decision to join the company in this new capacity and what lies ahead for Nerdio.  

Read our press release and check out the video below for additional details.   

Introducing Nerdio Manager for Enterprise Premium Edition  

Business and IT are progressively intertwined as enterprise organizations tackle remote and hybrid work initiatives and execute digital transformation at scale. IT needs to have a strong strategy and investments to support the growth of the business, its customers, and employees in the future. But it also must support all of these components today without downtime or operational disruption.  

Since its launch in 2020, enterprises across verticals have turned to Nerdio Manager for Enterprise to tackle both in tandem with a move to Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD). Today we are excited to introduce Nerdio Manager for Enterprise Premium edition that accommodates and addresses the needs of enterprise organizations with large or complex deployments of AVD.  

Nerdio Manager for Enterprise Premium Features 

Nerdio Manager for Enterprise Premium edition includes support for multiple deployment architectures such as cross-sovereign Azure cloud AVD deployments (i.e., Azure Government Cloud) and split Azure AD tenant AVD deployments. Other features include advanced auto-scaling and storage optimizations, automated Windows 365 license management, disaster recovery options, custom RBAC (Role Based Access Control) roles, per-user and per-group Azure cost attribution, REST API, Azure DevOps support, and so much more. 

Choosing Between the Premium and Standard Editions  

Please visit our Nerdio Manager for Enterprise Plans & Pricing page for a side-by-side comparison of features available in the Premium and Standard editions. You have the ability to “show Premium features only” by selecting the button as shown below.  

Since the product’s launch, we have added a TON of complex, advanced features that bring a lot of value in reducing the complexity of AVD deployments and migrations. However, not all companies’ AVD journeys will be complex. Customers who do not have a need for the above features should consider using the Standard edition.  

If you need assistance determining which edition best fits your organization’s needs, contact our team today for a free consultation.  

Test Drive Nerdio Manager for Enterprise Premium FREE for 30 Days  

You can trial Nerdio Manager for Enterprise free for 30 days by heading to our Azure Marketplace listing. Once you’re on the page, click “Get It Now” to get started with your trial. Are you a current NME customer? Leave a review on our page by clicking the ‘Ratings + Reviews’ tab!  

All new trials of Nerdio Manager for Enterprise will be the Premium edition. This allows you to experience all the powerful, advanced features available in the product. Admins can downgrade to the Standard edition at any time during the trial, or even after, in the Nerdio Manager portal.  

Nerdio Manager for Enterprise Case Study: U.S. Local Government Succeeds with Azure Virtual Desktop

Pivoting to Azure Virtual Desktop  

When a large city in Oklahoma decided in mid 2021 to move 3,000 of its employees to Microsoft’s Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD), previous experimentations with virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) raised concerns around implementation and how security, management and enabling collaboration tools for remote collaboration would work in AVD.  

Security and recoverability capabilities of cloud environments were strong considerations as the City made their decision to transition to AVD. Other influencing factors in choosing Microsoft’s service centered around their needs regarding rapid deployment and streamlined management and reusing and extending the life of a variety of aging PCs used across their workforce.  

To ensure these needs were met and the AVD proof-of-concept (POC) was successful, Microsoft introduced the City to Nerdio and NComputing. Both companies are preferred Microsoft partners that are compatible with the Azure Government Cloud and have demonstrated results and experience working with state and local government organizations. As the City’s Chief Information Officer explained, “Finding the right vendors to make our Azure Virtual Desktop proof-of-concept a success was pivotal in scaling our secure computing environment and cloud-first approach. The support and hands-on assistance from both Nerdio and NComputing were top-notch and high touch.”  

Implementing A Cloud-First Mentality in Tandem  

Before using AVD, the City used a variety of individual systems and hardware that made IT management cumbersome due to differing system updates, software licensing, hardware compatibilities, security considerations and more. The City’s IT department at the time of the AVD POC had a staff-to-support ratio of 1:100 – so it was clear they needed solutions that could optimize and streamline IT management and provide automation to maximize the staff’s time and efforts.   

Additionally, being a cloud-first organization was an important element to the City’s transition to AVD. As their CIO detailed, “We decided to take a cloud-first approach. Users had to convince us they could not use the cloud to be exempt.”  

Because NComputing’s LEAF OS allows a desktop, laptop, or thin client to be reborn as a cloud computing device, the City was able to extend the life of their PCs and hardware investment by repurposing a variety of Dell and HP devices into high-performing Linux AVD endpoints. Leaf OS also helped support the City’s collaboration objectives via the cloud, enabling them to run both Microsoft Teams and Zoom within AVD sessions with ease.  

By deploying Nerdio Manager for Enterprise, the City’s IT department was able to manage a larger number of virtual desktop users without disrupting employee experience. This saved the City a significant amount of time and reduced desktop deployments that used to take weeks to just a few hours, enabling the City to quickly and efficiently equip its workforce with their preferred workspaces and apps. Additionally, Nerdio’s centralized management interface allowed IT staff to more easily manage hundreds of users at scale and quicken help desk responses because access issues could easily be involved by any level of IT staff.  

Modern, Scalable and Empowered IT  

In using Nerdio Manager for Enterprise, the City was able to aggressively speed up their transition to AVD while creating an IT environment that’s much more robust, secure, and scalable than their previous on-premises solutions. They were able to deploy over 600 users within the first month and easily manage all Azure services that AVD relies on. 

“Nerdio was instrumental in our move to Azure Virtual Desktop. They were able to quickly migrate all our existing applications and resources to the new cloud environment and greatly streamline ongoing management for our IT department.” 

Because the City utilized remote, highly secure datacenters in Azure, they did not need to buy servers or additional infrastructure nor worry about planning investments around government budget cycles. Nerdio’s free Cost Estimator also helped the City determine what their Azure costs would be and how much they would save using Nerdio Manager.  

It was a helpful tool used during the evaluation and purchasing phases, but surprise still resulted for the City after seeing an average savings of $10,000 per month when using Nerdio Manager and AVD. In addition to cost savings, the time saved on AVD management and maintenance was significant because Nerdio Manager could be used by any IT staff member, regardless of their level, technical expertise or certifications in Azure.  

Find Nerdio in the Azure Marketplace at nerdio.co/nme and download our case study here.

Azure (Windows) Virtual Desktop

The Ultimate Guide to Azure Virtual Desktop

What is Azure Virtual Desktop?

Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) launched in 2019, under the name Windows Virtual Desktop. It is an evolution of Microsoft’s remote desktop services (RDS) technology. An Azure-only service, AVD consists of four primary innovations over traditional Remote Desktop Server (RDS) methods:  

  • Windows 10 Multi-user Operating System – This allows multiple concurrent users to use a single Azure virtual machine as a desktop. Prior to AVD, this was only possible with the Windows Server operating system.
  • User Profiles – These are handled independently of the virtual machine that serves the user’s desktop. These profiles are placed in containers and the containers are stored separately from the desktop VM in Azure. This is enabled by FSLogix technology that Microsoft acquired in 2018.
  • Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) Offering – A new PaaS offering contains the management and connection broker functionality for AVD and is the service that determines which users end upon which Azure virtual machine when they connect. 
  • Licensing for AVD — Licensing has been drastically simplified. AVD rights are included at no additional charge with multiple Windows 10 subscriptions including Microsoft 365 and Windows 10 Enterprise.

In June 2021, Microsoft launched Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) as a way to refocus Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD) branding with their vision of the future of desktop virtualization. By switching out “Windows” with “Azure,” the name hopes to clarify some things. You can read more about the 2021 name change and changes to the service here.

As you can tell from our brief overview – AVD is the natural evolution of desktops into a cloud-based service. Originally, organizations used PCs from hardware manufacturers using perpetual software OS licenses from Microsoft. Then, Microsoft developed and sold server OS licensing that evolved into Azure-based resources. The result with AVD is Microsoft now delivers a complete enterprise solution all the way to the end-user. This seamless all-in-one experience is extremely robust, scalable, reliable, and secure.

In order to set up AVD, there are a few requirements you must meet such as applicable licensing for users based on your chosen apps, infrastructure and user components and virtual machine standards.

Read more about Azure Virtual Desktop frequently asked questions here.

Azure Virtual Desktop vs. Windows 365

Both Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) and Windows 365 (W365) are virtual desktop solutions from Microsoft. Their differences span across their architecture features, overall IT admin experience, end-user experience, license and infrastructure costs, and their pricing models.

Check out this in-depth guide on the differences between Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365.

So, how do you choose between the two? It all depends on your unique business needs and work styles. AVD can be used across all business types and sizes but there are a few scenarios where Windows 365 may be a better fit for you. Check out our recommendations on when to use the Business edition of Windows 365 vs AVD. These include organizations that are only utilizing a handful of desktops, have no current or planned Azure footprint, have no previous experience in desktop virtualization, have an investment in Microsoft Endpoint Manager, need personalized desktops/local admin rights, or need 24/7 access to desktops. Overall, AVD allows for much greater flexibility and cost optimization, but it does require technical expertise and in-depth Azure knowledge without an optimization or management tool.  Add-on platforms, such as Nerdio Manager, can make managing both AVD and Windows 365 extremely simple and also eliminates the need for an experienced Azure engineer on staff.

Learn more about Nerdio Manager here.

How much does Azure Virtual Desktop Cost?

Figuring out the cost of running a virtual desktop environment in Azure can be difficult. Before diving into the costs of Azure Virtual Desktop, it is important to understand Microsoft Azure’s consumption-based pricing model. This is common among public cloud providers. If you do not properly optimize your Azure infrastructure, your monthly Azure bill can be unpredictable and higher than your budget allows.

The cost of Azure Virtual Desktop is broken down into three parts: software licensing, AVD Management services, and Azure infrastructure costs. You can purchase Azure services directly through the Azure website,  an Azure sales specialist, a CSP distributor or a Microsoft Partner.

There are five main categories that make up Azure Virtual Desktop costs. These include compute (70%, OS disks storage (12%), FSLogix storage (9%), Networking (3%), and Other (6%). There are various strategies you can implement to save money on the Azure list price and optimize usage.

It’s important to understand the difference between pay-as-you-go (PAYG) pricing and reserved instances for the best possible method of optimizing your Azure costs. You can read more about reserved instances here.  For more information on reducing Azure Virtual Desktop costs. Check out this article.

If you are interested in how much Azure or Azure Virtual Desktop will cost your organization, try Nerdio’s free Cost Estimator tool that uses a simple, wizard-driven way to easily estimate your costs for running an IT environment in Azure that is broken down by user per month.

What License is Needed for Azure Virtual Desktop?

AVD is an entitlement of a Windows 10 subscription license. This license can be purchased as part of Microsoft 365 Business/E3/E5/A3/A5 or as a standalone subscription. If you already own one of these licenses there is no additional cost to use AVD from a software perspective. 

You will need to purchase the Azure infrastructure necessary to deploy and manage any AVD environment. These costs can be decreased by leveraging Azure Reserved Instances, Windows 10 multi-session, or a solution that optimizes and reduces Azure computing and storage costs such as Nerdio Manager. 

Learn more about Azure Virtual Desktop licenses here and check out our article detailing Nerdio license structure and costs.

Benefits of Using Azure Virtual Desktop

When it comes to equipping end users with the desktops, apps and devices they need to be most productive and empowered – Azure Virtual Desktop is the best, most cost-effective, flexible option on the market. Leveraging leading Microsoft technologies and the powerful Azure cloud, the Azure Virtual Desktop service is secure, resilient and managed by Microsoft.

It provides a plethora of benefits. From optimizing or reducing hardware investments to streamlining application management and helping organizations reduce costs and resources through Microsoft-owned software and pooled, multi-session resources – AVD has it all!

Compounding these benefits is the increased market demand and even employee demand for Microsoft technologies that are well-known and well-adopted across managed services, enterprises and SMB businesses. Users already love Microsoft Teams, the Microsoft 365 suite and many are accustomed to using a Windows desktop. AVD delivers all of these, securely and at scale. It is becoming a powerful tool for organizations’ remote work, cloud and employee experience initiatives.

Schedule a demo to see Azure Virtual Desktop in action.

How Do I Add Users to Microsoft Azure and Azure Virtual Desktop?

Users can be added natively through the Azure portal or streamlined through Nerdio Manager. Our solution allows you to easily see and manage all users including completing tasks like assigning users to groups or desktops, shadowing user sessions to resolve an issue, resetting passwords, or assigning Microsoft 365 licenses. Read more about adding users to Azure and AVD in this article.

Natively adding users to Microsoft Azure and Azure Virtual Desktop can be done through the Azure portal.  You will also need to configure the appropriate amount of host pools, session hosts, workspaces, app groups, user groups and access policies for your organization’s needs.

Learn more about Azure terminology here.

Once users are assigned to the appropriate host pool, desktop and groups, admins can attach FSLogix profiles or MSIX App Attach and assign users roles based on the Azure Virtual Desktop delegated access model. Once users have been assigned to their app groups, they can connect to an AVD deployment with any AVD client such as Windows 10, Windows 11, Android, macOS, etc.

Click here for a free downloadable guide on all Microsoft Azure terminology.

How Do I Log Into Azure Virtual Desktop for the First Time?

Microsoft provides the gateway and broker services for Azure Virtual Desktops. They have also compiled “how-to” guides for connecting each client type to AVD that you can find here.  But regardless of how simple Microsoft has made connecting to AVD, MSPs and enterprise IT pros alike will undoubtedly still be asked, “How do I log into my AVD desktop?” by end users they support.

Setting up the AVD client for login is easy and quick and can be completed in a minimal number of steps. All authentication occurs via your organization’s Microsoft tenant without any need to provide consent or accept permissions. 

Learn more about the two most common ways end users will be connecting to AVD in this article.

How to Troubleshoot Performance in Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) Environments

Because of various system components and the underlying deployment architecture, AVD environments can often be challenging to fix when it comes to improving the service’s performance for your end users. It is extremely important to provide an optimal user experience. In fact, poor or inconsistent performance is by far the most common reason virtual desktop projects fail, regardless of the deployment size.

There are four main culprits when it comes to hindering AVD performance:

1. CPU

2. RAM

3. Disk

4. Network

Diagnosing CPU and RAM-related performance issues can be done through free, native Azure tools like Windows Resource Monitor and Windows Task Manager. For tangible advice and a practical approach to troubleshoot performance in AVD, visit our technical deep dive on the subject.

Azure Virtual Desktop Management

Ongoing management of Azure Virtual Desktop environments involves understanding and using all of the Azure services AVD runs on as well as elements like image and storage management, host pool creation and maintenance, updating security permissions, and much more. If you do not use a management solution like Nerdio Manager, you will manage everything directly through the Azure portal.

Azure Virtual Desktop is the only VDI service available that offers Windows 10/11 enterprise multi-session capabilities for centralized management. This allows companies to pool their virtual machines and host pools to reduce the number of resources needed along with their Azure costs. It also allows for easier management of desktops in Azure because group and user policies can be applied, and app groups and images can be updated at scale.

Nerdio Manager allows MSPs and Enterprise IT professionals to easily deploy and manage Azure Virtual Desktop environments in just a few clicks and in one centralized management platform. Schedule a demo and see it in action.

To master or improve your AVD management skills, check out our certification programs. Subscribe to our newsletter so you don’t miss any new content or announcements!

Think Azure Virtual Desktop is right for you? Check out this definitive guide.

Nerdio Manager for MSP Case Study: Infoware

CASE STUDY 

Learn how Infoware, a Managed Service Provider, used Nerdio Manager to help their clients make an immediate migration to Azure Virtual Desktop. 

About Infoware

Infoware is a Managed Service Provider (MSP) that works with law firms and professional services. Infoware designs and delivers innovative template management and document automation software that helps law firms create and manage documents faster and easier. Over tens of thousands of users have worked with Infoware for over three decades in countries all over the world. 

The Situation 

Since COVID-19, Infoware has seen an increased demand for remote, flexible, and agile environments that provide good performance. 

Infoware first looked for a solution that could help them migrate their clients from their on-premises workspace to a virtual desktop in early 2021. Many of their clients’ offices closed because of COVID-19 and they needed immediate access to a work-from-home environment. 

A couple of Infoware’s clients were using the cloud-based virtual desktop provider, CloudJumper, but those servers weren’t prepared to handle the large load of logins from remote workers. As a result, Infoware’s clients experienced performance issues that impacted their ability to do their job successfully from home.

The Solution

Infoware’s CEO reached out to online MSP peer groups and asked for recommendations for platforms that could help Infoware move clients to Azure — Nerdio came highly recommended. 

Infoware has since migrated four clients and has plans to migrate two more. The implementations they’ve completed have been a mix of clients who migrated from an on-premises server to the cloud and others who were already on the cloud, where Infoware migrated them to Microsoft Azure. 

Nerdio Manager’s platform created a stable environment that allowed Infoware’s clients to use Azure consistently without any performance issues. 

The Results

Nerdio Manager provides Infoware with simplified controls and the ability to spread management tasks across their team and support cloud-based clients. Infoware can create a standardized environment across all clients and this has made the troubleshooting process more efficient 

“Nerdio’s platform is so easy to use that other technical people on their small team can manage it.” 

One of the biggest benefits for Infoware has been that they don’t have to put their most senior technical people to the task of managing Azure anymore because Nerdio’s platform is so easy to use that other technical people on their small team can manage it. 

For example, Nerdio’s support for file handle unlocking for Azure file share frees up higher-level technical resources from having to troubleshoot every time. Golden image management is simplified through automation, and it reduces the likelihood of human error. Another benefit is that automating restarts and golden image updates can be done quickly through scheduling.

DOWNLOAD THE CASE STUDY HERE

Find Nerdio in the Azure Marketplace: nerdio. co/nmm

 

New Features in Nerdio Manager for Enterprise Version 3.5 

Gearing up for our biggest MSP and partner event of the year has been a big focus here at Nerdio but that hasn’t stopped us from developing a whole new slew of product features in our enterprise product Nerdio Manager for Enterprise.  

Version 3.5 brings many new capabilities to enterprise IT professionals operating environments in Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365. We’ve highlighted a few of our favorite features below that help improve provisioning and allow enterprise IT pros to further leverage our powerful scripted actions. 

Azure DevOps Repositories 

This new feature allows admins to synchronize scripted actions with Azure DevOps repositories. They’re able to use favorite tools, like Visual Studio Code, to edit and maintain scripted actions with all of the power of Azure DevOps workflows, versioning, and so much more. Not only does this save time but scripted actions are automatically synchronized with Azure DevOps repositories. Any changes take effect immediately without the need for configuration changes to be made in Nerdio Manager. 

Azure Files AAD Join

Admins can create new Azure Files shares and automatically join them to Azure AD with this new feature. AAD-joined file shares can be used to host FSLogix profiles and used with AAD-joined session hosts to simplify ongoing management of AVD and Windows 365.  

Windows 365 Enterprise AAD Join 

Provision Cloud PCs without on-premises AD domain controllers with Windows 365 Enterprise AAD Join. Both customer-managed and Microsoft-managed VNets are supported. This enables Cloud PCs to be provisioned faster and they will join Azure AD automatically. 

Modify User Assignment on Personal Desktops

This feature admins can now easily assign, un-assign, or change the assigned user on personal desktop VMs.  

For the full list of new features (16!) and enhancements please head to our enterprise Knowledge Base site’s Release Notes page. 

NerdioCon Nerd Icon: Neil McLoughlin, Nerdio

It’s hard to believe this year’s NerdioCon event will be well underway at this time next week. We can’t wait to see those who will join us in gorgeous Cancun, Mexico. We’ve prepared a jam-packed agenda full of insightful and educational content to help MSPs level up their businesses in 2022! 

Until then, we are happy to showcase our next Nerd Icon who will be presenting a breakout session at this year’s conference – Nerdio’s own Field Chief Technical Officer in the UK, Neil McLoughlin! Learn more about Neil and what he’ll be speaking about next week in our quick + fun interview below. 

What has your career journey been like and how did you come to be in your current role?   

  • My career journey has been pretty traditional – I skipped university to start my career in IT, and my first job was performing a Windows 3.11 to Windows NT4.0 migration (I am showing my age here!). From there, I have had various roles over the years. I went from help desk to desktop support to server support and then eventually ended up in the VDI space which I loved as it involved both server and desktop technologies. I spent around 10 years in the on-prem Citrix consulting space before making the switch to Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) around the same time it was released. I spent 12 months on various consulting engagements deploying AVD environments and quickly heard about and saw the power of Nerdio. I am quite active in the VDI/EUC community, so I was very vocal about how awesome Nerdio was… and the rest is history! They approached me to be the UK Field CTO and help expand their market in the UK. It’s the best decision I ever made! 

Can you share more about what you will be speaking about at NerdioCon 2022 and why the topic(s) is so relevant for partners right now?  

  • I will be talking about image management at NerdioCon 2022! It’s something that MSPs really struggle when doing it natively within Azure and it is something that Nerdio makes so easy, quick and painless. Image management is a key component of any deployment as it defines  security and user experience so it’s something which you need to get right.  

What is one trend impacting MSPs you think will be an even bigger focus / topic this year?   

  • I think Azure AD and MEM/Intune are going to have a huge impact this year. For the first time ever, we can now fully deploy an Azure Virtual Desktop workload where we don’t need any server infrastructure whatsoever. This enables us to deploy quicker, cheaper, and be a lot more flexible in our deployments. It’s also something which Microsoft is heavily investing in, so I am looking forward to seeing where it goes.  

Where can our audiences find + follow you on social? 

Eager to learn more or plan your conference stay? Check out the full NerdioCon 2022 agenda, speaker list, and sponsor lineup at http://www.nerdiocon.com ahead of the event commencing Monday, February 21st.  

NerdioCon Nerd Icon: Will Ominsky, Nerdio 

NerdioCon Nerd Icon Will Ominsky, Nerdio

NerdioCon 2022 is less than two weeks away! We are buzzing with excitement and can’t wait to be on-site in Cancun with all of our MSP partners and attendees, sponsors and phenomenal speakers.  

To give you a sneak peek of what you can expect at the conference, we created the Nerdio Icon blog series highlighting our amazing speakers or “icons” as we like to say. These are the people who talk the talk and walk the walk when it comes to understanding managed services, IT and the technology and business needs of MSPs. This week, we sat down with Will Ominsky Senior Director, MSP Sales here at Nerdio to learn more about Will and what he’ll be sharing at the conference. 

What has your career journey been like and how did you come to be in your current role?   

I started my technology career at a copier company and played a role in improving our branch from one of the worst performing into one of the top three nationally. I began to realize the IT side of copiers is what I loved most and was fortunate enough to land a role at a sizeable, forward-thinking managed service provider (MSP). After five years and an acquisition, I decided to try the other side of the channel where I joined a startup focused on helping MSPs adopt cloud computing through virtual desktops. This is where I really ignited my passion for both virtual desktop technology and educating MSPs about the benefits of the cloud.  

I found my career home (as I like to call it) at Nerdio about 2.5 years ago when I was hired as a Partner Sales Executive and given the chance to apply and grow my Azure, AVD and VDI expertise. I worked my way up in our sales organization and now lead our MSP sales team. Today I get to spend my days not only helping MSPs adopt one of the largest growth areas in technology (Azure), but shaping our company, developing new programs and events, and educating the MSP ecosystem.   

Can you share more about what you will be speaking about at NerdioCon 2022 and why the topic is so relevant for partners right now? 

MSPs are adopting Azure at a record pace, but often we find they are overpaying and not taking advantage of many included features available to them. In my session, I will focus on how to price and architect end customer computing (EUC) environments at the lowest possible cost to provide the best results for both the MSP and their customers.  

What is one trend impacting MSPs you think will be an even bigger focus / topic this year? 

Security, security, security! There is no question security is going to continue being a focus for MSPs in 2022 and beyond. Cloud computing will continue to be at the forefront of how MSPs can achieve security and control for their customers big and small.   

Thanks, Will! Where can our audiences find + follow you on social? 

Follow and connect with me on LinkedIn!  

We look forward to seeing you all at NerdioCon being held February 21-23, 2022, in Cancun, Mexico. Event registration closes tomorrow, Thursday, February 10th, so save your spot at www.nerdiocon.com!