Bringing the Nerdio Manager benefits to Azure Virtual Desktop for Azure Local

As enterprise IT strategies continue to evolve, organizations are no longer facing a simple binary choice between cloud and on-premises infrastructure. Many are adopting hybrid approaches or choosing to remain on-premises for regulatory, operational, or latency reasons. This is especially true in highly regulated sectors, such as healthcare. Microsoft’s Azure Virtual Desktop for Azure Local (formerly Azure Stack HCI) presents a powerful option for these organizations: the ability to run Azure Virtual Desktop workloads on local infrastructure while still benefiting from the broader Azure ecosystem and leveraging their Microsoft 365 entitlements. 

But there are some slight differences. Azure Virtual Desktop was designed for Azure. While Azure Virtual Desktop for Azure Local is similar in features and capabilities, there are some fundamental architecture differences when it comes to APIs, automation pathways, etc. This is where Nerdio’s partnership with Microsoft and our deep technical relationship around product development benefits our joint customers. Azure Virtual Desktop for Azure Local customers can take advantage of Nerdio Manager’s automation, operational efficiency, and management benefits for Azure Local instances in the same way they can for native Azure infrastructure.  

Nerdio Manager for Enterprise removes complexity from deployments, whether you’re running in native Azure, Azure Gov, or Azure Local. When deploying Azure Virtual Desktop for Azure Local, Nerdio Manager bridges the gaps created by API and platform differences and enables organizations to: 

• Deploy Azure Virtual Desktop in minutes, not weeks, using an intuitive GUI instead of hand-crafted scripts. 

• Maintain consistent policies and user experiences across cloud and on-premises environments. 

• Automate virtual desktop lifecycle management (provisioning, scaling, image updates, and more) with zero scripting. 

• Access powerful dashboards and monitoring tools, even when native Azure features like Log Analytics aren’t available locally. 

In other words, Nerdio Manager abstracts away the complexity of the underlying infrastructure differences so that your IT team can focus on managing endpoints and delivering great user experiences, not decoding which APIs work on which flavor of Azure. 

Why this matters (especially for healthcare!) 

For regulated industries, such as healthcare, Azure Local + Nerdio Manager is a game-changer. Here’s why: 

• Data residency & sovereignty: Healthcare organizations often must comply with strict regulations around data location. Azure Local enables them to keep sensitive workloads in-region or on-premises without sacrificing the benefits of modern VDI. 

• Low latency for clinical apps: Many healthcare applications (EHRs, PACS, etc.) are latency-sensitive. Hosting virtual desktops close to the data center that runs these apps ensures performance remains consistent. 

• Security & control: Full control over the hardware and networking stack allows healthcare IT teams to harden security configurations beyond what’s possible in shared infrastructure environments. 

However, all these benefits are only fully realized if the management experience is smooth and consistent. Without a tool like Nerdio Manager, deploying and maintaining Azure Virtual Desktop for Azure Local can become labor-intensive and impractical at scale. 

Nerdio’s key differentiators for Azure Local 

Here are a few ways Nerdio Manager specifically enhances the Azure Virtual Desktop for Azure Local experience: 

With Nerdio, your team gets one unified management interface for Azure Virtual Desktop, whether it’s running in Azure Native or Azure Local. This results in faster deployments, fewer errors, and a dramatically reduced total cost of ownership. 

Real-world impact at York County Community Action Corporation 

Meet York County Community Action Corporation (YCCAC), a nonprofit organization serving over 15,000 residents across 20 cities and towns in York County, Maine. With a mission to alleviate poverty and promote self-sufficiency, YCCAC provides several services, including a community health center, Head Start programs, WIC, Whole Family Coaching, and energy assistance. Its dedicated team of 250+ employees works tirelessly to support vulnerable populations in the region. 

Senior IT Consultant Mike Pratt recognized the nonprofit’s needs and recommended Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) with Azure Local. This hybrid setup keeps session hosts on-premises while enabling centralized management through Azure—offering improved performance, tighter data control, and lower costs.  To unlock even greater efficiency, Pratt partnered with Nerdio to integrate Nerdio Manager for Enterprise with Azure Virtual Desktop and Azure Local. This provided dynamic VM scaling, streamlined operations, and simplified resource management. 

Read the full YCCAC, Nerdio Manager, Azure Virtual Desktop for Azure Local, and DataOn story.   

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