Azure Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Services

Your teams want a fast Windows desktop and the apps they rely on. Your IT team wants control, strong security, and sensible costs. Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) gives you both. Calance designs, deploys, and manages AVD so your people can log in from any device and get to work while your environment stays secure and predictable.

AVD runs your desktops and apps in Azure and streams them to users over a secure connection, which means data stays in your secure Azure environment and not on personal devices.

What is Azure Virtual Desktop?

Azure Virtual Desktop is Microsoft’s desktop and app virtualization service in Azure. Users connect to Windows virtual machines hosted in Azure datacenters. You can publish a full desktop or only the specific applications you want them to use. It feels like a normal PC session, only it is running in the cloud with centralized administration for identity, security, and updates.

AVD supports Windows 11 and Windows 10 single-session or multi-session, so you can assign one user per virtual machine (VM) or share capacity across many users, depending on the job.

Our Core Azure Virtual Desktop Services

Implementation Services

End-to-end setup that gets you into production quickly and safely.

Architecture and landing zone for AVD, identity, and networking
Host pool design for personal, pooled, and RemoteApp scenarios
FSLogix profile storage on Azure Files with quotas and retention
Image management, app packaging, and golden image hardening
Monitoring and diagnostics integrated with Log Analytics
Pilot, user acceptance, and production cutover

Managed Operations and Support

Daily care so your environment stays healthy, secure, and responsive.

24x7 monitoring, alerting, and incident response
Patch management and image lifecycle
User provisioning and access governance
Performance tuning and capacity planning
Backup and recovery for profiles and configuration
Monthly health checks and improvement reports

Cost and Performance Optimization

Continuous FinOps to keep cost and experience in balance.

Autoscaling policies that match working hours and demand
Right-sizing VMs based on real usage and workload guidance
Reserved instances planning, which helps
Storage tiering for FSLogix and app data
KPI dashboards for cost per user, logon times, and session density

Security and Compliance Hardening

Reduce attack surface and enforce policy at every layer.

Conditional access, MFA, and role-based access
Baseline hardening for images and session hosts
Network segmentation and private access options
Audit, logging, and retention are mapped to your controls
USB and clipboard policies to prevent data exfiltration
Periodic security posture reviews and remediation

Why organizations move to AVD with Calance ?

Support hybrid work without compromising security

Deliver a secure desktop to any approved device and keep data in Azure.

Centralize management

Publish apps, size host pools, control access, and monitor performance from one place.

Control spend

Use multi-session Windows, right-size VMs, and turn capacity off when it is not needed.

Improve user experience

FSLogix profile containers cut logon times and keep settings consistent across sessions.

Where Azure Virtual Desktop makes the biggest impact

If your organization is facing any of these challenges, it’s time to connect with Calance’s IT Helpdesk experts:

Remote and hybrid teams

Employees get the same desktop whether they’re in the office, at home, or traveling. Performance and access remain consistent.

Contractors and temporary workers

Provision desktops in minutes without shipping laptops or worrying about retrieval later. Access can be removed instantly when contracts end.

Call centers and shared environments

With pooled desktops, each user gets a fresh, isolated session. It’s efficient, secure, and simple to manage.

Specialized or legacy applications

Graphics-heavy or legacy apps can run on powerful Azure VMs and be streamed to lightweight devices—perfect for engineering or design teams.

Regulated industries

Data never leaves Azure, helping financial, healthcare, and public organizations stay compliant.

Manufacturing

We streamline and automate manufacturing business processes, integrating systems and workflows for greater efficiency. By extracting data from the Manufacturing Execution System (MES) and applying Business Intelligence and Data Science, manufacturers gain real-time performance visibility to reduce downtime, improve output quality, and lower operating costs.

Automotive

We build and manage applications that streamline interactions between OEMs and their dealer networks. From online product configuration engines for consumers and dealers to dealer helpdesk and customer service application, our solutions improve sales efficiency, strengthen collaboration, and help our automotive clients enhance their dealer and end-customer experience.

Hospitals & Health Systems

We deliver HIPAA-compliant IT helpdesk and support for hospitals and health systems, with deep familiarity in leading EHR and EMR platforms such as Epic and athenahealth. Our services ensure smooth daily operations, secure patient data, and reliable access to critical systems, enabling healthcare providers to focus on delivering quality patient care.

Pharmaceuticals & Life Sciences

We design AI-powered solutions for pharmaceutical and life sciences organizations to accelerate and improve clinical trial operations. From Intelligent Document Processing to advanced trial complexity scoring, our platforms integrate AI, Business Intelligence, and Data Science to enhance predictability, ensure regulatory compliance, and increase operational efficiency across the research lifecycle.

Legal Services

We help law firms with the ongoing management and administration of knowledge platforms like iManage and document collaboration platforms such as SharePoint. In addition, we provide custom application development and integration services related to these systems, enabling secure document handling, improved collaboration, and more efficient case management.

FinTech

We streamline and automate FinTech business processes, integrating systems and workflows for greater efficiency. Our solutions improve sales efficiency, strengthen collaboration, and enhance the end-customer experience by building and managing applications that streamline interactions between FinTech organizations and their clients. We ensure smooth daily operations, secure financial data, and provide reliable access to critical systems, enabling FinTech providers to focus on delivering quality services.

Construction & Engineering

We integrate leading construction management platforms like Procore with ERP and accounting systems including JD Edwards, PeopleSoft, NetSuite, CMiC and more. Our team also develops custom solutions to close gaps in the construction technology stack, improving project visibility, streamlining workflows, and enhancing operational control. These integrations enable construction firms to reduce delays, control costs, and deliver projects more efficiently.

Real Estate & Property Management

We integrate and build add-on tools for leading real estate and property management SaaS platforms such as MRI Software and Northspyre. These solutions enhance data flow, improve operational efficiency, and give property managers better control over portfolio performance. The result is enhanced decision-making, reduced administrative workload, and improved tenant satisfaction.

Non profits

We provide desktop management and IT support services to keep nonprofit organizations’ laptops, networks, and servers running reliably and cost-effectively. Our solutions ensure a stable IT environment so teams can focus resources on their mission rather than technical issues, reducing downtime and maximizing operational efficiency.

How Calance delivers Azure Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Services

Get your Integration Strategy

1. Discovery and planning

We begin with a comprehensive assessment of your environment, including network, apps, users, licensing, and compliance needs. Our team defines the architecture, disaster recovery model, and cost expectations so deployment runs smoothly.

2. Tailored design and deployment

We build your AVD environment with optimized Windows 11 desktops, security configurations, FSLogix profiles, and performance-tuned Microsoft 365 integration. Conference tools like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and Webex are validated for their camera and microphone reliability.

3. Modern endpoint setup

If thin clients or remote devices are part of your plan, Calance handles procurement, configuration, and rollout. Security policies are applied before devices go live.

4. Enterprise-grade security

We implement conditional access, multi-factor authentication, encryption, and USB controls to ensure no sensitive data leaves your environment.

5. Seamless transition and support

After deployment, we migrate users, train administrators, and remain hands-on during the hypercare period to ensure stability from day one.

Cost, licensing, and optimization strategies

The AVD service itself does not add a separate license cost if you have eligible Microsoft 365 or Windows Enterprise licenses. You pay Azure for what you use. That means compute for session hosts, storage for OS disks and FSLogix profiles, and any network activity.

We help you pick the right VM families and apply autoscaling so you are not paying for capacity you do not use. We also review usage patterns each quarter to keep the environment aligned with how people work.

Fast checklist to keep monthly cost in check

Use multi-session Windows where it fits the workload.
Turn off or scale down hosts when idle and scale out only during peaks.
Right-size VMs and revisit sizing each quarter.
Store profiles on the right Azure storage tier for performance and price.

AVD vs Windows 365 vs Traditional VDI

Which is correct for your business?

Not all desktop virtualization platforms are built the same. While Windows 365 and traditional on-premises VDI solutions have their strengths, Azure Virtual Desktop stands out for its flexibility, cost efficiency, and enterprise-grade scalability.

Below is a detailed comparison that highlights the differences and why AVD is the platform most enterprises choose when modernizing their workspace.

Feature

Azure Virtual Desktop

Windows 365 (Cloud PC)

Traditional VDI (Citrix, VMware)

Control & Customization

Full control over VM sizing, apps, and policies

Limited configuration options

Fixed, hardware-dependent setup

Cost Model

Pay-as-you-go with autoscaling and multi-session

Fixed per-user subscription

High CapEx plus maintenance

Scalability

Instantly scale resources up or down

One Cloud PC per user

Requires manual hardware expansion

Security & Compliance

Azure AD, MFA, Conditional Access, full audit trail

Microsoft-managed security

Varies by local datacenter

User Experience

Optimized for Teams, Outlook, and FSLogix profiles

Consistent but fixed performance

Dependent on internal servers

Integration

Deep Microsoft 365, Azure Monitor, and Defender integration

Limited admin-level integration

Third-party add-ons required

Deployment Speed

Weeks to go live with Calance design templates

Instant but less configurable

Months of procurement and setup

Maintenance

Azure-managed control plane with Calance support

Fully Microsoft-managed

Manual patching and upgrades

What makes AVD stand out

Windows 11 and Windows 10 multi-session. Share one VM across many users where it fits the workload.

Optimized Microsoft 365 experience. Teams, Outlook, and Office are tuned for virtual environments.

Flexible publishing. Offer personal desktops, pooled desktops, or only the apps with RemoteApp.

FSLogix profile containers. Speed up sign-ins and keep a familiar desktop across devices.

Security built in. Use MFA, conditional access, encryption, and network controls to reduce risk.

Who should consider Azure Virtual Desktop?

Azure Virtual Desktop is ideal for enterprises, mid-market businesses, and public organizations that need secure remote access to Windows desktops and business applications from any location. It supports hybrid work, bring-your-own-device (BYOD) models, contractors, and distributed teams. AVD enables centralized management of user sessions, policies, and updates through the Azure portal, making it especially valuable for financial services, healthcare, engineering, and education sectors where compliance and data security are top priorities.

What licenses are required?

AVD rights are included in Microsoft 365 E3, E5, Business Premium, and Windows Enterprise E3/E5 plans, which means most organizations can deploy AVD without buying extra licenses. For other setups, per-user access licensing options are available. Calance helps clients verify AVD licensing eligibility, optimize license usage, and integrate identity with Azure Active Directory or hybrid AD for seamless access management across all environments.

How do you maintain performance and reliability?

Calance keeps your Azure Virtual Desktop environment fast and reliable through continuous performance tuning, load balancing, and resource optimization. We analyze CPU and memory usage, adjust session density, and monitor login times using Azure Monitor and Log Analytics. Our team also maintains image optimization for Microsoft 365 apps and Teams, enforces autoscaling to match user load, and proactively remediates latency issues to deliver a consistent, high-performance user experience across all devices and regions.

Can we migrate from Citrix or VMware Horizon to AVD?

Yes. Calance offers a structured Azure Virtual Desktop migration service designed for organizations transitioning from Citrix, VMware Horizon, or other legacy VDI platforms. The process starts with a pilot migration and compatibility testing, followed by a staged rollout across user groups. We ensure identity federation, policy alignment, and application compatibility during the transition so your users experience minimal disruption. Once complete, our managed services team handles ongoing AVD optimization and cost governance to help you get the most from your new cloud workspace.

What happens if there’s a regional outage or disaster?

Azure Virtual Desktop is built for high availability and business continuity. Calance designs every environment with multi-region replication, availability zones, and automated failover to ensure access remains uninterrupted even if a region experiences downtime. User profiles and session data are stored in redundant Azure storage accounts, and our team implements backup and recovery procedures, Azure Site Recovery, and geo-redundant storage to safeguard your operations. This ensures you meet your organization’s disaster recovery (DR) and compliance requirements without maintaining secondary datacenters.

Azure Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Services