Virtual desktop technology has been around for more than a decade, but adoption has lagged due to perceived cost and complexity challenges. With more organizations looking to use the technology to support remote and hybrid workforces, Microsoft is simplifying desktop virtualization with its new cloud-based Windows 365 service.

According to the “2018 Top 10 SMB and Midmarket Business Issues, IT Challenges and IT Priorities” report from Techaisle, virtualization is a top 10 IT priority for both small to midsize businesses (SMBs) and midmarket firms. That’s not surprising given that “budget constraints” ranked as the No. 1 IT challenge for SMBs and the No. 2 IT challenge for midmarket firms.

For years, businesses have discussed moving workloads and applications to the cloud, and many surveys have seemingly supported this trend. However, a recent study from the Uptime Institute found that only about one-third of workloads are in the cloud – about the same as in 2014. In other words, 65 percent of workloads remain in the corporate data center.