Nutanix launches work-from-home tech package in Thailand

Thailand has witnessed a fast-growing demand for tele-working due to the Covid-19 pandemic, especially in the wake of the government’s March 26 enforcement of its emergency decree to manage the spikes of new infection cases.

Over the past weeks, some Bangkok office buildings have been affected by cases of Covid 19 infections resulting in temporary or partial closures, while the government is increasingly encouraging more employees to work from home to help prevent the further spread of the deadly virus.  As a result, a growing number of businesses and industries across the board, have turned to technology companies to tackle the challenge.

Neville Vincent, Nutanix’s vice president for Asean, India and ANZ, who is based in Singapore, said he currently works from home due to the Covid-19 pandemic, exemplifying a fast-growing trend of tele-commuting.  Besides Singapore and Bangkok, the trend is increasingly global due to widespread office closure in many cities and countries around the world. For many, working from home has become a necessity while it is a preferred choice for most employees due to the deadly corona-virus’s health hazards.

Vincent said many enterprises in Thailand have been enthusiastic about using Nutanix’s VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) and DaaS (Desktop as a Service) in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic.  In the Thai market, Nutanix, a US-based hyper-converged infrastructure software firm, is offering a 30-day free trial for its work-from-home Xi Frame package so that VDI and DaaS can be set up to allow employees to switch to the tele-working mode promptly.

The free trial offer comes hot on the heels of the Thai government’s enforcement of its emergency decree to manage the spread of Covid-19 infections in the country as cases have topped 1,000 as of March 26.

As city lockdowns expand around the world, enterprises have started to implement their business process continuity plans while some prefer to set up their VDI and DaaS along with the existing VPN (Virtual Private Network).

According to Vincent, Nutanix’s Xi Frame can be used via 26 cloud locations in Asia and Pacific. He said various countries and cities in the region are now in different stages of managing the pandemic and adopting work-from-home technology. Since last week, many Thai enterprises  have made enquiries about the free trial offer, covering manufacturing, services, healthcare, logistic, retail, warehouse,  home delivery and other sectors.

Education is another major sector hit hard by the pandemic, resulting in the shutdown of most schools, he said, citing an international school in Singapore as an example in which his daughter is now studying from home using the VDI.

Another example is the healthcare sector’s massive back office work currently done by outsourced tele-workers in India, while government employees and parliamentarians In Australia now also work from home using the same technology, which can be deployed in a matter of hours, not weeks or months.

The future of work has shifted from a centralized mode to a new decentralized format so that people can keep working amid the pandemic while avoiding face-to-face contact.  He noted that the international travel industry will not be the same following this pandemic as widespread digital engagement takes hold on a global scale.

In his opinion, VDI and DaaS offer more choice and flexibility as well as increased productivity due to less travel and more digital contacts, when compared to the previous generation of technology.  He said Singapore has already adopted a flexible work model due to some office bans while Thailand is implementing measures to depart from density to a more decentralised model so that they can maintain business momentum during the pandemic.

In fact, today’s technology is very simple as VDI and DaaS set up can be done in hours with no certified personnel while business function apps can be delivered into browser based on the assignment given to each of the users who can just bring their own device to work from home.

Each user can access the VDI based on his or her responsibilities such as finance and accounting, human resources, marketing   etc. After the trail period, users will pay according to their on-demand use.