Google has the Cloudtop virtual desktop program that employees use to access internal software, which is a useful solution for companies that want to keep their employees productive while they work from home during the spread of the Coronavirus.
However, when cloud customers request Google for a virtual desktop solution, the company refers them to third-party solutions instead.
Google’s approach is in sharp contrast to market leaders Amazon and Microsoft, both of which have their own virtual desktop services, and both have seen a slight increase in use during the pandemic.
For the many companies that are moving to remote work on a large scale for the first time, relying on cloud providers to handle the infrastructure is easier than keeping administrators on site to manage servers or mail computers to new employees.
After Zoom saw an increase in the number of new customers during the pandemic, the video calling platform company has subscribed to more than 1,000 Amazon WorkSpaces virtual desktops for help desk employees.
AWS said in May: Oil and gas pipeline operator TC Energy has subscribed to Amazon WorkSpaces so employees can work safely from home.
For Microsoft, the boom was so significant that the CEO mentioned it when talking about the company’s quarterly earnings in April.
“Use of Windows Virtual Desktop has tripled this quarter, as organizations deploy virtual desktops and apps across Azure to enable secure, remote work,” he said.
Google made Cloudtop available for the first time to employees in 2017, and it aims to help them create programs, interact with internal systems, and communicate through IRC.
The service offers both Linux and Windows desktops, which can be useful for testing source code.
Google published a research paper on its virtual desktop program in 2018, and more than 25 percent of its employees use virtual desktops.
Google has also moved the software to its own public cloud instead of the company’s infrastructure to improve the user experience and reduce the total cost of ownership.
