AWS desktop-as-a service offering now available in Mumbai region

Cloud services giant Amazon Web Services (AWS) said that its desktop- as-a-service solution AWS WorkSpace will be generally available to users in the company’s Mumbai cloud region and its three availability centers.  

The release comes almost seven years after AWS WorkSpaces was launched in May 2014, and five years since AWS announced the opening of the Mumbai APAC cloud region in 2016.    

AWS WorkSpaces will take on the likes of other DaaS solutions such as Citrix Workspace, VMware’s workspace One, opensource VDI platform VirtualBox, Microsoft’s Hyper-V and the Windows Virtual Desktop, among others.  

As the name suggests, the solution will allow customers to provide virtual, cloud-based Windows and Linux desktops for their users. Users will be able to access documents, applications and resources from any supported device. Based on pay as you use model, AWS said that users can pay on a monthly or an hourly basis.  

Mumbai is AWS’ 14th cloud region globally and the seventh to be launched in the APAC region. Its eighth region in this geography was recently opened in Japan this year, called the Osaka region.  

Muneer Mirza, general manager, end user experiences AWS announced the general availability in a blog post on AWS. 

“The expansion comes as we approach the one-year anniversary of global travel restrictions, lockdowns, and work from home (WFH) due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Mirza wrote in the blog post.   

“With our availability of the Mumbai Region, customers can provision WorkSpaces closer to their users and data, providing a more responsive experience.” Mirza added.  

Customers in the Mumbai region will also be able to utilise the WorkSpaces Streaming Protocol, which will provide a consistent user experience on unreliable networks with high packet loss AWS claimed.  

Verticals in which AWS expects to see traction include highly regulated industries such as financial services where there are strict data sovereignty requirements in India. Government services is also a potential growth sector for AWS, the company said. Other areas of deployment include contact centers, back offices and development centers.