There is also a strong argument for placing the proof of concept in the most remote or latency-challenged location. If performance is acceptable in the hardest network conditions, rollout confidence increases everywhere else.
Cost is also increasingly tied to consumption and operational overhead. Media offload reduces cloud resource consumption for real-time collaboration. Longer endpoint life cycles and simplified support reduce help desk load. The combination is why thin clients continue to show up as the “quiet enabler” in DaaS programs: they make cloud desktops more predictable to run.
A practical way to frame DaaS rollouts is to consider who pilots first, who ultimately gets a virtual desktop, and who should not.
Why thin clients fit the cloud workspace shift
A modern thin client is designed around three realities of cloud work:
As DaaS and SaaS usage rises, thin clients are becoming a practical default endpoint for cloud workspaces. They are built for browser-centric identity, web apps, and real-time collaboration, while giving IT a smaller attack surface and a more manageable fleet. DaaS will not be universal for every user, but for the majority of roles that live in productivity apps, collaboration tools, and web workflows, modern thin clients align well with how the enterprise desktop is being rebuilt around the cloud.
By Kevin Greenway
Thin clients support this “right user, right model” approach because they give IT a consistent endpoint posture while allowing flexibility in delivery. A team can run a DaaS pilot with strict controls and predictable configurations, then expand cautiously while maintaining exceptions for the edge cases that truly require a different approach.
The adoption question: who goes first, who gets DaaS, and who does not
Against that backdrop, the endpoint matters again. Modern thin clients are no longer “dumb terminals.” They have become purpose-built cloud workspace endpoints that reduce risk, simplify operations, and improve the experience for both DaaS and SaaS-heavy workstyles.
On the other hand, there are still user groups that often remain outside a DaaS model. Offline requirements are the clearest example. Unreliable connectivity is another. Extreme display and frame-rate demands can be limiting in niche scenarios (even though GPU-backed virtual desktops have improved the viability of many graphics-heavy roles). Finally, a small subset of proprietary or timing-sensitive USB peripherals may not be compatible with remoting, or may be intolerant of any added latency.
Cloud workspaces have moved from “pilot” to “default” for many organizations, largely because the application stack has moved. Productivity suites, collaboration, line-of-business tools, and identity workflows increasingly live in the cloud, while desktop delivery is shifting from on-prem VDI to Desktop as a Service (DaaS).
Thin clients amplify that advantage because the OS footprint is lean, the configuration states are fewer, and replacement is easier. If a device fails or is lost, there is no local data to protect, and a managed replacement can be auto-configured back into policy quickly.
Second, many everyday workloads are now web apps. That makes browsers and browser governance central to “workspace” delivery. Thin-client platforms increasingly support multiple enterprise browsers and fast update cycles, while allowing IT to lock down behaviors that create operational or security risk.
Operational value: endpoint management becomes the multiplier
First, identity and access increasingly flow through the browser. The login journey for Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD), Windows 365, Citrix, and Omnissa often relies on browser-based authentication paths and conditional access controls. A thin client OS can be built to keep that surface tight, patched, and consistent, rather than inheriting the sprawl of a general-purpose desktop OS.
The market signals back this up. Gartner forecasts worldwide public cloud end-user spending at 5.4B in 2024 and 3.4B in 2025. And in Gartner’s same public-cloud forecast breakdown, DaaS spending is shown rising from .466B (2024) to .849B (2025). Separately, Gartner is also being widely cited for a longer-run DaaS view, projecting spending growth from .3B in 2025 to .0B by 2029 (7.9% CAGR).
Security and cost: smaller surface, less data at rest, fewer surprises
In many organizations, best practice is to start with users who will expose issues early and help validate success criteria. That usually means knowledge workers in a specific department or location who rely heavily on Office and productivity tools, collaboration apps, and peripherals. It also often includes users with more demanding display topologies (multiple monitors, higher resolutions) and USB needs, because those requirements quickly reveal whether remoting policies and peripheral forwarding are ready for scale.
Hybrid work changed the operating model. IT cannot “walk the floor” to troubleshoot endpoints, and BYOD introduces uneven device health and risk. Endpoint management could be described as becoming more critical than the physical endpoint itself because the management plane is what lets IT push baselines, enforce policies, patch quickly, and troubleshoot remotely.
The bottom line
Third, collaboration is real time. In DaaS, sending every webcam frame and audio packet back to the cloud adds latency and increases consumption. Modern endpoints support offload and redirection techniques so media can be encoded and rendered locally when appropriate. The result is a better Teams, Zoom, or Webex experience while also lowering the cloud-side load that can drive DaaS cost.
A general-purpose desktop OS brings a large attack surface and more variation in local state. Thin clients aim to reduce both. With centralized policies controlling ports, peripherals, browser capabilities, and authentication options (including MFA and passwordless keys), organizations can tailor controls to context, such as stricter posture for untrusted networks.
