From Virtual to Local: Why a Financial Advisory Firm Replaced their VDI with a Modern Alternative

When a private wealth management firm needed a faster, more streamlined way to onboard and securely enable their remote workforce – they realized change was needed. Until this point, the firm had relied heavily on Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), deployed to contractors across the US and in the Philippines. VDI was initially appealing because it promised a fully controlled work environment, but over time, reality diverged from expectations. Ongoing lag, latency, and connection issues made everyday work frustrating and slowed access to critical financial data.

When the firm’s VDI provider presented their renewal for 2026, that became the final straw. The firm could no longer justify paying a premium for a solution that delivered poor performance and limited scalability. They needed an alternative that was cost friendly, secure without delay, and easy to deploy to their 50+ global contractors. 

The Challenge: Controlling Costs of Secure Remote Work While Maintaining Productivity and Privacy

As a firm handling sensitive, personal financial data, they upheld a highly controlled security posture, including SOC 2 compliance and adherence to state cybersecurity regulations. Contractors, based in either the U.S. or the Philippines, operated within a fully locked-down VDI environment. Sensitive information, including PII and bank account info could not be copied, exported, or transmitted outside the workspace. This “clean room” approach restricted workers to access only proprietary, web-based tools and internal systems.

As the firm grew to more than 65 contractors and continued to scale, the operational drawbacks of VDI became increasingly apparent. Frequent disconnects, slow logins, and long session delays stalled productivity and disrupted workflows. What once felt like a controlled, compliant solution had become a bottleneck. With security remaining non-negotiable, the firm needed an alternative that delivered the same level of data protection and compliance – but without the friction, latency, and mounting costs that had come to define their VDI experience.

To move forward, the firm required a system that could:

• Maintain SOC 2 and cybersecurity law compliance
• Restrict work to approved tools within a fully secure environment
• Deliver reliable, low-latency performance globally
• Support contractor-owned devices with clear data separation
• Simplify onboarding and reduce dependency on managed services
• Prevent copying or sharing of sensitive information
• Scale effortlessly alongside a growing international team

Without a solution that met these requirements, the firm risked remaining trapped in a costly, inefficient system that slowed growth and compounded operational risk.

Blue Border™: Secure Remote Work Without VDI

After seeing Blue Border in action, the CTO realized that Venn was the provider they needed to advance the company’s operations.

During the demo, the organization’s IT team saw firsthand how Blue Border secures work on personal devices while keeping company data protected and isolated from other activity on the device. Unlike traditional VDI, which is prone to lag, latency, and session delays, Venn  runs apps locally and delivers smooth, reliable performance.

Onboarding was straightforward: IT distributed the Venn agent, contractors installed it on their personal laptops, and logged in through a secure, MFA-protected authentication. Once connected, they immediately accessed approved work applications within Blue Border, where all activity remained isolated from their personal device and governed by consistent security policies. The process not only accelerated deployment, but it also eliminated the technical headaches that had consumed IT’s valuable time. The outcome: dependable performance, continuous data protection, and seamless operations across a global team.

Key Benefits with Venn

• Rapid onboarding on contractor-owned devices
  • Contractors can install Venn in minutes and start working immediately, avoiding the long login times and session delays commonly associated with VDI.
• Built-in security and compliance checks
  • Venn enforces SOC 2 and state cybersecurity standards by verifying antivirus and other device requirements before granting access.
• Controlled, flexible device access
  • Admins can restrict login locations, limit devices per user, and maintain tighter control compared to VDI setups.
• Clear visibility into work activity
  • Teams gain oversight of work within the secure environment without compromising end-user privacy on unmanaged laptops.
• Strong separation of personal and work data
  • Blue Border isolates all work apps and data, keeping sensitive information like Social Security numbers fully secure and accessible only via MFA.
• Cost-effective and predictable scaling
  • Venn supports a growing global team efficiently, with lower costs and fewer IT tickets compared to VDI’s performance issues and disconnects.

The Result: No More Futzing with Virtual Desktops

After experiencing Blue Border firsthand, the organization knew Venn was the right solution. Contractors no longer struggle with lagging sessions or latency issues typical of VDI  – they now work within a secure, native environment on their personal laptops. 

Today, the firm is fully protected with Blue Border, and the team appreciates how seamless, stable, and intuitive it is to use. As their CTO remarked, “Why futz around for the sake of futzing around!”

See what other customers are saying about Venn:

Ready to see Blue Border for yourself? Book a demo HERE.