Well they can pay for the equipment that I will be required to obtain for this change. More ways to sh-t on employees and force you back in the office.
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For litigation everything including your personal communcation can be seized. Happened to many people when I was at JPM. Many got fired over PERSONAL texts and emails. Buy a cheap laptop and have nothing on it but WF god awful software.
"WFC continues to provide the hardware necessary to connect to it outside the office setting."
I can't see management doing this. My take is that the move to VDI is both a cost savings and a reduction of risk. They'll put low-end laptops at our work desks and require those of us who even occasionally work from home to provide our own hardware. Someone else mentioned a $500 stipend. Maybe?
For those unfamiliar with VDI, you basically have a software client on a computer that "remotes" in to a virtual desktop on a server. The only thing running locally is the client, and all the apps you run will be on a remote computer in a virtual space. To the user running the client, it will feel as though everything is running locally, but it's not.
Since all the work is being done on a virtual machine on a remote server, the local machine can be low-end -- but you'll still need a monitor, a keyboard, a mouse, and (possibly) a webcam and microphone.
My two concerns with this are as follows:
- Could my personal device be confiscated in the event of litigation? If so, I'd be inclined to buy a dedicated laptop.
- Could a Wells technician access the camera, mic, or hard drive, or could a hacker? If so, I'd also be inclined to buy a dedicated laptop, and I'd put nothing on it and shut it down while not in use. I assume ki-ling the VDI task would eliminate this risk, but I'd like to hear from an expert.
VDIs and laptops are two different things.
VDIs are good for some users, other users are much better with laptops.
We will live in the world where VDIs and laptop exist next to each other.
@1kfc+1m5jNGve Did you come over from JPM? They’ve had this for quite awhile.
Again, it’s not necessarily VDI itself that bothers everyone. In theory, it actually sounds great provided that it continues to run well once everyone is on it and that WFC continues to provide the hardware necessary to connect to it outside the office setting. But do we really believe either of those things will be the case in the long-term?
So much nonsense on this thread.
- Laptops are not going away anytime soon.
- I've been running WAVE PAD now for many months. It is vastly superior to running on the corporate laptop (that is just sitting here untouched unless I travel). There are zero software updates needed for my machine. No connection via the VPN. I start the log in process and within 45 seconds I'm at my desktop and working away. With my laptop I enter Point Sec, Windows password, connect to VPN, then connect to VDI. It is not uncommon for that entire process to take 5 minutes.
- I don't get the surprise software push that requires me to close down my laptop and reboot while I'm in the middle of presenting something critical to my team or Sr Leadership.
- I've got multiple monitors set-up which I can easily switch back and forth from for work and personal.
- In 6+ months of doing this I've ran into 3 or 4 instances when my virtual machine crashed. 5 minutes later I was back and in business. On my laptop I get booted out multiple times a week for mandatory software pushes and patches.
I can't stand to work from my corp laptop these days. Docking stations, more cables, software pushes, etc. What a mess. People are always reluctant to try new things but this a positive move from a technology perspective. Oh ... and let's not forget that our peers are all doing (or have done) the exact same thing. This is the broader trend in technology, not just a Saul or Charlie wishlist item.
Copy and pasted from other post:
Sure but even with the cheapo option it’s still an expense the bank is passing on to it’s employees. Say your used Chromebook crashes. Now suddenly you’ve gotta either go out and drop $100-200 you weren’t expecting, or go into the office 40+ hours per week when you maybe have kids or other responsibilities that rely on your hybrid schedule and the flexibility of being able to finish your work at home even on the days you go in. Also, I know in theory the VDI should be completely siloed off from what’s on the personal computer in general, but it seems to me that hackers always come up with a workaround for whatever security enhancements corporations throw at them. Eventually after some hack happens because some id--t connected to the VDI on the same laptop he downloads p*rn on, we’ll get some directive that only personal devices that are WFC approved brands/models that have never been used of anything other than VDI can connect, and then we’re left having to go spend $500+ of our hard earned cash on a brand new machine we’re not allowed to do anything with other than work if we want to still have the option to work remote. This would be an added bonus to execs on the RTO train who’d love to make remote work as painful as possible while still having the plausible deniability that the company offers a hybrid schedule.
People are having problems taking screen prints in Teams. This is just the tip of the problems we will see coming up.
It’s like the RCSA debacle.
VDI is a return to the d-mb terminal of the 1970’s …… thanks JPM rejects
So many boneheads on here.
When they do take laptops away entirely (no way this happens within the next several months), you will be able to work from the office with all necessary equipment provided for you.
If you want to work from home, you’ll need to provide your own supplies, including something that can run the VDI software. I use a super cheap laptop and it works great. Also thinking about a Raspberry Pi setup too. That would cost me about $40.
It really depends for what you need a computer for. If you are a power user who stretches capabilites of a computer you will dislike a VDI. I think that most people will be fine.
You'll be able to do even less in the VDI. And your local laptop will be partitioned from the VDI.
VDI is about reducing corporate hardware support needs. And it increases security because there are always id--ts who click in the link in that email. Now instead of having to hunt down the infected machine and get it off the network, they just delete the VDI session.
@dfn+1m5jNGve, that won't change with VDI. Your home computer will just remote in to a virtual machine controlled by Wells Fargo.
I thought the bank wasn’t supposed to last this long, much less last until the 25th without the COSMIC team.
Fake news. WF is not even close to moving to wave exclusive, that will take at least another year or two. PAD use is still in pilot and about 1 percent use them. Up until I was canned last month, I was in all these meetings.
I’ve been on VDI for a while and also use my own personal device (IPAD) and everything works fine. They’re going to have to track me using badge swipes because I don’t always connect to the Wells Fargo Wi-Fi when I’m using my iPad. Sometimes I use my hotspot just to see what kind of feedback I will receive about my time in the office.
Will get the cheapest used chromebook from ebay and call in tickets daily on slow VDI
WF has a long history of being awful at any kind of tech roll out. What makes them think VDI is something they can actually pull off without screwing up 20 other things? Seriously?!?
They want people to go into the office AND buy their own computer to do their dirty work.
Roll out VDI for all and force people to go into the office (or buy their own device). Classic!
Unlike most, I actually want to use my own hardware. Tired of everything being locked down to the point where I can't do ANYTHING myself. Admin passwords for everything like I'm a special needs elementary school kid of something. My tech will run great as soon as IT gets their hands off of it.
a good chunk of the company will be on this new vdi implementation by end of year.
Lies. They ate still replacing laptops today. Yes, eventually WF wants to go to you using your own laptop at home and a desk computer lite in office. This will eliminate the need to constantly patch your machine and greatly reduce hardware costs. But the company isn’t close to making this happen yet. Not everyone is using virtual desktop yet.
because you don't already have a computer at home? they will not require you to use your own, but they could argue that if you want to work remote you'll have to. also. unlike byod on the mobile side, the vdi inplementation is zero footprint and nothing is installed and nothing lives outside your browser or is stored on your computer. that isn't the case with your cell phone.
"Will surrendering our personal laptops as part of lawsuits be a possibility if we use VDI?"
Yes. Just like your personal cell phone if you BYOD.
TIL that most of y'all have no idea how computers work
Ultimately, company laptops will be thin clients (similar to a Chromebook) that will just run a browser for you to access a virtual desktop. At the office, there will be terminals to log into and do the same. So no need to bring a laptop back and forth. You'll have the option to use a personal device, but we're far from that being the only option, if ever. Other companies have been doing this for a while. Is it problem free? No, but it'll better than the current model.
WELLS FARGO WILL BE SUED FOR ASKING EMPLOYEES TO BUY THEIR OWN EQUIPMENT FOR WORK !!! THEY'RE MISCLASSIFYING EMPLOYEES AS INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS AND ITS ILLEGAL !!!
Will surrendering our personal laptops as part of lawsuits be a possibility if we use VDI?
One more reason to find another job …
I’ve heard they are planning on providing a stipend of $500 to purchase a laptop. I still hate this idea because then replacement or repair is on us. No tech support. Taking away corp cell phones was a test and apparently, we all failed. Might as well be independent contractors.
Hopefully we’ll be able to use cheap chromebooks or something similar if we have to work from home. Someone I know has a system like that and they actually use what’s effectively a raspberry pi hooked up to a portable monitor to connect to their VDI. If there’s no restrictions on the brands/types of computers that will be allowed, then getting a set-up that suffices for $150 or less shouldn’t be too hard. It’s more a matter of principle that it irks me that we may have to purchase/supply our own equipment if we want to be able to work remote or in transit that bothers me.
Is tech affected?
LOL will use mind control instead of laptop
The rest of our jobs will be outsourced and H1b to kingdom come.
India and China work better with VDI. We don't need to send over equipment.
I’ve been on VDI for a while. It’s fine, but I’m not about to buy my own damn laptop. F that.
And what will they do for business travel, should that ever be a thing again?
VDI has been a thing for a while, and everyone I've spoken with that has used it say it sucks. My question is, if we go to personal devices, how can their access to wifi be tracked for RTO purposes? IIRC right now BYOD are not.
@ftw it was in honor of a classic layoff post. VDI is being deployed stateside. At least a few people I know are going to be migrated to it within the next month.
Is this about the cloud system that will do away with laptops? yes it's coming people are already testing....