Desktop-as-a-service is on the rise. Is that a good sign for IT staffers…or a really bad one?

If the analysts are right, your work desktop could soon be streaming to you from a far-off data center. Bet they didn’t show that in The Jetsons.

According to new research by Gartner, desktop-as-a-service (DaaS) will become a primary workspace for 20% of employees by 2027, versus 10% in 2019. By then, Gartner also predicts DaaS will be cost-effective for 95% of employees, up from 40% in 2019.

Gartner defines DaaS as “the provision of virtual desktops by public cloud or other service providers.” The research firm listed Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Citrix, and Omnissa as current leaders in the DaaS provider market.

Control spending. While Gartner noted that DaaS is currently leveraged for a small subset of remote workers in most organizations, use cases for virtual desktops are multiplying, particularly when it comes to cost and operational and sustainability needs.

“Total cost of ownership for DaaS, especially when users couple it with thin-client endpoints, is now lower than that of a laptop PC for many use cases,” Gartner wrote. “Enterprises continue to increase the mix of DaaS within their estates, but most are deploying DaaS for specific use cases rather than a complete PC replacement.”

Different story. But Shannon Kalvar, a research director for enterprise systems management, enterprise client platforms, observability, and AIOps at IDC, told IT Brew that the pending shift to DaaS is a “microcosm of the bigger problem.” He said IT staffers and other tech professionals with the skills required to manage on-premises technologies are few and far between these days, forcing companies to turn to solutions such as DaaS and automation. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that network and computer systems administrator employment will see a 3% downtick between 2023 and 2033.

“It’s not so much about just providing a secure desktop,” Kalvar said. “What we’re seeing is a change in the way people use human resources to manage environments because the humans are no longer there.”

Kalvar called the reliance on DaaS and automation the “new normal.”

“We see this need to bring in automated desktops, and then focus the handful of resources you have left who have experience or who know how to solve these problems on the hard problems that need to be addressed.”