Choosing an online workspace provider: 7 questions to ask up front

An online workspace is a purchase you live with for years. You move your files, your email and your industry software to a company you do not know yet, and if it disappoints, switching again is another project. So it pays to ask up front. Below are seven questions, with what you may expect from a good provider and what our answer is for the Online Workspace.

The Online Workspace costs €38 per user per month plus Microsoft 365 Business Premium (€19.56), €57.56 all-in together. Already have Business Premium? Then you only pay the €38. It runs on AVD technology on our own servers in Eindhoven and Den Bosch. Have a look at Online Workspace.

AVD stands for Azure Virtual Desktop, Microsoft's workspace technology. This applies to every Online Workspace we deliver from 1 September 2026 onwards.

Question 1: where does my workspace run and where are my files?

This is the question that comes back most often later, usually through a client or a regulator who wants to know where the data sits.

What you may expect: a concrete answer with place names, not "in Europe" or "in the cloud". A provider should be able to explain which part sits with them and which part runs at Microsoft, and put that in writing.

Our answer: your desktop, your files and your applications run on our own servers in Eindhoven and Den Bosch, every company in its own environment. Sign-in, licences and security policies run through your own Microsoft 365 tenant inside the European data boundary. If procurement requirements are attached to this, read on at sovereign cloud workspace.

Question 2: what technology does it run on, and who owns it?

A workspace is only as good as the platform underneath. Home-built constructions from a small provider often work fine, right up until the person who built them leaves.

What you may expect: technology you can look up yourself and that does not depend on one individual. Also ask how updates to that platform are rolled out and what happens if the provider switches technology.

Our answer: we use AVD, Microsoft's workspace technology. You open your workspace with the Windows App, you sign in with your Microsoft 365 account, and the connection runs securely through the Microsoft management layer. What we add is the hardware and the management, not a protocol of our own.

Question 3: what does it cost per month, and what is not included?

Prices per workspace are hard to compare as long as it is unclear what they cover. Backup, antivirus, monitoring and support are in the price at one provider and on the invoice below it at another.

What you may expect: one amount per user per month, a list of what that covers, and an honest overview of what comes on top. Microsoft licences belong in that overview, because you always pay for those.

Our answer: €38 per user per month for the workspace, including management, Microsoft Defender, daily backup, monitoring and support. On top of that, Microsoft 365 Business Premium is required at €19.56 per user per month, because your Office apps and part of your security sit in that licence. Together €57.56 all-in. Storage is unlimited, so no extra charge follows. Cancellable monthly.

Question 4: will my industry software simply run?

Office work runs anywhere. The difference is in Exact, AFAS, Twinfield, a dental package, a case management system or that one program a former employee once had built.

What you may expect: that the provider asks for a list of your software before quoting and says per package whether it can come along, and how. A provider who says everything always works has not seen the list.

Our answer: we ask for the list, test what we do not know and install the software in your own environment. Because every company has its own environment with its own servers, software that only applies to you can run there too.

Question 5: who manages the workspace day to day?

Delivering a workspace is one day of work. Keeping it running for three years is the actual product.

What you may expect: a clear answer on who does the updates, who watches the security, who picks up the phone and within what time. Ask whether that is a fixed team or a rotating queue.

Our answer: we do, every day, for a fixed price per user. Updates, Microsoft Defender, access rules and MFA through Microsoft Entra, 24/7 monitoring and a helpdesk staffed by people who know your company. What that covers exactly is on workplace management.

Question 6: how is security arranged, and can you prove it?

Everyone says their security is in order. The difference is in what you can show a client, an insurer or an auditor.

What you may expect: certificates you can request, and a provider who says exactly what they apply to. Also ask about backup with a retention period and about what happens during an outage.

Our answer: Virtual Computing is ISO 27001 certified and works in line with NEN 7510. Every company gets its own shielded environment, the backup runs daily in our own data centre, and access uses MFA through Microsoft Entra.

Question 7: how do I move in, and how do I get out again?

The move is where most companies get stuck, and the exit is the question almost nobody asks.

What you may expect: a migration plan with a date, a trial period, and a clear answer about the notice period and getting your data back. The shorter the contract, the more confidence a provider has in its own service.

Our answer: we move your files and settings, usually over a weekend, and on the first working day after that we are at your office or on the line. You can try it for thirty days. You cancel monthly and your data comes with you, without discussion.

What you know after these seven questions

You know where your data sits, what technology it runs on, what you pay per month, whether your software can come along, who keeps it running, what is demonstrably arranged and how you get out again. That is enough to put two quotes side by side and see which amounts are genuinely comparable.

Want to put our answers next to someone else's? Call 085 013 4500 or request a quote. We will work it out for the number of employees you have today.