Neil McLoughlin
Principal Technical Account Manager @ Nerdio
Manchester, United Kingdom
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Neil McLoughlin is a seasoned IT professional with over 20 years of experience, specializing in cloud-based Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) solutions. As a dedicated Microsoft MVP, Neil focuses primarily on Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365, sharing his expertise through engaging content on YouTube. In addition to his work in the field, he leads the EUC Forum user group in the UK, fostering a community of end-user computing enthusiasts.
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Application deployment options for AVD & Windows 365 in 2026
In this session, we’ll explore the wide range of application deployment options available in 2026 for delivering apps to your Desktop as a Service (DaaS) environments. As DaaS platforms continue to evolve, choosing the right application delivery strategy is more important than ever.
We’ll take a practical look at modern and traditional technologies such as MSIX App Attach, WinGet, Chocolatey, Microsoft Intune, Configuration Manager, W365 Cloud Apps and more. The session will focus on where each option fits best, key considerations for DaaS scenarios, and how these tools can be combined to create a flexible and manageable application deployment strategy.
By the end of the session, you’ll have a much clearer understanding of the available approaches and be better equipped to deploy, manage, and maintain applications across your DaaS desktops with confidence.
Designing and Operating DaaS & VDI: Best Practices and Lessons Learned
In this session, Neil will share some of the most common pitfalls organisations encounter when designing and deploying Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365 at enterprise scale. Drawing on over 15 years of hands-on experience delivering VDI solutions, Neil will highlight practical lessons learned, real-world challenges, and proven approaches to help you avoid costly mistakes and build more successful DaaS deployments.
What’s New in Windows 365 & AVD: Live Demos, Real-World Deployments, and the Future of Cloud
Windows 365 and Azure Virtual Desktop have seen some of their biggest advancements to date — yet many organisations are still working out how these new capabilities fit into their wider EUC strategy.
In this fast-paced, demo-heavy session, we’ll explore the latest features across both platforms, including External Identities, Windows 365 Cloud Apps, Entra ID–only deployments, FSLogix Cloud-Only Accounts, and more.
This isn’t just a feature walkthrough. You’ll get practical, real-world guidance on how to adopt these capabilities in production, how they impact identity, networking, and security, and how to modernise your environment without causing disruption.
By the end of the session, attendees will understand:
How each new capability works and where it delivers real value
What changes are required across identity, networking, and security
Best practices for integrating these features into existing AVD and Windows 365 deployments
How these innovations are shaping the future of cloud-hosted desktops and applications
This session is ideal for anyone running — or planning to run — Microsoft EUC solutions who wants to stay ahead of the curve as we move toward the 2026 roadmap.
Choosing the Right VDI & DaaS Strategy for 2026: Practical Guidance from Real-World Use Cases
The VDI and DaaS ecosystem has evolved faster than most organisations can keep up with. As a result, many IT teams are now facing an increasingly common question: which platform actually fits our business?
In this session, I’ll break down the latest advancements across the Microsoft EUC stack — including Windows 365 (Frontline, Cloud PCs, and Enterprise), Azure Virtual Desktop (Cloud, Local, and Hybrid), and emerging hybrid deployment models.
Rather than comparing features in isolation, we’ll focus on real-world scenarios and practical decision frameworks that help you match the right technology to the right use case. Attendees will leave with a clear understanding of:
When Windows 365 vs AVD vs Hybrid makes the most sense
How to align technical requirements with cost, security, and operational goals
Practical guidance to simplify deployments and maximise user experience
Whether you’re modernising an existing environment or shaping your 2026 strategy, this session will give you the clarity and confidence to choose the solution that actually works for your organisation.
Optimising Performance and Cost Across Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365
Optimising cloud desktops is about more than just reducing spend — it’s about delivering a fast, consistent user experience while keeping costs under control.
In this session, we’ll break down what it really takes to optimise both performance and cost across Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365. We’ll look end-to-end at the Microsoft EUC stack, covering everything from architecture and sizing decisions to profiles, storage, monitoring, and scaling.
You’ll see how common design choices in AVD and Windows 365 directly impact user experience and monthly costs, and how small configuration changes can often deliver significant improvements. The session is based on real-world production environments and focuses on practical guidance you can apply immediately.
Topics covered will include:
Host pool and Cloud PC design, VM SKUs, and right-sizing strategies
Autoscaling, scheduling, and capacity planning to reduce idle compute costs
FSLogix profile and storage optimisation for performance and reliability
Monitoring user experience and performance using Azure Monitor and Log Analytics
Common performance and cost pitfalls in both AVD and Windows 365 — and how to avoid them
Whether you’re running Azure Virtual Desktop, Windows 365, or a combination of both, this session will give you clear, actionable strategies to improve performance, reduce waste, and operate your cloud desktop environments efficiently at scale.
Running Azure Virtual Desktop On-Premises: AVD Local and Hybrid Explained
Azure Virtual Desktop is no longer limited to running exclusively in Azure. With the introduction of AVD Local and the recently announced AVD Hybrid deployment models, organisations now have new ways to deliver cloud-managed desktops while keeping workloads on-premises.
In this session, we’ll explore what it really means to run Azure Virtual Desktop on-prem, and where AVD Local and Hybrid fit within the broader Microsoft EUC landscape. We’ll break down the architecture, prerequisites, and operational considerations, and compare how these models differ from traditional AVD in Azure.
Rather than focusing purely on features, this session is grounded in real-world scenarios — including cost constraints, existing hardware investments, data residency requirements, and skills gaps — to help you decide when on-prem or hybrid deployments make sense.
Attendees will learn:
The differences between AVD in Azure, AVD Local, and AVD Hybrid
When running AVD on-prem is the right choice — and when it isn’t
Infrastructure, identity, and networking requirements for each model
Operational considerations, limitations, and common pitfalls
How AVD Local and Hybrid change the future of VDI and DaaS architectures
Whether you’re looking to extend the life of existing infrastructure, address regulatory requirements, or gain more flexibility in where your workloads run, this session will give you a clear, practical understanding of how to design and operate Azure Virtual Desktop beyond the cloud.
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