A managed desktop is a deployment scenario in which the client computers are centrally managed by the organization using some sort of server-based software to manage user configuration, applications, security settings and file access. This central management can be done through an on-premises solution, such as System Center Configuration Manager 2008 R2 or Windows Server 2012 R2 Remote Desktop Services; or it could be done through a cloud-based solution like Microsoft Azure Active Directory Sync Service.