What are the strategies for automating operations, innovating with infrastructure, and providing an ever-improving digital workplace? Research by the strategic consulting firm Gartner released last year tries to indicate which are the right choices for the future.
We have already addressed the issue of the digital workplace in this article dedicated to the smart office. A digital workplace is a virtualised form of the traditional face-to-face office environment, in which many elements of collaboration and productivity are performed through a combination of digital applications, cloud computing, and other technologies. It’s a plan designed to create an effective digital workplace for employees, whether they are working remotely or not. These strategies focus on using technology, including appropriate hardware and software, to improve the efficiency of an organisation’s business process and increase the employee engagement.
It is where digital transformation and employee engagement intersect to ensure people aren’t alienated or overwhelmed by complex and disparate systems that don’t work well together. Instead, they are empowered to work efficiently, creatively, and productively with the help of technology at their fingertips.
The Gartner report sets out five key strategic planning assumptions, market implications, and recommendations that I&O (infrastructure and operations) leaders should consider when re-evaluating the technology implemented during the initial pandemic response.
Consolidation of Endpoint Management and Security
Many organisations are looking for ways to streamline the collaboration between I&O and IT security to help coordinate actions to detect, investigate, and resolve security issues.
The term endpoint refers to any device that can connect to the Internet, both physically and on the cloud. Precisely this makes endpoints one of the preferred channels for cyber security attacks of a company or a study. Their “natural” vulnerability is now aggravated by the spread of smart working due to the Covid-19 emergency and the use of private devices, generally less protected, to work.
Therefore, the choice of a unified platform is essential to reduce the costs and expenses of managing multiple instruments, contracts and suppliers. Collaboration between I&O and IT security teams can be enhanced by creating shared goals to accelerate threat detection and remediation, as well as improve the user experience (UX).
Desktop Virtualisation Won’t Necessarily be the Winning Choice
The Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent shift to work from home has resulted in numerous technological shifts, many of them centred around how organisations deliver IT services to their workforce. This is the case with virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), also known as the Desktop Virtualisation or Lean Client Computing. The move to remote working has renewed interest in VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) and its Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) cloud derivation.
The Gartner study focuses its attention on this aspect too: when we focus only on the costs of the technological infrastructures of desktop virtualisation, projects fail. This is because desktop virtualisation solutions have a higher total cost of ownership than most physical desktop PC deployment scenarios.
Automatic Endpoint Maintenance
According to the Gartner report, there is a resurgence of the desire to automatically identify and fix endpoint problems. Traditional endpoint self-diagnostic tools have failed to deliver on this promise but SaaS-based Unified Endpoint Management Solutions (UEM) tools or automation-based Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM) are making this desire a reality by leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML). The role of those involved in I&O within the company will increasingly be a strategic and leading role.
As technology has become the primary connection to the workplace due to the pandemic, its impact is increasingly decisive. CIOs are collaborating more with Chief Human Resources Officers (CHROs) to accelerate digital transformation, and they need an organisation with the right mindset, skills, and processes to lead this work.
A digital workplace strategy is where digital transformation and employee engagement intersect to ensure that people are not alienated or overwhelmed by complex systems that don’t work well together.
Reduced Time to manage Windows Applications
The number of applications in the average enterprise will increase by 25% by 2025, and MS Windows will remain the dominant platform within enterprises, even for OS-independent applications such as web applications.