Modern desktop transformation focuses on workspace technology
As workspaces trend toward mobility and device flexibility, IT departments must evolve to fit users' needs by moving away from a desktop-centric approach.
Desktop transformation, a nebulous term for the long-term evolution of desktop deployment and management, is moving from a desktop-centric model to one that embraces workspaces.
Traditionally, desktop transformation referred to the process of updating or migrating users to a new OS or a new device. More recently, desktop transformation has come to refer to a change in mindset from a desktop-centric model to one that revolves around the flexibility of digital workspaces driven by the increased demand for mobility in the workforce. A digital workspace brings all of a user's resources -- the OS, files, apps and more -- into one place and delivers a cloud-based console that allows IT professionals to manage all those resources under one roof.
Workspace software options such as VMware Workspace One and Citrix Cloud enable IT pros to deliver and manage flexible workstations that can function whether the user is local or remote on any device. These all-encompassing platforms help IT provide single sign-on for identity authentication, secure file-sharing and more across an organization's endpoints.
A new age of desktop transformation
Modern desktop transformation has IT departments decoupling user data and applications from the OS and its device. Users want these workspace components wherever and whenever they need them, whether they're working from a smartphone in an airport a thousand miles away or if they're connecting to a virtual desktop from home.
Traditional approaches to managing, delivering and securing data and applications that view desktop transformation as moving from one OS to another are no longer adequate.
Traditional approaches to managing, delivering and securing data and applications that view desktop transformation as moving from one OS to another are no longer adequate to meet the demands of today's mobile workforce. IT departments must come up with new approaches to support their users and keep them productive rather than locking users into a single platform.
In this sense, desktop transformation is not about moving users from Windows 7 to Windows 10 or from one PC to another. It's about moving users from a rigid paradigm that's failing to keep up with today's mobile world to a more flexible model that delivers apps and data to the users that need them wherever and however they work.
Freeing data from the underlying platform provides workers with the flexibility they need to achieve greater productivity and collaborate more effectively. Digital workspaces also promise to increase employee satisfaction while simplifying the administrative workload.
How to deal with change
The shift to digital workspaces calls for a fundamental change in thinking for users, as well. Transitioning to a new type of workspace is never easy, and the digital workspace is still an emerging concept.
Many organizations already understand the value of fully embracing the latest trends in desktop transformation and adopting workspaces; some organizations consider it just a matter of time before they get there. Organizations that lock themselves into the old desktop-centric view of desktop transformation could be left behind.
