A holographic view of enterprise IT in 2013

28 December, 2012, Friday - 2012 saw the growth of employee-centered IT initiatives led by the increasing number of employees using their devices for both work and play. This has led to an increase in Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) adoption.

In the past year, we have seen more and more organizations adopting mobile workstyles to cater employee demands for the flexibility to work anytime, anywhere on any device.

According to the Citrix’s Workplace of the Future survey, 83 percent of organizations in Malaysia plan to adopt mobile workstyles by 2014. This consumer generated momentum is changing the way enterprises approach workplace mobility to boost productivity and performance.

The increased adoption in workplace flexibility has led to a growing number of enterprises seeking the convenience and flexibility of the cloud.

2013 will see the continuation of some key 2012 trends as well as significant shifts in the approach towards enterprise mobility management and cloud computing. Yaj Malik, Area Vice President, ASEAN, Citrix, talks us through what to expect for enterprise IT in 2013.

1. Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) to displace Mobile Device Management (MDM):
Enterprise applications (apps) are no longer the only standard. Micro apps and alternative apps (like Gmail, Google docs) are on the rise in the enterprise, replacing more traditional enterprise apps. There are also increasing numbers of different form factors, platforms and devices coming into the workplace. This complexity will make it impossible for IT to find one solution or set of solutions to secure these devices.

The resultant heterogeneity is not just about the device. It will also extend to the worker, the app, and the location. Instead of focusing on the management of the various consumer devices, enterprises will have to consider providing holistic solutions that promote working on-the-go. The focus needs to be on securing the apps and data. Such tools allow employees to access corporate applications and attend work meetings while on the road or in the comfort of their homes. Solutions, such as a uniform enterprise video-conferencing facility, are now accessible via the mobile phone, laptop or tablet.

Mobile device management (MDM) alone can no longer effectively manage the impact of ever-changing devices that are coming into the enterprise. A bigger and broader enterprise mobile strategy aligned with business objectives is what enterprises need.

2. Private clouds to grow
With the benefits of cloud computing becoming more apparent, and the ease of cloud management more of a reality, enterprises are now starting to realize that they can take the same knowhow from building the public cloud and apply it to the private cloud. Moving into 2013, the private cloud will continue to change the way we build, deliver and consume applications. They will replace PCs as the choice location to store data and access services. Citrix is increasingly seeing requests from enterprises to build their own clouds. With the rise of BYOD in the workplace, having a private cloud to manage access authorization and the storage of corporate information reassures organizations of the security of their corporate data.

3. Cloud to alter enterprise application management
Existing enterprise apps have always been bound to enterprise interfaces, but with anywhere, anytime access set to accelerate in 2013, enterprise apps need to be readily available at all times. This can be achieved not just through web-enabled interfaces, but with deeper cloud integration. Apps without cloud integration will not survive.

We will see cloud offerings shift from Infrastructure-as-a-Service to Platform-as-a-Service. Enterprises will be provided with the opportunity to create custom application and data analysis tools for vertical industries (such as real estate, financial, law firms). This will simplify the migration of core IT assets that were not being met by current offerings and enable a massive shift of centralized traditional enterprise applications to a small number of providers who choose the right applications and infrastructures.

4. Growth of enterprise social tools
Another hot trend will be working the social media way. Work usually gets done through a patchwork of spread sheets, documents and email. Having the ability to share and work on these documents with a colleague in a different time zone enhances the productivity of the team. Similar to social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, new collaborative social tools for the enterprise allow individuals to comment on documents and share it. Individuals can start to share materials they find with their team in a group chat, where they can discuss, amend and work on the document in real time.

2013 will see the growth of mobile workstyles brought on by the consumerization of IT. Enterprises need to move away from traditional approaches towards greater flexibility available in the cloud.