This article was originally published in January 2020, but since then, massive numbers of workers around the globe have instantly transitioned to remote work environments because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The lessons in this article are still helpful to any IT leader needing to move quickly on digital workspaces. If your organization needs help building apps or moving apps to the cloud quickly to serve larger numbers of remote workers, contact Alpha Software - we can help..
The enterprise workspace in which people work today is fractured, ever-changing and spans geography and IT infrastructures. On any given day, people are working in cafes, airplanes, corporate offices, shared workspaces, customers’ offices, and when they use their phones, even street corners. As a white paper by Citrix, “The Digital Workspace: 3 Elements of Success” points out, “Today’s corporate workforce is mobile and global. Employees are accessing their work when and where they want, often with multiple devices.”
"By 2022, 42.5 percent of the global workforce will be mobile."
The paper points to a report by Strategy Analytics that found that by 2022, 42.5 percent of the global workforce will be mobile. The report goes on to say, “While this new landscape could be a nightmare, IT leaders actually see it as an opportunity. They’re using it to provide an improved user experience that they say is crucial for digital transformation.”
IT recognizes how important creating these kinds of workspaces are. The white paper points to an IDG Research Services Quick Pulse survey that found that “82 percent of IT leaders say digital workspaces are critical or very important to their digital transformation strategies.” But providing a new user experience that spurs digital transformation can be tough to do. So the white paper offers excellent advice for IT looking to build it.
The report says enterprises need to focus on creating a unified experience that works on any device in any place. The unified experience, the report says, should include “Native integration of cloud and on-premises applications, including mobile, virtual, software-as-a-service, and desktop solutions.” And it also needs to offer “Enhanced security with intelligent monitoring and unified endpoint management to address today’s expanded attack surface.”
According to the IDG study, the biggest challenge cited by IT in building this kind of new workspace is balancing IT maintenance with resources and budget for IT innovation. The next most important challenge, according to the survey, is meeting security and compliance standards. Also cited as important were empowering user productivity. developing a cloud strategy/plan and prioritizing objectives as well as providing seamless workplace services that avoid a siloed cloud platform.
Choosing the Best Platform For Building a Unified Digital Workspace
Building a unified digital workspace that can serve remote workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and spur digital transformation for the long-term requires a flexible, cost-effective platform for building enterprise-strength apps that are secure and can connect to multiple systems. Alpha Software products can do all that and more. Alpha TransForm (for non-developers) helps business users craft online or offline mobile apps in minutes that utilize the latest mobile features (camera, GPS, etc.) for fast, accurate data capture. (Read about the types of apps companies are building to serve large numbers of remote workers.) Alpha Anywhere (for more experienced developers) has the unique ability to rapidly create a wide range of robust desktop, mobile and web apps that can easily access and integrate with any database or web service and can exploit built-in role-based security or robust offline functionality. The Company offers a range of app development tools and solutions for both experienced developers and citizen developers. Alpha Software is helping companies quickly build and scale apps to serve large digital workforces. Contact Us Today.
Read how successful organizations are enabling a wide range of employees to work together to create digital workspaces.
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