Citrix Self-Service & the Future of Enterprise Application Deployment

Self-service IT and desktop virtualisation offer a solution to spiralling enterprise IT management costs that cripple creativity and productivity.

Battling corporate IT can be a regular frustration for hard-working employees, with productivity often being the first casualty of over-zealous centralised management security policies. Requests for new software to be installed can be slow and laborious, as an increasingly IT-literate workforce demands the latest tools to carry out their workloads as quickly and efficiently as possible.

SELF-SERVICE

Now imagine if managing software across the enterprise was as simple as using iTunes or Pay-per-View TV. Centrally managed applications could be 'broadcast' to individual employees on demand, who may choose to 'consume' their required service via a desktop PC, a laptop on the move or from an iPhone or other mobile device. This is all made possible by desktop virtualisation technology.

In-house or outsourced IT teams used to know (almost) everything about every corporate application. Today's growing corporate uses of instant messaging and other Web-based applications, however, are breaking down the once strong walls of IT conformity. The rise of Facebook, Twitter and Gmail are driving employee demand for the flexibility to access quickly new innovative services. While IT managers may struggle with this paradigm shift they're likely to face a losing battle.

From the employee perspective, this 'consumerisation' of IT services is similar to the rich self-service experience they receive in their day-to-day lives on the Web. No time intensive and costly training is required and employees are empowered to select the tools they need to complete their tasks productively.

In 2009, industry experts estimate that corporate IT departments will spend over £4billion on systems designed to enable traditional push-orientated desktop management systems. With pressure growing on all sides, IT organisations that do not find better ways to adopt on-demand ‘pull-orientated’ self-service models will find it increasingly difficult to keep their heads above water. Corporate departments can also be measured and ‘billed’ according to usage, allowing senior management to reduce wastage and cost-justify projects and areas of business.

With a self-service system, the IT department is unshackled from the daily drudgery of managing software applications on individual desktops. In most enterprises, applications, desktops and other services are pre-determined by IT and baked into hard-coded desktop images that are then 'pushed' to users based upon their role, physical location or employee status.

Traditional corporate desktop images are rarely updated for anything other than maintenance and security patches. If an employee wants to access something new, they either wait for IT to respond to a help desk ticket, or they simply go around IT altogether to find something on the Web. This approach not only limits employee productivity, it introduces additional security risks which can be extremely expensive to manage.

APPLICATION PROVISIONING

Many large organisations have hundreds of different software applications dispersed across their IT estates, yet only a handful of employees may use certain packages. Users of a self-service application provisioning model would be able simply to log into their own company-branded portal and choose the applications they wanted to use from a list of available applications or graphical icons.

The IT department handles permissions and licensing on the back-end and only has to get involved with permissions when an application is restricted in some way that requires a superior's approval. This one-to-many approach considerably reduces the amount of resources spent on the help desk and allows IT teams to focus on business-wide IT issues. The fewer applications located on each desktop, the smaller the security and patching headache for IT.

This approach also allows the IT department to be re-branded within the organisation as a service provider rather than being seen as an over-controlling, obstacle on progress.

WE'RE ALL CONSUMERS NOW

Earlier this year, IT analyst Gartner reported that it considered the consumerisation of IT to be the single most influential trend affecting the technology sector in the coming decade. Digital natives are often dissatisfied with company laptops, with attached prohibitive rules and regulations. The majority of users are regularly switching between using their 'work' and their 'personal' devices. This may include a higher-spec laptop or preferred MacBook. Even if enterprises forbid the use of non company-owned technology, they can begin to accommodate these changing user behaviours and expectations.

The smart phone, particularly the phenomenal growth of the iPhone, is now increasingly joining the laptop and the net book as a business tool. These technologies are right in the crossfire of the conflict between the traditional enterprise-owned hardware and the growing desire of individual employees to use their preferred technology.

VIRTUAL DESKTOPS

Increased consumerisation is now being made possible by advancements in desktop virtualisation technology - which is making delivering desktops and applications wherever employees are located, much simpler and safer. By installing software called a hypervisor on each device, workers can 'tune in' to receive their corporate desktop wherever they happen to be. This desktop and its applications are located and run from a secure data centre so if the device is destroyed, lost or stolen, sensitive data (corporate or government) is safe.

Desktop virtualisation is different from, yet complemented by, both server and application virtualisation - application virtualisation isolates applications from each other and the OS, reducing conflicts, improving reliability and simplifying deployment. Virtual applications can be used from within a virtual desktop, providing for a very flexible, management environment.

Server virtualisation divides a single server hardware operating resource into multiple virtual machines, each one hosting a separate, server-class operating system. Server virtualisation provides the hosting platform for hosted virtual desktops and is part of a desktop virtualisation solution.

It has been estimated that desktop hardware and software acquisition expenditures typically account for only 20-30% of the total cost of the device, while the remaining 70-80% consists of ongoing IT maintenance. Desktop virtualisation removes the need to repeat these numerous, manual tasks that are traditionally completed to ensure all desktops within an organisation are up to date with the latest patches, updates and upgrades.

Employees should also see improved desktop performance as a virtualised desktop doesn't falter and deteriorate over time - a problem that afflicts Windows as the system registry becomes cluttered with new software installations. Power users can also make use of server-side hardware for improved performance without any local hardware upgrades.

THE ERA OF THE USER

The world is moving towards a consumer-style, self-service model and IT departments are at a crossroads. The chasm that has grown between Web-based consumer services and traditional enterprise computing has simply become too big to ignore, both in terms of user experience as well as cost of delivery. Employees of the future will increasingly take more control of defining their work environment - enterprise IT needs to adapt to take a more user-centric approach to service their rising expectations. Self-service IT and desktop virtualisation can together becomes the peacemakers of corporate IT.

FIND OUT MORE

For further information and pricing, contact your Phoenix Account Manager on 0845 265 1265 or email info@phoenixs.co.uk