As we enter the new year (and new decade), it’s only natural to turn our attention to what the future will bring. The new decade will undoubtedly bring immense change to the end-user space. After all, in 2010 most businesses were just buying their first corporate smartphones. While resolutions normally focus on personal development, it’s important to be out in front of the next big waves in the end-user computing space.
To help you out, I’ve compiled a list of five great EUC resolutions you can make in 2020. Starting down the path toward these goals will make you the toast of your organization.
- Make Use of Intelligent Analytics
If you haven’t tried Workspace ONE Intelligence yet, this should be your first resolution of 2020. You’ve probably read quite a few pieces on modern data analysis. Don’t get left behind now that these capabilities have been brought to the world of unified endpoint management.
The tool has three primary benefits: dashboards, automations, and reporting. Dashboards allow you to build a custom console with all the information you need about your device fleet. Automations help you take action automatically based on a device or environment trigger. This action can be as light as notifying the user or as heavy as unenrolling the device. Lastly, reporting allows you to build pre-built or custom reports and have them delivered on an ad-hoc or scheduled basis. With key integrations like Service Now and Carbon Black, this should be your number one resolution for 2020.
- Start Managing Mobile and Desktop Holistically
It’s time to start taking the term “unified endpoint management” seriously! When I visit with customers, it’s amazing how many are still treating mobile and desktop management as wholly separate departments. Both Windows and macOS have been shifting towards a more “mobile-like” management system for years, so it is becoming increasingly advantageous to treat these devices in a similar manner technically, organizationally, and culturally.
The big benefits here are efficiency, standardization, and speed. A single group can manage both mobile devices and desktops in a standardized way from a single pane of glass. Streamlining these processes will result in a more cohesive and secure endpoint management implementation, allowing your team to execute new capabilities quickly and confidently. Migrating can be difficult as so many organizations have decades of precedent and muscle memory built into how these tools operate. My recommendation is to make the organizational shift first. Combine your teams that manage desktop and mobile into a single “endpoint management” group and ensure that processes are put into place to promote collaboration and mixing of the team personnel. More on this in resolution number five…
- Find Use-Cases for Virtual Desktop
Use cases for virtual desktop will only continue to grow as the shift toward a purely mobile workforce continues. If you already have implemented VDI, consider expanding to keep up with the momentum. If you haven’t rolled out VDI at all, you should really think about rolling out 1-2 use cases to start building organizational muscle memory.
While many organizations have rolled out VDI company-wide with great success, here are a few entry-level use-cases if you’re looking to get yourself started. These use-cases are great because they are both straight-forward and widely adopted in industry.
- Training Areas – Rooms with many non-dedicated machines for training or hands-on labs.
- Lab Spaces – Areas with specialized machines that may be utilized by many different users.
- Conference Rooms and Presentation Machines – Rooms with dedicated machines to that room used for presentations, etc.
- Employ Intelligent Single Sign-On Across Mobile, Desktop, and Browser
There has been no better combination in technology over the past few years than Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) and Identity and Access Management (IAM). UEM and IAM was a match made in heaven, and IT groups are reaping the benefits. I can honestly say, from personal experience, that it is difficult to imagine a life without ubiquitous single sign-on now that VMware has implemented it company-wide. I remember a single password, and that allows me access to all of our key corporate sites and resources. On my desktop, I use Workspace ONE every day to login to corporate tools that I utilize daily. On my mobile device, single sign-on takes care of signing into my email account and other mobile-specific apps. Workspace ONE can even be configured to require additional authentication depending on whether my device is on-network or off-network. From personal experience, the implementation of this technology has made a bigger positive change in my day-to-day professional life than any other I can remember.
Some firms are hesitant to rollout Workspace ONE Access if they already have another identity provider such as Okta or PING. Luckily, we can directly integrate with those tools and use the best of what each has to offer.
- Get Your Team in Order
Earlier this year I wrote a blog post called Building a Modern Management Team. Months later, I still feel that this is the most common mistake that organizations make when modernizing their operations. We buy new tools and implement new processes, but use the same old team structure, incentives, and working arrangements. This is akin to retrofitting a warship from the 1800s with the latest missiles, laser detection, and GPS detection systems. It might technically succeed if you’re lucky, but it just wasn’t purpose-built for the job.
There is no need to go on a firing spree. In fact, historical knowledge of the organization is vital during this transition period and almost impossible to replace. Retrain your workforce on modern tools of the trade and make sure they are a part of the architectural and decision-making processes as much as humanly possible. Make your team part of the solution, and the transition will be infinitely more pleasant.
- Next Steps
Still need help deciding how to drive value in your organization using Workspace ONE? VMware Professional Services offers services to help you get started. Please contact your VMware sales representative for more information on service offerings related to each of your 2020 resolutions.
