Enterprise computing is continuously evolving, but the pace of change has accelerated dramatically in the last five years. In this short period of time:

• Virtual desktops and remote desktop session technologies matured and assumed a more strategic role in office and campus computing environments.
• Laptop PCs eclipsed desktops as the predominant computing platform in most organizations.
• The 2007 introduction of the Apple iPhone, and the subsequent emergence of Google Android-based devices, led to an explosion in business smartphone usage.
• In just over two years, the iPad emerged as a common fixture that is pushing the boundaries of corporate computing on personal devices.
• A new category of desirable “ultrabook” PCs combined with smartphone and tablets to make Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) scenarios much more common.

This “perfect storm” is placing unprecedented pressure on enterprise IT teams to adapt IT management tools and practices. It is also shattering the traditional one-to-one relationship between workers and corporate PCs.

The Shift to People-Centric IT

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In many organizations, the divergence between people and devices began with the emergence of desktop and application virtualization. As new ways of delivering desktops and applications took hold in the enterprise, it became more common for users to be served by shared, standardized computing hardware. Users were suddenly much more likely to move between different operating systems and application delivery technologies on a regular basis. Recognizing that corporate computing needed to become more dynamic and adaptive across locations and technologies, many enterprise IT teams shifted from their traditional device-focused approach to desktop management to a people-centric IT strategy.

Adopting a people-centric IT approach does not mean neglecting device management fundamentals, such as patching applications and operating systems. However, a people-centric IT strategy assumes that users will inherently need to be portable across an array of computing platforms. As they move, a personalized desktop experience must move with them, and the desktop must adapt to the changes in context.

For example, a physician may move regularly between a dedicated laptop in an office and remote desktop sessions in exam rooms throughout a medical facility. To maximize productivity, any personalization and customization applied to the operating system and applications should follow as a physician moves between these two computing models. At the same time, certain elements of the desktop experience should adapt automatically. For example, when the physician is using a remote system in an exam room, the closest printer should be mapped and set as the default to maximize efficiency and avoid accidental misdirection of patient data.

Delivering this type of personalized, yet adaptive, desktop experience in an automated and responsive way is people-centric computing in its most basic form.

The Next Wave: Tablets, Smartphones, and Personally Owned PCs

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The growing wave of tablets, smartphones, and personally owned PCs is driving the issue of enterprise data mobility to a breaking point. Broader use of non-traditional operating systems such as Apple iOS and Google Android exacerbates the remote data access challenges that mobile workers are already feeling with laptops. The difference is that with laptops remote access to enterprise data is merely inconvenient, while with tablets and smartphones it is near impossible.

Today, most IT teams do not have an answer to the enterprise data mobility challenge. As a result, they face everything from uncomfortable conversations with iPad-toting executives to “roll-your-own” data solutions based on consumer data services like Dropbox.

Anywhere Enterprise Data: The Next Phase of People-Centric IT

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The growing disconnect between traditional enterprise storage infrastructure and the new generation of mobile computing devices calls for broader thinking about people-centric IT. With mobile devices, the challenge is less about consistency and adaptation of user experience. Often users are specifically seeking a different experience by moving from a corporate Windows PC to a device like an iPad.

Instead, the next phase of a people-centric IT strategy must focus on providing users with ubiquitous access to enterprise data across both corporate and personal devices, while adapting data access and usage capabilities based on device and context.

There is a temptation among IT leaders (and technology vendors) to chase the hottest new technology to address new business challenges. With enterprise data, this often means a rush to public cloud storage as the centerpiece of a data access and synchronization strategy. However, key questions that IT executives must ask include:

• Will it be more effective to bridge the gap between existing infrastructure and new devices or overlay an entirely new cloud-centric storage model for mobile platforms?
• What are the security and regulatory implications of storing enterprise data in the cloud or on personally owned devices?
• Once users access corporate data from an untrusted device, how can they be allowed to bring this data into native applications without compromising security and governance?
• Will relocating data to support a mobility strategy break existing business processes based on the current storage model?

An effective approach for extending a people-centric IT model to mobile and personally-owned devices has very little to do with where the data resides. IT teams should select the storage model that best balances economics, efficiency, and security. The winning strategy will be one that balances an effortless data access experience that users will actually embrace and use with the necessary policy controls to mitigate the new security, support, and compliance challenges presented by non-traditional devices.

About the Author

Doug Lane is a seasoned marketing and product management professional with a successful 15-year record of bringing innovative technology products and services to market. He is presently Director of Product Marketing at AppSense, the leading provider of user virtualization solutions to enterprise organizations.