Citrix Synergy 2013: The time is now for IT to become the hero, claims Citrix
IT departments can now really make a positive difference rather than just saying no, according to Citrix.
Now is the time for those working in IT to make a difference and turn around their fortunes and those of their organisation in the process.
So claims Citrix CEO Mark Templeton who used the company's Citrix Synergy conference in LA this week to detail how tech departments need to become service aggregators rather than barriers.
Unveiling a slew of announcements focused on the maximising workforce productivity through mobility notably the launch of XenDesktop 7 and MDM solution XenMobile Enterprise Templeton used the phrase the power of any' to highlight how a multi-platform focus can benefit businesses.
"This idea of any has always been important. It's always been critically important to what we believe and what we stand for. We think the power of any is of great value to you. So you can make the bets you want and not the bets you don't want to make. You can focus on aggregating services, delivering them and being a next-generation service provider that's driving the business agenda and creating business impact," Templeton told conference attendees.
"It allows people to work anywhere and it allows services to be made anywhere. We think that's the new role of IT. To be the IT fiduciary, securing data and being the service provider that delivers the kind of mobile experience that makes people more productive and allows them to off-shore projects, onboard people quickly, and [carry out] integrations and reorganisations and restructures quickly. It allows you to redesign your workplace and move people around because they're not hard-coded to places and devices. And to easily plug in all the services you need to make all that happen, whether you make them in your own datacentre or they're made by third parties, like the IaaS or PaaS you buy from the likes of Amazon, Microsoft, VMware or some of our fantastic cloud service providers running our platform."
Citrix CMO Steve Daheb echoed the Citrix ethos around empowering tech departments to become a real catalyst for change, suggesting the emergence of shadow IT could be seen as an opportunity more than anything else.
"All of a sudden it really is IT-as-a-service. IT has to get ahead of that curve pretty quickly and that helps as with shadow IT it gets you outside of governance and you've got different groups using different thing. It's dangerous," Daheb said.
"It's reimaging that role and what IT becomes. It's cool for IT as they have been the department of no for a while and they can now become the department of yes. IT becomes the great enabler. How do they become the hero instead of the guy always telling you no?"
Templeton concluded his keynote speech at the event with somewhat of a rallying call to those working in the IT industry. This was against the backdrop of a video playing showcasing a children's hospital surgeon to highlight the power of technology to touch every part of our work and personal lives for the better.
"This is our vision: giving you the power of any, extending the power of any and giving you an experience that's really special. It's like the moment of weightlessness at the top of a trampoline jump where it feels like anything is possible. That experience is something you can create for the people you serve and help them work better," Templeton said.
"When people work better, I think they live better. When you put all this together it creates really special outcomes and impacts that, above everything, you can be proud of, sleep well and brag about, smile about and feel really good. It really matters for people who really care about what they do."
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