Last month Intercept, along with partners Microsoft, AppSense and Citrix, discussed the future of the desktop and how to maximise IT investment for the future. Industry specialists, IT directors, strategists and technicians from around the country joined the debate at the Microsoft Campus in Reading.

So, what does the future of the desktop look like? How can you save costs by enabling your virtual workforce and extend the life of your PC fleet? Where can your company make quick wins?

According to Gartner a small business will not have economies of scale to make it worth staying in the IT business. Within five years, a huge percentage of small businesses will get most of their computing resources from external cloud providers. Virtualisation can be the catalyst to drive many fundamental changes in architectures, processes, and cultures. Even if short-term attention needs to be given to cost-savings, a foundation needs to be built that can be leveraged in a few years. Virtualisation 'unlocks' cloud computing potential internally and externally.

Historically, the options available for delivering a user's workspace have been either a physical PC or a Terminal Services session. The current working landscape has changed and IT departments are being asked to provide more flexibility to the employees without weakening the security boundaries. These business requirements, which include remote working initiatives, DR access strategies, and corporate hot-desking, are breaking the traditional 1 user: 1 pc architectures. Citrix and Microsoft solutions can now enable IT departments to deliver these complicated business requirements. Whilst the AppSense Management Suite is being used today to significantly reduce operational costs and provide an optimal working experience to Citrix and Microsoft users.

Where can your company make quick wins?

• Undertake an analysis of your existing computing environment.
• Virtualise older and under-utilised servers
• Consider virtualising applications
• Put task based users on Terminal Services / XenApp

Visionary presentations at the event tackled how to reduce costs and do more with less. And how improved efficiencies and security for a 21st century mobile-enabled workforce has to be achieved, with sustainability at its centre.

Download the event briefing pack: