End user computing has changed forever, and enterprises need to accept it

Expert panel argues that enterprises need to recognise that transformation is inevitable, and thinking otherwise is 'King Canute territory'

Enterprises need to recognise that end user computing has changed forever, and that locking systems down and expecting to only run software upgrades a few times per year risks harming the business.

That's the opinion of a panel of experts speaking at a Computing web seminar today titled 'Managing the mandate for change - Staying on top of end user computing in a post-PC world'.

Speaking as part of the panel, Garry Owen, senior product marketing manager - end-user computing, EMEA for VMware explained that transformation in the area is inevitable, and that ignoring it is "King Canute territory", referring to the King of Denmark, England and Norway who, according to an apocryphal story, demonstrated the futility of resisting the elements using waves on a beach.

Owen explained that the industry has moved on from the previous situation with "fixed hardware configurations with locked down Windows images", to today's model which is "now all about choice and device diversity."

According to Owen, Windows 10 is a big part of the transformation.

"Windows 10 can play a part in that, firstly because it's a platform not just an operating system in that it's available on multiple devices," he said. "You can consume it on a PC, on a tablet, or even on a mobile. Using VDI you can even consume it on completely non-traditional platforms altogether."

Owen added that Windows 10 can be managed in the same way as a mobile device.

"This introduction of Windows 10 to the world of enterprise mobility management is significant. Windows 10 opens up a series of opportunities to embrace this point of transformation."

Also speaking on the panel was Clive Longbottom, founder and service director at analyst Quocirca. He said that enterprises need to accept the change, as it is inevitable.

"The whole way end users operate has changed, and enterprises have got to accept it," said Longbottom. "They might not want to change because they might think they need to re-educate the user base, but users have already changed. They open their tablet first thing in the morning and 15 apps have changed incrementally, and they're fine with that. This move to a Windows 10 environment gives the capability for incremental changes to happen which is what users now expect," he argued.

Longbottom continued: "Windows 10 is better at rebooting and updating [without losing work on the consumer side]. Within the enterprise environment it's a different beast. Microsoft realised that forcing through updates in the same way as they do on the consumer side isn't good for businesses. So they introduced different ways of doing things. In the main branch, you can take over the air updates and it will upgrade in same way, or take the other option where only once an update is proven in the market will it be brought through.

"Some security updates will be forced through as they need to be more pro-active there," he explained.

Longbottom added that Windows 10 was a necessary release, confronting the argument espoused by some that Windows 7 was and remains perfectly adequate.

"Commercially yes Microsoft needs to move things forward because it needs to make money. But Windows 7 is absolutely ancient. The security landscape which existed when they built Windows 7 is totally different from the one we have now. They can layer whatever they want on top of it and it won't be as good [as Windows 10] because the landscape is so different," he said.

Owen continued the argument, stating that older software which is sometimes seen as more stable, isn't necessarily better.

"A lot of IT departments have managers whose entire working life has been based on locking things down. For them ancient means stable. That's the trade-off that Microsoft have to get over, but it's not as simple as that. Being stable and fixed is preventing a flexible working model, and stops you being competitive. It's a double edged-sword the whole industry is still struggling with," he added.