Software has become such an integral part of our lives, it's difficult to imagine a world without it. We are at a juncture where the line between our personal space and work is blurring, given the advent of a number of technology trends including cloud, mobile and virtualisation. Most organisations are currently evaluating the potential of creating a software defined workplace, which will foster innovation, boost productivity, and help them to achieve their business imperatives faster. To build a software defined workplace, there are a few fundamental parameters one needs to look at:

All things digital: Beyond simple email interface, the business needs to mirror its physical setup online for it to be truly considered digital. For example, an employee should be able to access any document/information that they require via the digital platform only

Infinitely mobile: The IT infrastructure must allow a large variety of devices ie tablets, smartphones and personal laptops/desktops, to securely access work from any location.

Workflow continuity: Once the above two parameters are gauged, one needs to assess whether the continuity of the business function varies based on the mode of operation. If the productivity and functioning of the business is affected when working on a virtual environment over a long period of time, then the business cannot be truly software defined.

Seamless collaboration: Any business is dependant over a collective effort for continued growth and success. Collaboration is a core philosophy that defines most organisations. However, if working from a remote location leads to hindrances in working with the peer group, then it is counter-productive.

Contextual security: This is non-negotiable. A business should not even consider virtualised functioning if all the security parameters are not met. With the amount of confidential content that is shared over the cloud, the software solution should be capable of dealing with various threats including leaks and thefts

Borderless data: This seems obvious but a company needs to ensure the data connectivity for not just the enterprise but the employees as well. A virtualised environment cannot be delivered optimally over an inconsistent data network

Experience: An often undermined facet, but in reality a key factor in the success of the deployment. The experience that welcomes the employee on logging over the software solution will define how effective the deployment is.

The architecture of the interface should be designed based on a user-first approach ie from the very beginning, every facet should be carefully addressed with the user experience in mind.

This, combined with all the above characteristics will culminate to an optimal software-defined workplace experience.

Of course, the software-defined workplace doesn’t just appear magically. It’s delivered by IT, the culmination of a long process of innovation that has seen monolithic mainframe systems branch first into client-server, LAN-connected systems, and now into an increasingly diverse and dynamic mosaic of interconnected systems, with the shift from physical to virtual in terms of compute, storage, networking and orchestration. It's different from software defining a data center.

A software-defined data center is important. It's about driving operating and technical outcomes and using a lot of physical-to-virtual types of technologies.

The ultimate software-defined data centres are Amazon Web Services and Azure and cloud platform service providers. You don't have to do anything other than consume them. You don't build them. You just consume them.

But when you do build them or consume them, they have absolutely one purpose, and that is to manufacture apps and content and ship them off the shipping dock. And where do they go? Into the workplace. Because that's where people are. And people use apps and documents and data. And so a software-defined workplace is around focusing on business and human outcomes.

The software-defined workplace brings tremendous value to an organisation - it is a win-win for IT as well as employee. While the users have the freedom to choose their favourite devices, apps and services in the workplace, IT can now support new technologies without limiting the user experience.

The writer is Technical Services Director, Citrix India

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