For the last 15 years, most office desktop software has been purchased in a "suite," a set of office productivity applications for word processing, spreadsheets and presentation designed to offer extra value, beyond their purchase price. Other products may include an email client, a browser, a low-end data base product, a forms designer, a forms fill-in product, various publishing aids (templates for both the printed page and the web), collaboration and communication and business contact management.
IBM Point of View on desktops of the future and How to Get Started Today
Introduction
For the last 15 years, most office desktop software has been Why should you consider this POV purchased in a "suite," a set of office productivity Evaluating executing on an applications for word processing, spreadsheets and open standards based approach to IT presentation designed to offer extra value, beyond their Reducing the complexity of purchase price. Other products may include an email client, desktop refresh initiatives a browser, a low-end data base product, a forms designer, a Interested in reducing Total Cost of Ownership of desktop forms fill-in product, various publishing aids (templates for Examining Desktop "migration" both the printed page and the web), collaboration and challenges communication and business contact management. Want to leverage Web 2.0 innovations including social computing and rich end user Certainly the way people author content has changed as experience seen in three major trends -- many business users tell us Extend Service Oriented Architecture to the end users they are spending more time locating and transforming Concerned about proprietary existing content. Secondly, the authoring process itself has formats and vendor lock-ins become more real time and team-oriented -- bringing Renewing/signing a Microsoft Enterprise Agreement together people that have different skills and expertise. For Simplify and unify example, sales, financial and technical specialists may come communication, collaboration, together to respond to an RFP. And finally, for the first time, and socialization capabilities Provide role based access and the majority of workers now operate in a more 'virtual interaction with applications, workplace' environment. information, and people Require flexibility and choice of Key influencers include the emergence of a multi- operating systems, devices, and business services generational workforce, Globalization, shifting skills, new communication approaches and a community-centric collaboration paradigm, new technologies such as Web 2.0, and SOA, compliance requirements, and security threats.
All of these factors contribute to a massive degree of change from the 'status quo' of the previous 15 years. Indeed, maintaining the status quo is no longer a requirement, with today's new open standards for document formats. Many organizations are looking for new options to adjust and respond to this order of change, now and in the future.
This point of view offers insight into exciting new options for business leaders and CIOs to rethink traditional upgrade paths where 'one size fit all' and to explore new ways of lowering their total cost of ownership (TCO) while increasing organizational flexibility.
Across the marketplace one of the more unique approaches is from IBM, with an open client solution which integrates communication, collaboration and social computing. IBM goes beyond traditional office suites by combining productivity, business processes or application integration with "Web 2.0"-style tools. For IT departments, the ability to deliver just the right set of desktop tools in a virtualized footprint to different segments of the organization can reduce costs of ownership and deployment.
IBM thought leadership and research provides an interesting glance of "things to come" in the desktop of the future.
An exploration of IBM's desktop strategy is based on concepts such as community centric, roles-based, and activity-centric computing and is based on open standards, and technologies around server managed client middleware and virtualization.
New alternatives to traditional office desktops
Companies have noticed that there are more choices available and they are beginning to Server in the Cloud consider alternatives (Figure 1). (in/outside premise) . Administer New hardware often forces decision makers to . Software .look for new (or better suited) software. Many Process . Storage users don't spend their days in front of a desktop computer, but divide their time between the desktop and a variety of more portable devices, ranging from laptops and smartphones, to converged mobile devices. Rich Client/Browser New service oriented software architectures . Desktop/Thin client/Mobile/Device allow a more componentized approach to content a... [download for more]
