When the San Francisco 49ers kick off the regular season Sunday, their fans will be treated to a world-class entertainment experience, thanks to some off-season moves the team made to transform its operations. With the help of its innovation partner, Citrix Systems, Inc., the 49ers have created a digital workspace in which its team off the field can efficiently and securely collaborate to deliver a superior product on the field that delights "The Faithful" around the world.

The 49ers have a long history of innovation. "It's in our DNA and goes all the way back to Bill Walsh creating the West Coast Offense," says team President, Al Guido. "We were the first team to have this offense and everyone has since taken and expanded upon it."

Staying true to its roots, the 49ers have applied this mantra of on the field innovation to its business operations to improve its efficiency and the experience of its customers.

"We want to be sure we run as efficiently as possible and provide our team with the tools they need to perform at their best and engage our fans in new and innovative ways," says 49ers Chief Revenue Officer Brent Schoeb. "And in teaming with Citrix, we can."

Changing the Game

Using Citrix digital workspace solutions, the 49ers have created a next-generation digital workspace that enables their team off the field to be as agile and collaborative as their players on the field.

"On any given day, our marketing team, operations team, security team and football team need to work together to find the best way to win more football games on the field and make sure we're giving our fans the best experience possible," Schoeb said.

With ShareFile, 49ers employees can quickly and easily access and share the applications and information they need to do their jobs anytime, anywhere using any device.

Employees like team photographer Terrell Lloyd, who captures more than 25,000 images per game that must be organized, categorized and shared with internal and external partners as quickly as possible so that fans can experience the action from all angles.

"A lot of our files are extremely large, but with Citrix, I can transfer them in less than 20 seconds," he says. "And it's just so easy to use. I can even do it from the app on my phone."

But most important in Schoeb's mind is that information can be shared in a secure and reliable way. "Our scouts and football operations executives constantly share sensitive information online and we need to keep that information private and secure," he says. "With Citrix, we are able to not only secure files that we're transferring, but if a device is lost, we can clean it as fast as possible to protect our information."

And with Citrix, security is easy. "We don't have to worry about taking 100 different classes on why we need to follow certain rules, because we know that as long as we're using Citrix, the work place is secure," Schoeb says.

The 49ers join more than 400,000 - organizations including 99 percent of the Fortune 100 and 98 percent of the Fortune 500 - who are using Citrix to drive innovation in the workplace and deliver real business results. Click here to learn more about the company's solutions and the value they can create for your organization.