Welcome to the VMblog 2021 Mega Series where we'll be covering a
number of important topics throughout the coming months.
In this series, you'll be hearing from the industry leaders and experts
in order to help you make important decisions within your own
organization. Follow along for a chance to better understand a number
of topics and find out more about some of the best technologies
available out there in the industry.
In today's Q&A, we're speaking with industry expert, Don Clemmer, Enterprise Sales Engineer at
Parallels, and we're diving into the topic of 'Work From Anywhere'.
VMblog: Provide
a little backgrounder information on the company. What does Parallels look like in 2021?
Don Clemmer: Parallels® was founded in 1999, and in 2018 it was
acquired by Corel Corporation, a software company that was founded in the
mid-1980s. At Parallels, we create virtualization solutions for businesses that
enable their IT teams to manage their infrastructure more efficiently and help
end users be more productive. In 2021, we're a rapidly growing division of
Corel that is expanding our product offerings to support more devices and OSes as
the demand for remote work and a more mobile workforces continues to rise as a
result of the pandemic and the increase in cloud-based technologies.
VMblog: We
are here to talk about the accelerated world of remote work. How does your company see it and define it?
Clemmer: We define remote work simply as enabling people to get work done from
anywhere that's not a physical business office. We see remote work as a
necessity for businesses to adapt to the changing needs of their workforces and
keep pace with competitors. A shift towards remote work was in place well
before COVID-19; the pandemic simply accelerated it and brought its benefits
into full view for a much greater number of companies across a wider range of
industries and roles.
VMblog: There's
a difference between 'Work From Home' and 'Work From Anywhere', wouldn't you
say? Can you clarify this?
Clemmer: Yes, definitely. Work From Home means just that: working from the same space
you live in. If you're lucky, this could be a home office that's nicely
outfitted with a desk, external monitor, etc. But for many people who had to
switch to Work From Home during the pandemic, it means working from anywhere
they can: their couch, kitchen table, even their bed or closet if they're
sharing a space with family members or roommates and don't have anywhere quiet to
themselves.
Work From Anywhere is much broader: it's the ability to pick up any device,
be it a laptop, tablet or smartphone, and work from pretty much anywhere with
an internet connection. This could be a coffee shop down the street or an Airbnb
across the world. So long as you can access the tools, data and applications
you need for your job, Work From Anywhere is doable for quite a large range of
roles and industries.
VMblog: Why
might a Work From Anywhere model be more difficult to pull off?
Clemmer: There are many challenges for companies that are implementing it for the
first time. The first is workforce enablement. Mobility will increase the
desire to use more portable devices. However, it's one thing to be able to check
your email from a phone or tablet and quite another to be able to perform productive
work on those devices.
Mobility also introduces additional security challenges. Workers will be
connecting from potentially unsecured public WiFi networks, and there's also a
much greater risk of lost or stolen devices used for work, which can put
corporate data at risk.
Additionally, managers must have the right skills to manage team members
that they don't get much, if any, in-person face time with. Companies must have
clear policies and expectations that employees who are not in the physical
office must follow, as well as clear methods for communicating these policies
so there's no confusion.
Of course, working in the office presents its own set of challenges: long
commute times, frequent distractions, inflexible schedules, etc. Work From
Anywhere can be an extremely effective and efficient way of managing your
workforce so long as you have the right technology, guidelines and people in
place.
VMblog: What
are some of the issues that companies will face as remote work becomes more
extreme?
Clemmer: There will need to be a corporate culture and mindset shift since most
organizations are unlikely to ever return to 100% in-office operations. Most
organizations implemented some sort of remote work approach in reaction to the
pandemic because they literally had no other choice. However, what was
implemented in a hurry might not be the best option for a long-term remote workforce.
With the pressure of implementing something immediately now easing, companies
can step back and perform a more thorough evaluation. Ask yourself: can you sustain
the cost and complexity of your existing remote work solution over time, or are
there other options out there that could be a better fit for your
organization's size and specific needs?
Perhaps the biggest challenge will be more human in nature: ensuring
employees feel engaged in their role and like they're part of a team over the
long term. Even the most introverted among us like to feel that the work
they're doing is meaningful and that they have some type of connection to their
company and coworkers. As I'm sure many people can relate, connecting just via
screen or phone can become tiresome after a while, and you really can't
replicate the human connection that develops when you work and engage with
someone in person.
VMblog: What
are things companies should be doing today to better prepare for remote work as
it migrates from work from home to work from anywhere?
Clemmer: Number one would be to conduct a full evaluation of the current technology
they have in place to determine if it's suited for a WFA model. This means
asking questions such as: Does the solution provide access to the tools,
applications and data that all employees need to get their job done? Is it easy
to scale as your business grows and you add new users? Easy for employees to
learn and use all day, every day? Easy for your IT team to manage? Is it
secure, i.e., does it protect your company's data? Is it cost efficient in the
short and long term?
The second big step companies should take is to evaluate their business from
top to bottom to determine what's required for every employee, in every role,
to be performed from outside the office. Do you need to invest in new hardware,
or will you implement a BYOD policy? Does your existing remote work policy need
to be revised? What expectations will you have for employees who may be working
in different time zones? All that needs to be decided upon, documented and
clearly communicated if you want your WFA model to be successful.
VMblog: How has the shift to remote work affected
people, connectivity, infrastructure, security, etc.?
Clemmer: This is an interesting question, because the shift to remote work happened
during a global pandemic, when there was a huge amount of fear, anxiety and
uncertainty swirling around. I think that many people feel a big physical
disconnect from friends, family and coworkers after over a year of being mostly
isolated at home.
But in terms of connectivity, I don't think we've ever been more connected.
Think about every new person who learned how to operate Zoom or a similar video/web
conference tool over the past year. Every wedding that's been streamed to
relatives in another state or even country. Every "essential" in-person board
meeting or company event that was moved online. We've figured out a way to stay
connected even when we can't physically be together.
When it comes to infrastructure and security, the technology has been there
for quite some time, but many organizations weren't using it because they
didn't have to. When the pandemic hit, the adoption of cloud computing
accelerated since many companies did not have the on-premises infrastructure capacity
to handle the sudden move to work from home.
Technologies such as VDI
(virtual desktop infrastructure) and remote application delivery demonstrated
their value to many organizations that had never considered them before. Companies now see that it's possible to work
remotely, and that remote work offers a host of benefits for both the business
and its employees. There's no putting the genie completely back in the bottle
at this point.
VMblog: What
can companies do to make sure their employees are staying focused, committed,
and happy?
Clemmer: I think the number one thing is to get feedback directly from your employees.
And not just your executive level employees-I'm talking everyone, in every
role, at every level. Whether it's in 1-1 meetings, team meetings or company-wide
surveys, make sure you get honest feedback from your staff on what more you can
do to help improve their focus, commitment and overall happiness.
The answer is probably going to be a combination of things; it's unlikely
that implementing a single new communication app, for example, would neatly
solve all these things. But starting this conversation-and continuing to have
it regularly-is essential. Remember that what you as a company leader thinks will
make employees happier and more engaged may be quite different than what
employees think, and this can also vary considerably depending on role and
seniority level.
VMblog: What
are the top three things that companies can do to create a good remote culture?
1. Ensure employees feel supported. Ask them what they need to be
productive, then make sure you do everything you can (within reason) to provide
them with what they need. Don't make it harder for employees to do their jobs
by making them jump through hoops to get access to the right hardware and
software. Also, make sure your managers are checking in with direct reports to
see how their employees are doing, and what changes or adjustments need to be
made, if any, to ensure they can continue to be successful as time goes on.
2. Develop clear policies-and make sure you model and enforce them from
the top down. If you're asking your employees to do things like keep their
calendars up to date for better visibility into everyone's schedule or show up
to meetings right on time and turn their cameras on, yet your company leaders
aren't doing the same, it sets a bad example. It's so simple, yet so critical:
Practice what you preach, at all levels of your organization.
3. Hire the right people. Not everyone has the skills to be an
effective remote manager, and not every person thrives in a remote work
environment. Ensure you bring on people with a strong degree of personal
accountability, excellent communication, time management and organizational
skills, and who you can trust to get things done even if they're 1,000 miles
away.
VMblog: How
do you see this change to working from anywhere affecting productivity? Will it increase, decrease, have no effect?
Clemmer: It all depends on the company. Some roles can't be performed as effectively
remotely; that's just the reality. Trying to force that shift to happen
long-term likely won't result in a positive or productive result. But for roles
that can be performed remotely, so long as people have the right hardware and
software, clear guidance from their company and manager on remote work expectations
and the ability to communicate honestly about challenges that arise, most can
be far more productive when they have control over their work environment.
Of course, people also must want to work from outside the office. A
good chunk of people like the structure of having an office and set hours and/or
may not have access to a productive work environment anywhere else. Forcing
them to make that work will not be effective for them. The key is to be
flexible: Allow those employees who can and want to work remotely to do so and
continue to provide an in-office space for those who still want to come into
the office, even if it's only a couple days a week.
VMblog: Do
you see this shift in work changing the way all teams and organizations operate
going forward?
Clemmer: Not all teams and organizations, no. Certain roles must be performed in
person, such as many healthcare and hospitality roles. A computer isn't going
to replace a doctor at your bedside, and even restaurants where you use a
tablet to place your order, for example, still require someone to make your
food and bring it to you. But even very hands-on industries like healthcare and
retail, there are many roles that can be performed remotely-especially
part-time. Telemedicine has been great for scheduling doctor's appointments for
minor ailments and therapy appointments and can save a lot of time and
resources spent traveling to and from the doctor's office. This technology can
also allow doctors to see more patients per day, so more people have access to
care.
The key takeaway is that remote work doesn't have to be an all or nothing
approach. I think the main shift we'll see is that some aspects of work that
were always done in-person will now be done remotely because it's a lot more
convenient and cost effective. But every organization is not going to stay
fully remote in the long term, either because it's not the best model for that
company and/or employees can't or don't want to work outside of the office 100%
of the time.
VMblog: What
are some of the benefits of remote work that organizations should be aware of?
Clemmer: There are quite a few. The most impactful benefits include greater employee
productivity, engagement and happiness stemming from the ability to achieve a
better work/life balance, reduced costs via BYOD policies and the potential to
reduce and/or eliminate physical office space and cut back on in-office
amenities (which translates to money you can reinvest in your company) and the
ability to hire more skilled employees since you can source from a wider talent
pool.
VMblog: How
does your solution enable a shift to remote work? And where do your solutions fit within the
grand scheme of things?
Clemmer: Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) is a cost-effective way to provide
employees with secure
virtual access to desktops and applications, which means they can
access their full in-office desktop computer or select applications (or both)
from any device (including smartphones and tablets) and from any OS, anywhere,
anytime. Since Parallels RAS is easy to set up, deploy and manage, employees
can be up and running in just hours. Our UI is also quite simple, which means
there's no complex learning curve for staff to overcome. You could take an
entire office of physical workers and have them up and running remotely on Parallels
RAS in just a couple days.
Our solution is all-inclusive, so you can provide different services to
different workers. For example, maybe you provide power users with a full VDI
desktop, others get a shared desktop, and some users get access to just the few
applications they need. You can mix and match these approaches without having
to adjust your licensing or management infrastructure. And Parallels RAS is so
easy to manage that anyone with decent Windows administration skills can
quickly become an expert.
Parallels RAS and our other virtual solutions, which include Parallels Device
Management, Parallels Desktop
for Chrome OS and Parallels Desktop for
Mac, all help companies provide better access to and management of
the devices and applications employees use. This helps staff be more productive
and gives IT teams more control over company hardware and software and how each
are used.
VMblog: What
specific problems in the world of remote work are being solved by your
solutions?
Clemmer: The biggest problems Parallels RAS solves include the cost and complexity of
deploying, configuring and setting employees up on a remote work solution, the
learning curve many remote work solutions require (both for IT teams and end
users) and the complexity of the product and licensing models that many similar
solutions have, which makes it hard for businesses to know what version they
need. Parallels RAS is a simple, intuitive, all-in-one remote work solution
that provides full out of the box functionality in a single license model.
VMblog: How
are you different from your competitors?
Why would someone prefer your offerings to those provided by others in
the industry?
Clemmer: Parallels RAS is far simpler to deploy, manage and use, and it's much more affordable
than similar remote app and desktop solutions on the market. Our customers
prefer us to competitors because Parallels RAS allows them to be up and running
in hours rather than weeks or days, it provides an exceptional experience on
mobile devices, it's easy for end users to use and IT teams to manage, it can
be quickly scaled up or down based on business need and it competes on a
feature-by-feature basis with competitors while offering a much lower price tag
and total cost of ownership (TCO).
VMblog: How do you see end user computing evolving in
a post-pandemic world?
Clemmer: I think we'll continue to see a high level of remote work
across all businesses, which will require investments in EUC technology and
solutions. I see a big opportunity for smaller companies to take on a larger
chunk of market share by seizing on this demand and developing solutions that
are more flexible, affordable and simpler to deploy and manage.
Parallels Remote Application
Server (RAS) is one example: we enable companies
to create fully
remote workspaces for any number of users, from fewer than 20 all the way up to
10,000, without the complexity that other virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI)
or remote app solutions often come with. Many organizations that believe
implementing a VDI or remote app solution is beyond their budget or IT capabilities
will find Parallels RAS a pleasant surprise. I also see a lot of smaller
companies investing heavily in cloud computing technology to compete with the
big guys like AWS and Azure, and I think we'll continue to see more of this.
VMblog: How does
Parallels RAS help companies create secure remote work environments?
Clemmer: First, it can keep data off end-user devices, which means if a
device is lost or stolen, there's no sensitive data to worry about. Beyond
that, Parallels RAS offers a variety of features to provide enhanced data
security, including advanced remote access control to enforce policies by user,
SAML SSO authentication, multifactor authentication, granular client policies
and monitoring and reporting and of course network traffic encryption.
Companies can rest assured that their data is protected no matter what device
or network an employee is using to access it.
VMblog: What
makes Parallels RAS unique compared to other VDI solutions on the market?
Clemmer: Parallels RAS is far simpler to deploy, manage and use, and it's much more
affordable than similar remote app and desktop solutions on the market. As an
all-inclusive solution, there are no additional costs, either-even support and
upgrades are included. Our customers prefer us to other VDI competitors because
Parallels RAS allows them to be up and running in hours rather than weeks or
days, it's a solution that is easy for end users to use and IT teams to manage,
it provides remote access via any device and OS, it can be quickly scaled up or
down based on business need and it competes on a feature-by-feature basis with
top competitors while offering a much lower price tag and total cost of
ownership (TCO).
VMblog: And finally, what
does the future of work look like? Will
we go back to the office? Will remote
work expand? Will we see a hybrid? What happens if employees don't want to
return to the office but employers do?
Clemmer: I think hybrid workplaces will become the norm, where some employees are
100% remote- and may work in other states or even countries-some employees work
full-time in the office (e.g., office managers, certain onsite IT roles), but
most take a mixed approach, coming into the office several days a week perhaps
on an adjusted schedule to allow for things like avoiding rush hour commutes,
dropping off kids at school, attending doctor's appointments, etc.
If employees don't want to return but employers do, I think it's up to
company leadership to weigh the benefits versus costs of requiring employees to
return full time. Unless an employee's job must be done in the office, if someone
can work remotely at least part of the time and that's the model they prefer,
they should be allowed to, so long as they're able to perform at the level
expected of them. Studies show that most workers now prefer a flexible work
model, so companies that don't modify their policies to adapt to this new desire
may find themselves losing top talent to other companies with more flexible
working policies.
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