Efficient and effective desktop computing management is among the toughest jobs in the IT department. Business users often take liberties with their PCs and laptops. Sometimes, it’s in the name of operational expediency, though there are cases where personal preference is the underlying reason. Good intentions or not, non-standard software and undisciplined internet use can create complex and time-consuming support issues for the desktop team.
Unsurprisingly, desktop management is an easy place to cut IT costs, given that the problems typically encountered are utterly preventable: you just need to take appropriate action. Here are five steps you can follow to improve desktop management operations (particularly through desktop virtualization), reduce risk and lower your IT overhead:
1. Be serious about policy: develop, publicize (internally) and explain your desktop technology policy. Make sure your users understand the risks of deviating, and provide plenty of examples. Be clear that the policy is important and that the implications of desktop problems are far from trivial.
2. Open a dialogue: understand why your end users have ignored past policies. Try to accommodate them going forward: sometimes, IT expediency comes at the expense of legitimate business need. Don’t forget that the business comes first.
3. Centralize your desktops: use a virtual desktop infrastructure, such as Citrix XenDesktop, to bring desktop management into the datacenter. You’ll be able to automate policies, which makes enforcement easier and meaningful.
4. Show results: demonstrate to senior management, with a pilot program, how effective a virtual desktop infrastructure can be in cost reduction and employee productivity support. Bring data that demonstrates how it delivers on business and IT operational efficiency.
5. Communicate: virtualization and IT policy are not front-of-mind for your business users and executives. Take the time to explain how these initiatives will affect them, and make sure you show tem how their needs will be addressed directly.
