Page 8 - EngineerIT January 2022

ICT

Workplace technology 2022:

unlocking the art of the possible

By Christian Reilly, Vice President, Technology Strategy, Citrix

f there is one positive thing that the into a technology-powered future where normal will be represented by a state of constant
technology industry can take from the change and evolution, and where now reflects any given day on the path. And the focus will
Iglobal pandemic, it is that change is be a balance between the two.
often not as impossible as it may seem. In some cases, we could think of it as a form of consolidation vs expansion. For
Most businesses were already on example, infrastructure technologies and processes that were hurried into place will
some form of digital transformation evolve on a steady plane to become more mature. Application technologies will continue
journey before the pandemic hit. And to provide choice for line of business and simplicity for users. Cloud and hybrid-cloud
the global business landscape has shifted strategies will become even more critical.
significantly because of COVID, creating
almost the perfect-storm scenario for What will be top of mind for IT leaders?
forward thinking organisations to double
down on their efforts. Ubiquitous connectivity and parallel Internets
As Churchill once quipped, “We Applications, and their associated data, are the lifeblood of all business. In a world
should never let a good crisis go to where trillions of devices exist and all have a role to play in contributing to the context
waste.” Those who have seen their of an “application” either by generating or consuming data, ubiquitous connectivity
business models, supply chains and talent becomes a basic requirement. The expansion of 5G, WiFi6 (802.11ax) and LoRa /
strategies reshaped over the past two LPWAN networks will enable a massive shift in connectivity, provide the fundamental
years now have an incredible opportunity building block for Edge Computing, and drive a wealth of new possibilities across
to leverage more enabling technology many industries.
and put that technology to work to help As the demand for global bandwidth continues to rise, we will continue to see the
address new challenges. hyperscalers build out both subsea and terrestrial capacities at unprecedented scale,
Heading into 2022, there is no encouraging business to have their network traffic carried on hyperscaler backbones. This
new normal, but rather a new now. will provide the opportunity for “parallel internets” to emerge with the promise of better
Organisations will continue the journey performance, reach and improved security over the traditional internet construct.

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