Microsoft Virtualization Secrets

Shifting Technological Paradigms

Of course the emergence of the cloud wasn’t driven solely by organizations needing more manageable virtualization solutions. The increasing desire of workers for flexibility in terms of where and how they perform their computing tasks has had a tremendous influence. The line between work life and personal life has blurred as a natural consequence of the many different devices available to us now. Consider how quickly the cell phone morphed into a “smartphone,” capable of handling many aspects of our busy lives, including checking e-mail, managing your calendar, linking to social media, and keeping you informed with the latest news. With a great computer at home with the latest operating system and broadband connectivity to the Internet, slate devices with Wi-Fi, and mobile devices with very fast data capabilities that can be tethered to laptops, users can work anywhere—at the office, at home, or even at the local Starbucks. Technology needs to enable this kind of flexibility that users demand.

Notice “device,” not PC! There was an earlier movement to Bring Your Own PC (BYOPC), but this has changed now to any kind of device (BYOD), including slates such as the iPad.

Tethering a mobile device to a laptop enables the laptop to use the mobile device’s data connection, thereby connecting the laptop to the Internet.

Understanding the Needs of the Mobile Worker

Just being connected is not enough for most mobile workers. In order to be productive, they ...