Citrix helps transform other companies, but can it transform itself?

Citrix Systems, the well-known desktop virtualization services provider, has been in the news for all the wrong reasons lately. First, it was the inability to keep up with rapid industry growth, thereby resulting in slower revenue growth. Then it was the departure of the company’s latest CEO, Kirill Tatarinov, after just 18 months. The problem is, Citrix always tries to play catch-up with the market and is rarely at the helm of things. However, the latest set of strategic moves made by the company seems to kick things into top gear.

What changed now?

Citrix has finally woken up to the realization that the present world has changed considerably from what it was even a few years ago.

There have been widespread economic and political changes in the United States and elsewhere in the world, and companies must now devise new, innovative business models if they wish to sustain themselves and expand. Yes, the slower long-term financial growth has affected the workings of many organizations, forcing them to scale back on real estate and concentrate on “hot desking,” or remote working, to trim expenses.

But, at the same time, this kind of global uncertainty has prompted the new generations to take decisive steps for overcoming the limitations of a complex and scattered web of customers, suppliers, and employees. So, it’s not surprising that the industry is teeming with new practices and cultures.

For example, 75 percent of the international workforce is going to be comprised of millennials by the year 2025. This has resulted in the creation of a new middle-class among the workforce — one that is more tech-savvy and open to the challenges that arise from encouraging change and challenging age-old processes.

Dealing with the new relationships

The new workforce dynamics at Citrix rely on a mix of distributed patterns of working, generational clashes, and major structural changes. So, for this to work, new forms of management styles, cultural changes, and communicational channels have been necessary.

Citrix wants all these processes to work harmoniously and make sure that staff is sufficiently motivated. What’s more, the customers need to be properly maintained as well. Thus, they have introduced advanced digital workspaces that provide enough flexibility and freedom when it comes to changing the way work is completed as per their preferences.

The important thing is, such changes need individuals who possess a flair for handling complex, more advanced networks, especially if they wish to fulfill the needs of today’s tech-savvy, informed customers. And Citrix is not averse to adopting a new workforce that fulfills these criteria.

What the new workforce at Citrix looks like

So, what exactly is this “new workforce” we keep talking about? Well, it consists of employees who are better trained and equipped to deal with the changing technology, and, therefore, savvy customers.

The industry as a whole has been affected by the rise of the millennial generation, and so Citrix seeks to engage and serve this group in different ways. The company understands that this generation is unique, not just because of sheer numbers, but because of their close proximity to smartphones, social media, and broadband from an early age.

For these people, technology is the norm, and so, they expect to have the necessary information at their fingertips. And Citrix can help with that. Another significant point is millennials are often better equipped to handle cutting-edge critical business tools than senior workers. This makes them the logical choice for embracing the expanding mobile work culture at Citrix.

But some people just are not able to deal with change that well.

It should be noted that mobility now assumes many forms, not just smartphones. There are sensors, end points, and devices that represent lots of connected “things.” As cloud computing goes mainstream, so does all this possess the ability to scale.

Organizations now use at least one cloud device for supporting some part of their business. And Citrix can help them with this. The company can relieve the pressure on businesses to digitize their operations quickly. Because if they don’t, they might not be able to survive.

Position of Citrix in the IT industry

In the current market, businesses have become quite volatile, and the IT sector has become extremely complicated. This means, businesses need to tackle large problems if they wish to take advantage of some amazing opportunities. Citrix, for example, has found a solution. No longer does the company sell a piece of technology or a product license. Now, their final goal is to boost the survival chances of organizations by helping clients digitally transform their existing workplaces into something new.

Thus, Citrix plays a more hands-on role in the evolution of IT companies, since it is the sole technology firm that integrates networking services, app delivery, file sharing, and mobility to provide a productive customer experience and work environment, underpinned by the cloud.

Position of Citrix in the IT industry

Citrix realizes very well how the unification of data and applications within a secure digital workspace allows people to complete tasks, irrespective of the time, location, or device. So what the company is doing is making businesses more agile, protecting their IP and data, and giving them a clear way to engage with the complicated network of customers, employees, and suppliers, facilitating positive innovation and change, and boosting collaboration, just like the creators of those “Transformers” movies boosted their image even more since “Transformers 5” was amazing.

The changing world has led to changing customers. Therefore, to help businesses keep pace, Citrix too has evolved to meet the demands of the changing workforce, changing demands, and changing expectations.

How have they fared?

Citrix is streamlining its product portfolio, focusing more on enterprise offerings than becoming a total Software-as-a-Service company. The firm is scaling its main business to gain more time and investment. The company is primed to attract more customers with its comprehensive suite of solutions, and it has already closed more contracts in virtual client computing than in previous years.

Citrix Systems

But in order to truly survive in the long term, Citrix must move away from its limited focus of supporting only Windows-centric environments to something bigger. The company must broaden its tablet and smartphone focus instead of supporting the use of these devices as endpoint technology used for connecting to Windows infrastructure.

It should make use of all it has at its disposal, and right now that includes several advanced capabilities in monitoring, accelerating, and managing networking infrastructure that it can leverage for cloud-computing environments.

Photo credit: Wikimedia

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