POWERING THE FUTURE OF WORK

Butterflies may not have any relevance to software company Citrix but, to Leanne Taylor, the very concept of metamorphosis lies at the heart of its philosophy of fostering business resilience. “Citrix is all about transformation. We work with our customers to accelerate the transformation of their businesses to become talent magnets,” says the regional chief operating officer for the Asia-Pacific and Japan.

Essentially offering a digital workspace platform, the company partners clients in overcoming technology challenges. It drills down into processes to provide systems integration, security and agility but, technical talk aside, its core strength is really making the complex simple.

Paradoxically, this complexity is due to technology, which is meant to aid productivity. Taylor says, “The complexity comes from the fact that many organisations have spent years building legacy apps and buying new apps. To work, employees are constantly moving between apps, which interrupts their train of thought.” This is not a minor inconvenience as it affects efficiency and the company’s bottom line.

However, businesses often overlook the human factor and lose sight of whether an app really simplifies day-to-day processes. This is where Citrix comes in. “We spend time talking to the users and these organisations to understand how we can make things easier,” says Taylor. Having delivered on successful outcomes over 31 years, its effectiveness culminated in its latest accomplishment: clinching awards in two categories at The Peak’s inaugural Tech Laureates 2020.

What is noteworthy is how the people-centric products are hugely applicable amid the pandemic that has redefined work – the norm now is to work from home. Reimagining the future of workspaces is one of its core tenets, and this unexpected adversity has buttressed the significance of its products.

Among its contributions is helping University of Sydney undergraduates, some of whom were stuck in their home countries, to continue their studies via remote access to coursework on the Citrix Cloud management platform. This was implemented in just seven days. Says Taylor, “What Citrix has been able to do is get businesses up and running in a short timeframe. It’s a privilege that we’ve been able to step in and work across many industries.” 

“WE SPEND TIME TALKING TO THE USERS AND ORGANISATIONS TO UNDERSTAND HOW WE CAN MAKE THINGS EASIER.”

The beauty of Citrix’s products is that they are agnostic: compatible with all apps. They streamline workflow by congregating data and apps in one place, offering built-in automation, security and remote access. In a nutshell, employees are empowered with access to everything they need at any time.

Certainly, Citrix’s Tech Laureate wins – in infrastructure management and connectivity – only reinforce the fact that its digital solutions are a game changer, both from the end-user perspective and operationally. For example, it enabled personalised customer experiences for an airline: A passenger can seamlessly resume watching movies across flights. Citrix helped with predictive maintenance improvement for the client too. She says, “It’s expensive to maintain parts, but it’s even more costly to not have them when needed. Keeping a plane grounded is unprofitable. What’s needed is the ability to predict when you’ll need a particular component.” To this end, its Application Delivery Controller pooled capacity provided massive cost benefits.

What is equally valuable is the impact that remote access to secured data has on hiring. “It opens up talent pools – for instance, young mothers who can’t work in an office. It also attracts early talent – we’ve had undergraduates who interned remotely and delivered incredible work.” Not shutting such people out is about realising that people are different, with unique strengths. She reveals, “Some of our strong, introverted thinkers said they’d been social distancing for years!”

Reflecting on today’s flexible working arrangements, Taylor’s outlook is positive. “The focus in times of crisis is to be adaptable. Most organisations will recognise that you don’t need to be in the office to be productive. I’m excited to see that transformation.” With Citrix as the vanguard in powering effective work experiences, this butterfly is certainly bent on bringing back the sunshine. 

Text Adeline Wong