The New Normal in IT

CHAPTER 2The Shrinking Office of the Future: Cloud and Mobile Dominate

The air up there in the clouds is very pure and fine, bracing and delicious. And why shouldn't it be? It is the same the angels breathe.

—MARK TWAIN¹

Corporate Footprint During the Pandemic

Millions of American knowledge workers were forced out of corporate offices in March and April of 2020 due to the Coronavirus global pandemic. Many corporate headquarters and branch office in the United States and around the globe sat near empty for much of 2020. Companies and organizations alike had to figure out how to keep staff productive and still drive revenue for their organizations. Some did it well and were prepared via technology solutions that included a range of options for staff.

• Laptops with virtual private network (VPN) technology to access corporate systems on-premise or in private clouds
• Desktops and monitors brought home from the office with VPN technology to offer laptop-like connectivity but in a fixed home environment
• Virtual desktop technology
• Terminal service solutions from Microsoft of Citrix that allow for secure remote access to on-premise and cloud-hosted solutions
• A plethora of cloud solutions including software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), infrastructure as a service (IaaS), data as a service (DaaS), and security operations center as a service (SOCaaS)
• Corporate intranets to keep staff informed about changes in the organization
• Online meeting tools for staff to communicate ...