Workspace ONE and Employee Experience: A Deep Dive into Recent Updates and Core Functionalities

Core Themes:

• Elevating Employee Experience: Workspace ONE seeks to enhance the employee experience through seamless technology, efficient processes, and proactive support.
• Automation as a Key Driver: A central focus is automating various stages of the employee lifecycle, from pre-hire onboarding to off-boarding and device management.
• Platform Approach and Integration: Workspace ONE functions as a comprehensive platform, integrating various tools and departments (HR, IT, Security) for streamlined workflows.
• Data-Driven Optimisation: The platform emphasises data collection, analysis, and AI-driven insights to identify issues and proactively remediate problems, ensuring devices remain in a desired state.

Key Ideas and Facts:

1. Employee Experience: The "Feelings" Matter

• The concept of employee experience extends beyond just technology. It includes the emotional and physical aspects of the work environment:
• "How does your workplace look like... I need a good desk which I can adjust in the height... a good chair to really have a nice posture."

2. Endpoint Automation: Streamlining the Employee Lifecycle

• Pre-hire processes like contract signing and initial access are automated via "magic links" for a smooth onboarding:
• Day One readiness includes automated device ordering, enrollment, and configuration, ensuring employees can work from the start:
• Day Two and beyond focuses on automated security updates, compliance management, performance monitoring, and issue remediation:
• "Applying all these policies automatically to all devices and getting an idea about what is running on your devices is what's happening automatically at day two."
• Off-boarding involves automated access revocation and device decommissioning, ensuring data security and process efficiency:

3. Workspace ONE as a Platform for Integrated Automation

• The platform combines several components like Workspace ONE Intelligent Hub, UEM, Access, and Intelligence to deliver the full spectrum of automation capabilities.
• Collaboration across departments is crucial for effective automation, with IT working closely with HR, Security, and Line of Business:
• "People need to talk... it's not HR and IT only, it's Security Department... line of business... You have to bring all these people to the table and talk about processes."

4. Data & AI: Driving Proactive Support and Optimisation

• Workspace ONE actively collects device data, analyses it for performance issues, and uses AI to identify root causes and potential solutions:
• "How cool is that that someone is calling you 'hey I've seen that your apps have crashed constantly... can I fix it for you?'... to make it more efficient."

Workspace ONE Product Updates:

• Workspace ONE Launcher 24.11 for Android introduces several features focused on security, customisation, and efficiency: inactivity timer for third-party IDPs, admin mode auto-timeout, enhanced navigation, and MSAL support.
• Content, Send, Tunnel, and PIV-D Manager receive updates with branding changes reflecting the transition to "Omnissa," along with performance improvements and bug fixes.
• Various KB articles address specific issues, offer migration guidance, and provide details on Workspace ONE's Modern SaaS Architecture.

This source is a weekly update on the Omnissa Platform, a digital workspace solution formerly known as VMware End User Computing. The update includes information about new releases, platform redesigns, security updates, and essential knowledge base articles. It highlights critical changes in features like Workspace ONE Access, Hub Services, and Intelligent Hub. The update also features information on new Apple builds, upcoming events, and research opportunities for user experience.

https://juliuslienemann.wordpress.com/2024/10/24/week-43-2024-omnissa-enduser-computing-updates/

This release includes many new features and enhancements designed to streamline IT administration, improve user experience, and optimize resource management. From advanced app delivery updates with App Volumes to improved Blast performance and innovative management capabilities, the 2406 release empowers administrators with greater control and efficiency while providing end users with superior performance and seamless connectivity. Read on to discover how these updates can transform your Horizon environment.

https://www.omnissa.com/insights/omnissa-horizon-2406-highlights/

Main Themes:

Shifting Healthcare Landscape: The healthcare industry is moving towards remote and virtualised care, leading to a rise in telehealth, decentralised clinical trials (DCTs), and retail clinics.

Challenges for Healthcare IT: This shift presents challenges such as ensuring consistent performance for remote staff, maintaining business continuity outside traditional settings, managing CapEx costs, and adhering to security and compliance standards like HIPAA.

Omnissa Horizon Multi-Cloud Solution: Omnissa Horizon, particularly its multi-cloud capabilities, provides solutions to these challenges by enabling secure access to virtual desktops and applications from any location, reducing infrastructure costs, and enhancing data security and compliance.

Most Important Ideas/Facts:

1. Empowering Healthcare Staff:

Horizon Multi-Cloud Solutions enables healthcare staff to work from anywhere with a consistent virtual experience, regardless of location or the cloud platform.

"Using the VMware Blast protocol, healthcare staff get the same virtual experience accessing their on-premises Horizon desktops and apps as they would from cloud-hosted Horizon desktops and apps, regardless of location."

2. Reducing Costs and Modernising Infrastructure:

Leveraging cloud infrastructure with Horizon helps reduce CapEx costs by shifting to an OpEx model and utilising cost-effective cloud computing resources. Cloud features like hibernation and Windows 10/11 Enterprise Multi-Session further optimise costs.

"By shifting the capacity model to OpEx, Horizon customers can avoid the upfront or additional costs of on-premises infrastructure."

3. Securing Patient Data for Compliance:

Horizon Multi-Cloud Solutions ensures secure access to sensitive patient data and maintains HIPAA compliance across cloud environments.

The inherent security of Horizon VDI, coupled with Workspace ONE UEM for device management, provides comprehensive end-to-end security.

"Healthcare administration and IT can securely deliver protected health information (PHI) to clinics and affiliates and ensure HIPAA compliance across any cloud."

Additional Insights from NHS Hospital Case Studies:

Improved User Experience: VDI solutions like VMware Horizon significantly enhance user experience by reducing login times and providing seamless access to critical applications.

Enhanced Security: Micro-segmentation with VMware NSX strengthens sensitive patient data and application security.

Streamlined Application Delivery: App Volumes and Dynamic Environment Manager (DEM) optimise application delivery and profile management, enhancing flexibility and efficiency.

Cloud Expansion: Expanding to VMware Horizon Cloud on platforms like Microsoft Azure or AWS provides scalability, supports hybrid working models, and facilitates disaster recovery.

GPU-Accelerated AI Use Cases: Integrating NVIDIA vGPU support enables resource-intensive workloads like radiology and AI-based diagnostics.

Recommendations for NHS Hospitals:

Implement Digital Employee Experience Management (DEEM) to monitor and improve user experience.

Utilise micro-segmentation with VMware NSX for enhanced security.

Adopt App Volumes and DEM for streamlined application delivery.

Explore cloud expansion options with Horizon Cloud on Azure or AWS.

Leverage NVIDIA vGPU for AI and ML use cases.