Citrix, Cisco promote office-free solutions

By Kim Yoo-chul

Despite growing hopes that Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) can be contained in Korea, more public gatherings and large events are being cancelled.

Thousands of Korean schools have been closed so far.

Movie ticket sales and amusement park admissions have fallen substantially with more companies shutting down events and allowing employees to work at home.

Demand for desktop virtualization and office teleconferences is rising as a means to maintaining company bottom lines amid the outbreak of the infectious disease with Cisco Systems and Citrix Systems leading the way.

"This is the right time for desktop virtualization. There will be an increase in desktop virtualization and firms don't have to wait until the MERS outbreak is halted," Citrix Korea said in a statement to The Korea Times, Sunday.

The Korean affiliate of the U.S.-based software company, which has experiences in managing server and desktop virtualization, said it has allowed workers to perform their tasks by using company desktop virtualization solutions.

Company workers are available to use all their personal devices from PCs, notebooks, tablet PCs to smartphones. Citrix offers XenDesktop for a virtualized solution. The application also boasts the ability for users to access a desktop on a mobile device.

"One of the advantages with Citrix’s suite of solutions is the way it supports collaboration. Through the GoToMeeting program, teams may meet online, share desktop screens, have video conferencing, and send files to each other securely," it said.

Citrix Korea said it hopes demand will rise for its Workspace Suite, a business mobility solution that enables users to work from any device and any location.

"Citrix Korea maintains greater flexibility in choosing working places and time. Flexible working can be effective especially in harsh conditions," said an official at Citrix Korea.

Desktop virtualization has advantages because standardizing and centralizing the desktop image lowers the cost of support and speeds up the recovery time for troubled, individual systems.

Cisco Korea said it's been active to persuade its employees to use various office-free tools to improve efficiency.

For example, its Spark-branded real-time communications tool can be used by anyone who has been invited by email to the virtual room.

"Those in the room can exchange text messages in a way that is persistent so even those who are invited into the meeting on later dates can see the entire conversation. There are desktop/laptop and mobile device versions of the applications so team members can connect from anywhere," Cisco Korea said.