The IT Nerd

Two years ago, IT leaders were forced into remote work. Many viewed it as a temporary experiment. Today, they see it for what it is: the future of work. And they’ve made it their top priority. According to the results of a Pulse survey conducted by Citrix Systems, Inc., 100 percent of 400 IT and security leaders across North America, EMEA, and APAC have adopted the hybrid model, and rank enabling it as job number one for their organizations.

Leading the Charge

Business leaders who once bristled at the idea of remote work because they didn’t think employees could deliver outside the office now see the benefits it can deliver in terms of employee productivity and experience. They are calling on IT to enable it, and as revealed by the Citrix-Pulse survey, they’re answering.

When asked to rank their top five priorities over the next five years, respondents said:

• Enabling distributed collaboration
• Ensuring always-on availability
• Empowering individual focus
• Providing a consistent, consumer-like experience from device to device and location to location
• Automating work

Leaping Hurdles

But they’ll face some challenges in executing. When asked to identify the top obstacles to driving digital transformation, Citrix survey participants cited:

Lack of understanding the needs across the business to effectively prioritize investments (41 percent)

Cumbersome, complex infrastructure (34 percent)

Lack of investment in cloud (24 percent)

Security is also a concern. When asked what they see as the top risks opened by remote and hybrid work, those polled called out:

• Ransomware attacks (41 percent)
• Insider threats (18 percent)
• API/software breaches and vulnerabilities (16 percent)
• Phishing and cloud-related attacks (15 percent)

And, their teams are stretched to the max, with respondents noting:

• 70 percent are working more hours
• 56 percent are leaving
• 50 percent are experiencing decreased productivity
• 49 percent are less satisfied with their jobs
• 24 percent are disengaged

Pushing Forward

How do the leaders polled plan to overcome these challenges? By focusing on seven key things:

• Bridging the cybersecurity gap (32 percent)
• Managing the pace of digital acceleration with cybersecurity investment (29 percent)
• Zero Trust Network Access (14 percent)
• Vendor consolidation/simplification (13 percent)
• Security AI and automation (7 percent)
• App/API protection and/or browser isolation for SaaS and web apps (3 percent)
• Acceleration to SASE (2 percent)

You can find the full survey here.

By David Byerly – VP & Country Manager, Canada

Over the past year, the adoption of technology by businesses around the world seeking ways to adapt to a new way of working skyrocketed. This has resulted in a $678 billion boost in revenue among technology providers, according to a new Citrix new study – The Era of Hyper Innovation. 

Of those surveyed, nine in 10 business leaders say that the rollout and adoption of new, pandemic-inspired work tools have vastly improved the way individuals and teams interact. But business leaders aren’t stopping there. As a result of their investments, 80% say they expect their organization to enter a stage of hyper-innovation over the next 12 months.

What is driving this acceleration of innovation?

Despite the many concerns business leaders had going into the pandemic, we are seeing boosts in revenue, productivity, and innovation. According to Citrix’s study, the biggest factor has been rethinking how we work due to remote work models.

Ninety-three per cent (93%) of those polled stated that increased digital collaboration has led to more diverse voices from across the organization being heard and a greater range of ideas being exchanged. Eighty per cent (80%) said that they, themselves, have had more creative ideas during the pandemic given they have more free time to think.

Innovation alone isn’t enough

While a commitment to innovating how work gets done is encouraging, it’s important to realize the broader impact this will have on employees. Organizations must also put in place policies that create an equitable environment to avoid the potential for a “Digital Divide” amongst their employees. 

The digital divide is a concept that, when implementing a hybrid or remote working model, you may inadvertently create the serious risk that your workplace will be rife with inequity and unfair or unintentional biases.

Since the onset of the pandemic, employees have had equal access (or lack of access, depending on how well managed your business was) to management for support and guidance, as well as their co-workers for collaboration and advice. This occurred through online collaboration tools that everyone had access to. 

As the return to the office continues, some employees are choosing to remain at home as much as possible. The playing field will no longer be balanced. The biggest struggle for businesses moving forward will be to maintain that equity, allowing productivity and employee wellbeing to continue, while ensuring a seamless and successful transition to hybrid working models.

What does this mean for the future of innovation?

As businesses continue to push through the pandemic, the proven success of adopting new technologies will play a large role in their future strategies. Sixty-nine per cent (69%) of the business leaders surveyed say they will increase investment in R&D in the next 12 months. As they do so, businesses must be prepared to succeed and support their team. 

There are technologies specifically designed to do this already. They can empower all of your employees – no matter where they are working from – to be able to equally engage and collaborate in order to drive the growth and innovation your business needs. Now is the time to truly evaluate your organization from top to bottom and begin strategizing for the future of work you and your team want to see in your business.

With 2021 winding down quickly, here’s some predictions on the outlook for business in 2022 and the trends that are expected to continue and those that are expected to emerge from David Byerly – Citrix’s new head of Canadian operations.

Much of what we saw this year was an extension of the trends forced upon businesses of all types by the pandemic – most notably the new ways of working – but going into 2022 many are wondering what the post-pandemic business world will look like. Here’s David’s thoughts:

Virtual Business Is Here For Good

Employees and business leaders alike have adapted to remote and hybrid work models and come to see the benefits flexible work can have on employee engagement and productivity, work-life balance and mental health, talent recruitment and retention, operating costs, and even the environment.
And now, we can see that flexible work models are not going away anytime soon, with research showing 90 percent want to continue to do it going forward.

To facilitate this, businesses will begin designing and implementing purpose-built digital workspaces in which employees can securely and reliably access the apps and data they need to perform their job and collaborate with their team, no matter where they are working from. 

And these workspaces will be supported with policies that encourage equitable working methods to ensure no employee is at a disadvantage to contribute to the business and advance their careers because of where they happen to be.

A Hybrid Class Of Jobs Will Emerge

Over the last decade or so, we witnessed a large number of knowledge workers leaving their corporate jobs for consulting and freelance work, which created what many called “the gig economy”.

And just as work has transitioned to hybrid models, so too will we see a new class of hybrid jobs emerge, with the flexibility of work that so many of us now desire and expect being combined with the stability and benefits so often associated with corporate positions.

By leveraging hybrid work models and digital technologies, companies create a new class of “gigs with benefits” that provide the flexibility and autonomy freelance, contract and gig workers crave, along with the stability that has become increasingly attractive as the pandemic wears on. 

An Unprecedented Wave Of Innovation And New Tech

Every year brings new technologies and 2022 will be no exception. If anything, this next year will actually bring more innovation and new tech than any year ever before.

Innovation took centre stage in 2020 and 2021 – as businesses were forced to implement new technologies if they wanted to survive the pandemic – and research showed that investments in new technology and flexible work models over the last year fueled a $678 billion boost in revenue across industries. 

And with 69 percent of business leaders around the world saying they will increase investment in R&D in the next 12 months to sustain this growth, this trend of innovation and new tech is set to continue and even increase in intensity.

Of the many varying areas of technology, expect to see the following tech trends emerge all across the business world: parallel internets, hyper-automation, more accessible AI, decentralization, and the metaverse.

It will be interesting to see how many of these predictions come true in 2022. My guess is most if not all of them will come true.

Employees today expect the freedom to choose where and how they work and a seamless, productive experience. IT is on the hook to deliver on this, all while keeping things secure. It’s a tall order to fulfill. And Citrix Systems is expanding its secure access solutions to help do it. The company today announced the launch of Citrix Secure Private Access™, a new cloud-delivered, Zero-Trust Network Access (ZTNA) service that protects access to apps and data from managed, unmanaged and Bring-Your-Own (BYO) devices, enabling employees to work the way they want in a secure, reliable and productive manner, wherever they happen to be.

IT wants to accommodate what users want, but traditional solutions make it difficult.

This is exactly what Citrix Secure Private Access is designed to enable. 

Enabling Secure, Productive Hybrid Work

Leveraging new adaptive authentication and access policies in conjunction with security controls, including watermarking, preventing clipboard access, protection from keylogger and screen capturing malware and browser isolation, Citrix Secure Private Access provides simple, contextual access to all apps and data employees need to perform at their best in a consistent, reliable manner. Using the service, IT can: 

• Provide access to users based on zero trust principles of least privilege access
• Enable security controls to allow flexibility and choice in devices used to get work done 
• Support all access types and work scenarios
• Keep access to all application types, including TCP, browser-based and VDI, secure in a unified manner across multi-cloud environments

And they can do it in a way that is completely transparent to employees, allowing them to work free from complexity and distractions with the confidence that their information and devices are safe.

Enhancing the Employee Experience

They can also remove the friction and frustration from work caused by everything from the need for employees to manage multiple logins and install multiple end point agents to restrictions on devices they can use and locations they can connect from by providing instant and seamless access to apps using native browsers or using an agent on any device. 

Moving to Zero-Trust and Modern IT

Citrix Secure Private Access is also uniquely designed to enable the modern, zero-trust approach to securing apps that remote work environments demand as it:

• Adaptively grants least-privilege access based on user behaviors and access patterns
• Continuously monitors and assesses user activities and automates security controls based on anomalies detected
• Provides unified management and distributed enforcement across the entire environment

Citrix Secure Private Access is the latest addition to Citrix’s portfolio of secure access offerings, which when used in conjunction with Citrix Secure Internet Access™, Citrix SD-WAN™ and Citrix Web App and API Protection™, provide a unified, comprehensive approach to securing  apps and data while improving the employee experience and simplifying operations.

Click here to learn more about these solutions and the value they can deliver for your organization.

Canadian companies may struggle with a potential talent shortage if they do not address workers’ preferences, including remote and flexible work options. According to a survey conducted by Citrix Systems, Inc. 40 percent of Canadian office workers surveyed have left or are considering leaving their jobs. So what are employees looking for? And what can enterprises do to mitigate its impact?

Among the key findings of the Citrix survey:

Flexibility is Key

Today’s workers prefer flexible arrangements that give them the freedom to choose where they work best, including at home, in the office or on the road. 

• 83 percent of respondents said it was “very” or “somewhat” important that they be able to work from anywhere
• 49 percent said they would accept a pay cut in return for the ability to do so
• Canada is leading the U.S. in this regard – 37 percent of Canadian knowledge workers state they currently have the option to fully work remotely compared to only 19 percent in the U.S. 

Employee Experience has Never Mattered More

Modern workers want to engage in innovative work, be productive and make meaningful contributions to the business that are valued – without interference from complex technology and processes. As the Citrix survey reveals, they’re likely to move on if they can’t:

• 27 percent of workers polled left jobs for positions that provide more opportunities to innovate and try new things
• 26 percent were not engaged in or passionate about their former role
• 31 percent were frustrated by overly complicated technology and processes
• 33 percent believe they can do more meaningful work in their new roles
• 33 percent feel their contributions are valued and recognized

Fear of the Digital Divide is Real

The global pandemic has made clear that remote work can boost employee engagement and productivity. But as companies transition to hybrid models, there is fear it will open a new digital divide. 

Respondents to the Citrix poll support this notion:

• 34 percent believe remote employees will be at a career disadvantage for not working out of a central office location
• 53 percent think they will be less likely to be considered for promotion/advancement opportunities

In addition to revealing why workers are leaving jobs, the Citrix survey also sought to understand what keeps them around. Of the respondents who indicated they have not changed jobs: 

• 48 percent like what they do
• 46 percent say their benefits are competitive and beyond financial security, provide for their physical and mental well being
• 42 percent can work flexibly
• 34 percent are afraid to make a change given the ongoing uncertainty
• 29 percent feel trusted and empowered to work when and how they work best

Citrix provides a complete digital workspace platform that companies can use to enable hybrid work and create the space employees need to succeed, wherever they happen to be. Click here to learn more about the company’s solutions and how they can empower your team to be and do their best. 

New research from Citrix revealed that 75% of Canadian workers would like to be given the option of working at home or at the office once the pandemic ends. But if remote work is here to stay, then companies must ensure they are creating a corporate culture that promotes physical and mental wellbeing and offer greater flexibility in the way their employees work.  

According to the study, a majority of Canadian employees want to continue some form of remote work upon return to the office, but working from home has taken a toll on them. Forty-nine per cent (49%) of Canadian office workers declared that their physical wellbeing was worse or much worse since the onset of the pandemic, and 57% said the same regarding their mental wellbeing. 

Company Culture Matters

As a result of the negative impact the past year has taken on employees, Canadian office workers are seeing great value in working for a company whose culture promotes the upkeep of physical and mental wellbeing; as almost all of those surveyed (97%) declared that a company that promotes wellbeing matters to them.

Company culture can be reinforced by many different departments or positions within a company (management, HR, IT), yet none seem to have risen to the levels of support that their workforces feel is required. Of those surveyed, only 23% felt very supported by their organization as a whole, with 32% feeling very supported by their management, 22% feeling very supported by their IT department, and 16% feeling very supported by their HR department. 

When asked what factors play into establishing and maintaining a good company culture, 71% felt that leadership is the most important factor, followed by 43% that felt that flexible work environments and schedules can contribute positively to the culture of a company.    

A Hybrid Return to the Office

Despite the difficulties they experienced working remotely, most employees still want to keep doing it.  When asked what their feelings were towards continuing to work remotely, 58% of respondents said they would like a hybrid model where they can choose whether to work remotely or from the office each day, 17% have no interest in returning to an office; while only 16% stated they would like to return to working in an office each day. 

Remote work has also now become a main factor when employees are looking for new employment or deciding to stay in their current role. Sixty-three per cent (63%) of employees agreed that they would only accept a new job if it offered flexible or remote work options, and most surprisingly, 38% would accept up to a 20% reduction in pay compared to what they are making now if the new role offered remote work models. Overwhelmingly, 73% of employees agreed that businesses will lose out on talent if they don’t offer flexible or remote work. 

Methodology:

The poll – commissioned by Citrix and conducted by OnePoll – questioned 500 Canadian office workers, asking about their views on their current working situation, company culture, and the impact of the pandemic on their wellbeing, career and work/life balance. The poll was conducted between February 2, 2021 and February 15, 2021. 

Merry Christmas. At least for all but those companies who own Citrix hardware. Bad actors have discovered a way to bounce and amplify junk web traffic against Citrix ADC networking equipment to launch DDoS attacks. 

While details about the attackers are still unknown, victims of these Citrix-based DDoS attacks have mostly included online gaming services, such as Steam and Xbox, sources have told ZDNet earlier today. The first of these attacks have been detected last week and documented by German IT systems administrator Marco Hofmann. Hofmann tracked the issue to the DTLS interface on Citrix ADC devices. DTLS, or Datagram Transport Layer Security, is a more version of the TLS protocol implemented on the stream-friendly UDP transfer protocol, rather than the more reliable TCP. Just like all UDP-based protocols, DTLS is spoofable and can be used as a DDoS amplification vector.

Citrix has confirmed the issue and they say that they will fix it before the new year. Meaning a fair number of Citrix employees will be working overtime this holiday season. Which means that once this fix becomes available, those who own this gear should install it ASAP.

Lockdown restrictions in Canada have begun to lift and companies are beginning to strategize on how they will create a secure return to work process. However, before companies can fully reopen their doors, there are some things they will need to amend or even rethink completely.  From the work models being offered, technology being used, or the overall company culture — the workplace will need to change, according to employee expectations. In a recent Citrix survey, 55 per cent of polled office workers state that they would prefer to work from home more frequently, while 41 per cent agree that the era of the 9-to-5 is now over. 

Flexible Work: From Nice-to-have to Must-have

Before the Corona crisis, the office was the place you went to perform your job, with very few Canadian employees allowed to work from home. In fact, Canadian office workers only worked from home an average of 2.89 days a month, with 7 per cent revealing they never worked from home.  Upon return, companies will need to rethink traditional work models, with 62 per cent of employees considering the office a place mainly for exchange and collaboration and 42 per cent wanting to see more flexible work models, allowing them to switch between the office and their home.

New Technologies and Culture Required

Before returning staff to the office, employers need to get busy. In the light of the current pandemic, 69 per cent of those surveyed are concerned about coworking and hot-desking concepts. 61 per cent of polled Canadian office workers consider the home office, if equipped with the proper technology, on par with working in an office. While less than one fourth of survey participants (19 per cent) state that they are currently using software and tools on their work computers that has not been approved by the IT department – or even is explicitly prohibited – a more digitally-forward culture is required where IT teams can be flexible, adaptable and anticipate workers’ technology needs to avoid shadow IT challenges in the future. The tools accounting for the largest shares are video conferencing software (50 per cent), personal devices (43 per cent) and instant messengers (42 per cent).

Even beyond technology, the effects of the crisis on corporate culture should not be underestimated as more home office usage is expected to improve the employer/workforce relationship. Of those polled, 37 per cent believe that in the future, flexible work models and remote work will improve the company culture. Furthermore, 44 per cent of respondents believe their company will have more of a digital culture and will embrace new technologies rapidly to better serve the workforce. The industries that believe this the most include hospitality and events management (63 per cent), teaching and education (60 per cent) and charity and voluntary work (58 per cent).

The abrupt switch to the home office due to the crisis required trust on both sides. More than a quarter of those surveyed (29 per cent) now hope that this strengthened trust and increased autonomy will be maintained, if not increased, after the crisis. More than half of those polled (58 per cent) think that there will be a better understanding of the human factor in the workplace, and almost one-third (31 per cent) agree that the Corona crisis experience will help soften established corporate hierarchies. 

Key Canadian Facts:

• Prior to the Coronavirus pandemic, office workers from Canada worked from home an average of 2.89 days a month, with 7 per cent revealing they never worked from home. Mandatory work-from-home measures changed all that, with working days shifting for many. 

• 33 per cent of respondents said their working day is longer now that they are working from home, compared to 19 per cent who said their working day is shorter. However, 48 per cent said that the length of their working day hasn’t changed.

• When asked how the impact of Coronavirus has affected the structure of their working day, nearly half (49 per cent) of office workers said that they are working to a more flexible schedule. This was followed by:
  • ‘I am eating meals at irregular times’ (29 per cent).
  • ‘I have had to use my time more efficiently to complete tasks in my working hours’ (23 per cent).
  • ‘I am often working late into the evening’ (23 per cent).

• 56 per cent of respondents said that they enjoy the flexibility to dip in and out of work when they choose.
  • 29 per cent said they have to make a conscious effort to stop working at their normal time.
  • 22 per cent said they are finding it really difficult to switch off from work.
  • 20 per cent said they struggle to end their working day and find that they are working into the evening.

• In order to increase productivity during the Coronavirus lockdown, 27 per cent of employees said their company has deconstructed jobs into component tasks to make it easier to see which tasks can be performed by workers working remotely or in other geographical locations.
  • 17 per cent said they have introduced more automation and ‘intelligent technologies’.
  • 17 per cent said that traditional organizational hierarchies have now been disregarded.

• 31 per cent of respondents said they are more productive when working from home, compared to working in the office.
  • 47 per cent said their productivity is the same.
  • While 22 per cent said they are less productive. 

• 46 per cent of employees said they are getting extra rest or sleep with their additional spare time. This was followed by:
  • ‘I am exercising more frequently’ (34 per cent).
  • ‘I am now pursuing wellness activities’ (20 per cent).
  • ‘I am now pursuing creative activities’ (20 per cent).

• 24 per cent of employees said their organization introduced monitoring or surveillance technology to check up on employees while they are working from home.
  • 19 per cent said they were comfortable with this.
  • While 5 per cent said they were not comfortable with this.
  • Of those whose organization did not install this technology, 43 per cent said they would not be comfortable with this. 

• 19 per cent are using some apps, software or devices for work purposes that have not been officially approved, or have been explicitly banned by their IT or leadership team. Of those who are using unapproved technology, 50 per cent are using video conference apps. This was followed by:
  • 43 per cent are using their own personal device(s)
  • 41 per cent are using instant messaging apps
  • 38 per cent are using social media

• 62 per cent of office workers from Canada agree with the statement ‘I really miss the social aspects of office working’.
  • Contrastingly 52 per cent disagreed with the statement ‘I am finding it difficult to learn how to use all the new and different digital tools since working from home’.

• To help stop the spread of bacteria and viruses, 69 per cent of employees would like to see hand sanitizer available in all communal areas on their return to the office. This was followed by:
  • ‘More frequent and better-documented office cleaning policies’ (51 per cent).
  • ‘Only required to go to the office on certain days/for certain activities’ (49 per cent).

About the survey

Commissioned by Citrix, OnePoll surveyed 7,500 office workers in mid-sized and large enterprises across Germany, the US, UK, Australia, Canada, France, and the Netherlands working mainly from home due to the current situation. The survey was conducted in April and May, 2020.