If you ask 20 people how they define the “Digital Workspace,” you might get 20 different answers. With that said, there is one common thread. The Digital Workspace “is anywhere, anytime access to email, documents and business apps from any device.” But it’s not quite that simple. Employee expectations are changing, and they demand access to the tools they need to be productive, collaborative and mobile, while craving the consumer-like experiences they enjoy at home at the workplace. Plus, our 24×7 world continues to fuel the “bring your own device” (BYOD) lifestyle. Likewise, IT is expected to step up and deliver technology with the simplicity and ease-of-use users count on, while making sure endpoint devices and apps comply with security policies.

Why should channel partners take notice of the evolving Digital Workspace? IDC estimates that by 2018, the Mobility Management market will grow to $2.7 billion[1] and the PC Systems Management market will grow to $21 billion[2]. This increase opens considerable opportunities to grow deals, provide new professional or managed services offerings, and expand revenue potential through Digital Workspace solutions.

Keeping up with the Evolving Digital Workspace

IT and business users share common goals when it comes to delivering and accessing information at the workplace–simplicity, security and mobility. The need for an IT approach that keeps up with today’s evolving demands is apparent as today’s landscape becomes more complex and sophisticated with the proliferation of BYO devices; IoT; desktop, virtualized, mobile and cloud apps working side-by-side with legacy apps.

IT has traditionally looked to mobile device management (MDM) and enterprise mobility management (EMM) to manage and secure endpoints. The problem with these approaches is they’re not unified, but cobbled together through separate point solutions. Today, to stay ahead, your customers should consider unified endpoint management (UEM). Why? It empowers IT to take a consistent and holistic approach to endpoint management and security by including any app and content across deployment use cases from a single, unified platform. Besides, it delivers a consumer-simple “look and feel” while accessing cloud, web, mobile and Windows apps–much like the app store experiences we’ve grown to love. At the same time, these business users crave seamless login experiences with Single Sign-On (SSO), which also gives IT the confidence they need surrounding security.

Partner Opportunities with Workspace ONE Powered by AirWatch

As devices and endpoints continue to multiply across organizations, your IT customers will soon be yearning for a unified, robust and secure platform with integrated identity, application and enterprise mobility management. Workspace ONE is the only solution today that gives users secure access to any application from any device–across laptops, tablets, smartphones, web applications, native mobile applications or Windows applications. What’s more, Workspace ONE is more compelling than ever before. We’ve upped our game by adding Windows 10, Office 365 (Word, PowerPoint, etc.), and Chromebook application enrollment and management. Plus, Mac/IOS support is scheduled for fall 2017.

Apart from this, we’re excited about the vision of Workspace ONE intelligence. System admins will be able to derive deep insights across the Digital Workspace through enhanced Workspace ONE Intelligence customizable dashboards and reporting.

In addition, if you or your customers configured compliance policies in the past, you’re in for a pleasant surprise. There is growing excitement around intelligent automation via the new rules engine, which will be introduced with Workspace ONE Intelligence. It allows admins to create contextual workflows, which can be configured to meet compliance requirements and to take automated remediation actions based on security threats. Instead of the static rules and actions you’re accustomed to, the new automated workflows are based on any set of criteria, and then applied to actions such as installing applications or updating devices. This gives admins complete control over the rules and actions they want to enforce – putting them firmly in the driver’s seat.

We encourage you to initiate conversations with your customers for which you’ve implemented Windows Management, Mobile Device Management or other similar solutions. With these customers, introduce a unified Digital Workspace story–which will ultimately transform the way they’re managing their devices across the enterprise. Doing so opens opportunities to expand your footprint across your customers’ organizations, which will grow your profit and margins across accounts. To learn more, please visit Partner Central.

1IDC, July 2016: Worldwide Enterprise Mobility Management Software Forecast, 2016-2020
2IDC, July 2016: Worldwide System Management Software Forecast Update, 2016-2020

This guest blog is part of a Channel Futures sponsorship.