As I mentioned in one of my older posts, the client operating system becomes less and less important in today’s IT world. However, how important is a standardized client OS still for enterprises?

Up to today, enterprises’ workstation rollout strategy is based on a corporate OS built which includes all relevant policies and settings. Any application package can rely on this standardized OS and its unique features. This was best practice for years – even decades, but is it the answer for the challenges the new way of working introduces to the corporate world?

I am not so sure about that and I think this paradigm needs to be reviewed!

With Bring your own device, mobility and social collaboration new end user devices are used for corporate applications. Most of these devices come with its own operating system and might or might not be manageable. Some CIOs still believe they can cope with this challange by just prohibiting these new devices, which is more ostrich-like politics than a a future proof concept.

While I don’t say that a standardized OS platform is something bad, I think today’s applications must not rely on it any more. They must be robust enough to cope with any underlying OS configuration to be ready for the future.

Infrastructure is commodity and therefore getting more and more diverse. This means, specific OS vendors, versions or settings must become less and less important to higher level of applications!