The 3 big questions every health organisation needs to ask before launching a desktop transformation project

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Rolling out a desktop transformation project doesn’t have to be painful -- if the project is approached in the right fashion. “You need to consider the things that are going to comprise the desktop – not the desktop itself,” said Chris Marks, Director of Strategy at Esteem at the recent EHI Live conference in Birmingham.

The key lies in making sure a health organisation asks itself the right questions before the project begins. Armed with this, an organisation can scale back the challenge of desktop transformation – and even set itself up for easier upgrades in the future, Marks said.

Here are the big questions Marks recommended every health organisation ask itself before launching a desktop transformation project:

  • Start by understanding your application needs: How many apps does your system have? Where are they running? Who owns and manages them? How will you deliver data to those apps?
  • Then seek to understand how users approach your system: Which individual users need which applications? Will users be working in the office or somewhere else? Will they work at a stationary device or a mobile one?
  • Finally, ask what kind of desktop meets those needs: Too many organisations start with a mandate to adopt a specific solution and then try to adapt their workflow to fit the technology.

Smart organisations let the answers to the first two questions guide them to the solution that makes sense for their needs.

To make future upgrades even easier, Marks suggested health organisations look to implement management tools that can consistently handle both physical and virtual environments, as well as trusted and untrusted devices. If your management system is sufficiently adaptable, than future transformations will be conversations about access and permissions, not IT infrastructure, he said.

Learn more about how Esteem is enabling easy desktop transformations at UK health organisations by visiting their website.