Gone are the days when successful IT software and service providers built products to (partially) solve business and mission challenges for their corporate and government customers. Today, personalization is key. This is not just a consumer expectation. Companies and government organizations have quickly come to demand solutions that fit their unique needs. They want their solutions to be delivered quickly and securely, to work seamlessly within their operating environments and to fit within constrained budgets.

Thanks to significant technology developments, such solutions are now attainable. Better yet, most are not built from scratch.They harness a practical selection of off-the-shelf products and services to solve customer problems in a new way. Solutions are continuously adjusted to improve efficiencies, expand capabilities and adjust to new realities. The result is accelerated time to value - while delivering on a core mission in an evolving operating environment.

What is enabling this new reality? Here are two transformative developments: a DevOps approach to continuous delivery and adoption of VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) for a flexible workforce.

The DevOps Difference

DevOps is sometimes referred to as next generation agile operations. Both development and operations value rapid development, frequent delivery and collaboration between business personnel and developers, as well as regular adaptation to changing circumstances. Agile is a fine proxy to represent the underlying methodology, but DevOps is broader. It encompasses collaboration between the development and operations staff throughout the lifecycle of creating and operating a service.