As I write this, I’m looking out my window into the verdant nature of northern Switzerland. Not that long ago, it was still cast in the pall of winter’s grey. But in just a few days, the magic of spring kicked into gear and has changed the landscape into fresh green, bursting with life.

So, what does spring’s arrival have to do with this blog post? It reminds me that our world is constantly changing; nothing is static. You have to be flexible to be able to reap the benefits change offers, like being ready to go skiing when it’s snowing or to dive into the pool when it’s hot.

In today’s business landscape, it’s imperative that IT departments be flexible. Business needs vary from quarter to quarter, and might change as rapidly — though a bit more unexpectedly — than the scenery outside my window. Or maybe a new platform becomes available that offers significant performance, security, or cost benefits.

Flexibility and Choice

Flexibility isn’t just about supporting different end-user devices or locations. It’s also about being able to support a variety of operating systems and infrastructure platforms.

Having the freedom to choose the best infrastructure platform for the need at hand is a key requirement of any IT deployment.

But once you’ve chosen a platform, do you want to stay on it forever?

And what if you want (or need) a solution that spans multiple platforms because of performance, cost, or regulatory requirements? Wouldn’t it be nice to use the same management system across all the platforms?

Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops gives you the flexibility to use the platform(s) you want, and to be able to switch or expand to other platforms easily when your needs change. Multi-platform-capable image management and provisioning have always been a core capability of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops.

From bare metal to public-cloud infrastructure, you’re able to control the deployment from one management system, regardless of the platform you choose. And as new platforms emerge — from hyperconverged Infrastructures to public clouds, like Google Cloud Platform or even upcoming OS platforms like the multi-session Windows 10 experience with Windows Virtual Desktop — Citrix will continue to add those to the menu. And we’ll do all of this without requiring you to switch to another management system or changing your processes or workflows.

Citrix Delivers the Flexibility You Need

Is multi-platform support really that important? After all, you can just deploy a hypervisor on-premises or rely on the global presence of a public cloud to give you one platform that you can work on. But what about when you suddenly need to expand to a new location and another public cloud provider can offer a better price/performance for your project than your current one? Or what if you want to leverage the investment you have made in the physical workstations in your offices to offer remote working for your workforce for days they cannot reach the office? With Citrix Hypervisor, you have the flexibility to include both scenarios without having to add additional management systems.

With the ever-increasing speed of change in business, rapid innovation in technology, as well as an intensely competitive infrastructure landscape, choosing a solution that limits your choice of platforms will keep costs high and severely affect your ability to perform and execute. Like trying to ski without snow or swimming in the middle of the ice-cold winter. It doesn’t have to be that way.