The effect the pandemic has had on employees and their productivity can’t be ignored by professionals. The move to remote and hybrid working poses several challenges to power users with demanding workflows. These range from security risk and performance challenges to lack of adequate power and difficulties in managing multiple devices at any given time.
About the author
Dan Barham is HP UK & Ireland’s Market Lead in Advanced Compute & Solutions.
Traditionally, power users have been chained to their desks, only able to manage and process large volumes of data and different programs using large workstations, which had hindered their ability to work in a more agile way. Now, the global workforce across nearly every industry has become more digitally connected than ever before, and although the Covid-19 pandemic upended life as we once knew it, the shift to remote work has been a positive one for many. For example, 73% of knowledge workers say that their ideal work arrangement moving forward is to work from home some or all of the time. Being able to work flexibly is now essential, and performance and mobility can’t be mutually exclusive – high performance users need access to the same power and connectivity that they would typically get in the office, wherever they are working.
Workstations vs. PC
High performance power users run intensive simulations for hours at a time and can’t afford down time. Slow performing machines can impact the bottom line and results. Cloud has been heralded as the solution to home and hybrid working needs, but as more and more IT workloads become remote as part of ‘the new normal’, this puts more pressure on cloud infrastructure with power users needing additional support.
That’s where the workstations vs. PC debate comes in. Workstations can’t be compared to general laptops – as high-performance computing devices that are purpose built for demanding professional workflows, the comparison is unfair. Workstations allow for uncompromised performance tuned to a specific workflow. For example, a data scientist, an architect, visual effects professional, engineer, software developer and financial analyst will all have different needs in terms of data processing, performance, operating systems, keyboard shortcuts, storage, display and connectivity. Workstations are built for managing these kinds of high intensity but diverse workflows.
The technology that makes this possible is not always immediately obvious, but users will generally have complete control over the type of performance and acoustics for their role. For workstations, certified ISV (Independent Software Vendors) application is crucial, as it ensures the hardware and software work better together. Workstations are the only PCs that offer certified professional applications. Having certification is critical, it’s not enough to just know that your software applications will run on your workstation: you need a hardware solution that has been tested, proven and certified by ISVs to deliver peak performance for your key applications. This ensures a wholly compatible experience between hardware and software that is stable and designed to perform, allowing you to work with confidence. Nowadays, hardware and software components are integrated and deployed with data governance in mind, which ensures data is protected and secure.
In comparison to PC’s, it’s not just about the raw performance of the processor or other components in a device, it’s about how well they perform in specific tasks relevant to the work they are designed to do. Do they make that system easier, faster and remove unnecessary complexity so you can focus on the task and be more productive and creative? Usually, a data scientist will not place emphasis on the color accuracy on a display, but they will care about having a device that can process huge data sets for hours without crashing mid-way. A graphic designer or VR developer on the other hand will care about being able to process jobs quicker by managing how power is split between the CPU and GPU depending on the task.
Expandable workstations
You also need to think about what’s going on under the bonnet. What software stack or operating system does the workstation need to run? Does the workstation need to run the full Adobe creative suite? Is the keyboard and other input devices optimized for the needs of the user? Examples might include a VR headset or a set of separate programmable keys.
Security and manageability in workstations are also designed to work seamlessly across the whole stack and conform to specific requirements defined by role and managed by IT departments. Devices are often configured to get the best out of a given software and may even carry certifications that guarantee performance for certain software, such as those from companies like Autodesk.
All of this adds up to a curated experience – a device absolutely dedicated in every way to a workflow and ready to go out of the box, saving days of configuration time.
The final key difference is that workstations are very expandable – designed with upgrading in mind. Whilst that is of course true of many PCs, workstations are engineered with this capability in mind. A workstation is designed to be a device that can expand with your needs over a long period of time.
Creative professionals working within AEC, manufacturing, media & entertainment, as well as within data science would benefit from switching to workstations – as would IT decision-makers (ITDMs) in industries such as architecture. Professionals facing distinct performance challenges when working and collaborating remotely should consider virtual workstation solutions. For example, for professionals working in data science, there exists huge challenges associated with attempting to manage data sets that have become too large to house and manipulate using existing methods. Many are getting by with underpowered devices with clear limitations. Pain points often include the speed of access to data, memory capacity, the bulk weight of devices and compromising on screen size, along with the need for more robust visualizations.
Workstations really are key to reimagining the concept of office mobility, transforming the creative process, and accelerating the most demanding of workflows across devices, software, and services. The technology has been adapted to meet the needs of the mobile workforce by incorporating powerhouse performance into dense form factors, creating a long-term solution to supporting professionals which ITDM’s should be taking advantage of.
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