I’m Off To Magnetic Island To Preview Our VMware IT Survivor Experience

Our awesome IT Survivor competition will let one lucky reader enjoy 6 nights on Magnetic Island, thanks to VMware. To see how that works in practice, I’m travelling to Magnetic Island to preview the experience and see if I can get my regular job done using nothing but VMware Horizon 6.

To demonstrate that you can access all the work resources you need without requiring a full-fledged desktop, I’ll be using a Dell Chromebook to log into Horizon 6 and access all my regular Windows applications via a full virtual desktop. I’ll even be trying out video editing using Movie Maker. And I’ll have an ocean view room and all the attractions of Magnetic Island to enjoy in the background. Yes, my life’s tough.

Even if you’re not on a tropical island, chances are your fellow employees are demanding this kind of access. VMware’s annual End User Computing survey, which asked 151 employees across Australia about their computing habits, found that 73 per cent of workers now operate outside the office. That isn’t always a happy experience, though: 57 per cent thought that existing corporate policies were too strict, and 36 per cent thought those approaches slowed them down.

“From a technology standpoint, we’ve matured a lot,” Asanga Wanigatunga, VMware senior product manager for end user computing, told Lifehacker. “Previously we’ve lacked the technologies to be able to deliver that level of flexibility, yet keep it secure.” Businesses are also becoming more sophisticated in measuring the productivity gains from a more flexible approach to remote working and which technologies are used.

I set off for Queensland this morning. Here’s a quick video I shot with Asanga in the airport lounge, where he shares a few tips on how to make the most of the experience:

Keep checking out Lifehacker this week for my adventures from the island, and make sure you enter the competition. See you in Queensland!