The discussion focused on how companies can take advantage of the increase in personal devices in the workspace without affecting management or security. Six out of ten companies are now allowing employees to connect personal devices with corporate networks.

According to Scott this leaves CIOs in the position where they need to balance risk and productivity, especially protecting corporate assets. As usual, it comes down to people, processes and technology. Employee education must be coupled with corporate infrastructure and policies so that employees can do to do what they want to do and in some cases need to do in their jobs, even while using their personal devices.

Such a strategy requires a shift in how companies manage IT resources. In years past companies tried to control every device connecting to the network. Anderson emphasized that there must now be a focus on governance, not control. Companies define the policies concerning which corporate assets a user may access and how access will be provided. Employees control the devices, but the company sets the terms under which corporate assets - its data and applications - may be used.

Such a strategy is essential because according to Guggenheimer, people are going to be bringing more and more personal computing devices into the workplace. They want to use these devices in order to be more productive. Additionally, people are working in many environments outside traditional offices. For companies to maximize worker productivity and satisfaction, they need to create policies that enable people to access company applications and data whether they are in the office or elsewhere.

Guggenheimer showed smartphones, tablet computers and laptops that can transition between corporate and personal requirements. Of course, he promoted handsets running Windows Phone, which he advised would provide a consistent experience for either business or personal use and which companies should consider as a replacement for Blackberry devices. He advocated for the Samsung 7 tablet, which when placed in a docking station, complete with keyboard and mouse bridges the corporate and consumer world. Guggenheimer also demonstrated features of different laptops, one that uses a sheet battery to provide extra power and advised that notebooks equipped with docking stations and TPM chips are sensible choices for users that want a computer that can move from home to office seamlessly.

While Microsoft offered select journalists and enterprise customers access to the event live, they have now made it available for on demand streaming. It may be viewed through www.microsoft.com/business/events/en-us/virtualization/default.aspx#fbid=kajjxWK97-I