Employees are now distributed as never before, working more flexible hours and forming ad-hoc teams for the duration of a project. This new way of working demands new tools that allow dynamic collaboration while ensuring a secure work environment.

The Work Solutions track at Citrix Converge 2021 brings together Citrix’s entire portfolio of workplace products and technologies: Citrix Workspace, microapps, Wrike, Citrix Podio, RightSignature, and ShareFile. Four days of hands-on workshops, keynotes, and breakout sessions will teach application builders not only the secrets of getting the most out of each product, but also how to combine them into solutions targeting a wide variety of real-world use cases. The emphasis is on leveraging Citrix’s workplace products to deliver business value to customers while writing little or no code.

Magic Happens When Citrix Workspace Microapps and Citrix Podio Come Together

Citrix Workspace’s mission is to support hybrid work:

People should be able to work where, when, and how they want. With the right workspace technology, they can.

One of the many ways Citrix Workspace helps streamline functionality from complex enterprise applications to achieve this aim is via microapps.

Citrix Podio was created, 10 years ago, with a similar vision:

The power to manage work is back where it originated, with the people who do the job.

Podio achieved this by providing a simple, yet flexible, way for its users to work the way they want to work.

So, what happens when the flexibility of Podio meets the utility of microapps? Together, they empower employees to simplify and enrich their day-to-day activities to create an “office” experience that works best for them, wherever they happen to be working from. The tools to create that experience already exist in one place: Citrix Workspace!

Citrix Workspace’s activity feed presents users with a unified stream of personalized notifications from a collection of microapps. Each microapp integrates with an application or service such as Salesforce, Concur or Workday: the microapp’s system of record. Microapp action pages allow users to respond to these notifications, for example, approving an expense request in Concur, or initiate actions independently, such as requesting time off in Workday.

What if you want to create your own system of record, managing your data your way, and still be able to fire notifications in response to events and accept user input? Enter Podio, a tool that enables you to build powerful low-code business solutions to customize work and communication.

When used together, microapps and Podio can simplify just about any facet of your workday, meaning you’ll have more time to focus on the big stuff.

You’ll have a unique opportunity to get hands on and learn how best to integrate microapps with Podio at our Citrix Converge workshop on Monday, Oct 25, at 9:00 a.m. EDT. Register now to secure your place!

The Challenges of Hybrid Work

With offices reopening around the world, employees and employers seem divided as to whether the classic model of working at the office is the right choice to make. If the last year and a half has taught us anything, it’s that remote work works! So, going forward we’re likely to see a hybrid model that combines working from office with working from home.

However, hybrid work brings its own set of challenges:

  • Collaboration and Communication: Organizations and teams need to find ways to work better together when employees are distributed between the office, home, and coffee shop. Tapping into new tools and easy-to-build apps, without excessive IT process, can help accelerate the path to a more collaborative experience.
  • Employee Networking: How can we better build professional relationships in a hybrid world? How do we replicate a coffee break shared with colleagues? How can we connect with colleagues online as naturally as we do when we’re all working on the same floor, eating at the same cafeteria, or working out at the same gym? Hybrid work environments can make employees feel disconnected from the workplace and ultimately from the company as a whole.
  • Mental Well Being: Burnout is on the rise. Any employee balancing the responsibilities of life and work can feel overwhelmed, but balancing both worlds from home can amplify anxiety, depression, and stress, affecting performance and overall well-being. The list goes on. From dealing with distractions at home, to getting rid of unconscious bias between remote and on-site workers, to managing childcare, nurturing company culture, and so on.

We’ve already started using Podio-based microapps at Citrix to ensure employee and community safety. Now, in one of our Converge hackathons, we’re challenging you, our community of coders, scripters, and builders, to create your own Podio-based microapps to help solve the challenges you see in hybrid work.

Reimagine Work in a Hybrid World

Our hackathon will kick off at 10:30 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, October 26, with a breakout session detailing the challenge and the prizes on offer. You’ll submit your entry in the form of a 5-10 minute video by midnight EDT on Monday, November 8. The workshop and breakout session will be recorded and available during and after Converge so you can work on your entry at your own convenience. If you need any additional help during this period, our mentors will be standing by to support you via the Converge event platform.

Your demo video will demonstrate your microapp and Podio integration and explain how it solves a challenge you perceive in the world of hybrid work. Prizes will be awarded for the best user interface, most innovative solution, best Citrix employee entry, and, of course, overall hackathon winner.

All participants and team members must be registered attendees of Citrix Converge to be eligible to enter, so, if you have not yet done so, register now! In addition to entry to this challenge, you’ll get all the details on our packed agenda of workshops, keynotes, breakout sessions, challenges, and hackathons (this is not the only one!)

If you want to get up to speed with microapps and Podio right now, or you already have a great idea and you want to make an early start, you can:

We can’t wait to see how you reimagine work in a hybrid world!