IF YOU dread having to brave the rush-hour jams every morning, then Mark Templeton's concept of 'workshifting' would gladden your heart.

Someone who works as much from the home, hotel or airport, as from the office, is workshifting, says Mr Templeton, who is CEO of Citrix. The US$1.6 billion company offers full virtual computing platforms of products that enable virtual workstyles for users and virtual data centres for IT.

Workshifting is about the capability to shift the work of people and computing to optimal locations, he says in an interview.

'For example, shifting work from office to home increases user productivity. Shifting work from a high cost to a low cost location saves money. Shifting computer work from a PC to an iPad enables new levels of mobility.

'Shifting computer work from one server or datacentre to another provides flexibility, disaster recovery, and high availability for application systems. Workshifting delivers powerful business benefits by allowing people and IT to work or compute anywhere.'

In short, 'workshifting' delivers on the idea that work is not about a place.

'Rather, work is something we can do - and in today's world, it is often something we are required to do - anywhere. Workshifting makes economic sense for the business as well. A recent report commissioned by Citrix Online, a division of Citrix Systems, found that virtual work policies could save US businesses more than US$400 billion a year in increased productivity, lower office costs, and reduced absenteeism and staff turnover.'

The concept benefits the individual as well. It is not about giving up offices entirely, but about options, he notes.

'It is the choice and the ability to work anywhere - at home, on the road, at a client site - that results in a greater sense of control over one's work life. This translates into even greater workforce productivity, employee retention, and business agility.'

Organisations that are implementing virtual desktops today are paving the way for workshifting to become a more widespread and accepted practice.