The market of IT for businesses is rapidly changing. The introduction of new – consumer – technology has gradually changed our way of working. We are always on with advanced smartphones, our data is available anywhere via cloud services, we are constantly connected via social networks and, as employees, we expect the same service level from our employers – mobile, any device, connected, easy to use.
Not answering the new way of working is not an option. Businesses would lose competitiveness and efficiency, and they would be perceived as a far less attractive employer in the continuing war for talent.
At the same time, the legacy IT systems of many businesses are embedded into processes, and changes would require large investments and lengthy integration and testing times. Different technologies run next to each other – cloud, AS400 and Windows on X86 – IT running costs are high, sometimes up to 85% of total IT budget, and the flexibility for change is low.
A wave of startups and challengers are trying to drive the change and support businesses towards the new normal – Workspace 365, New Day at Work, EyeOS and Armor5. These agile companies play a crucial key role in enabling businesses to take the leap to a new way of working and simplified IT. They offer an HTML5 web-based platform with easy access to all applications and data on any device. It helps companies to:
- Make abstraction of legacy in the legacy IT – any application running in your as-is IT landscape can be accessed on any device. This includes AS400 applications that are typically at the heart of a company, but are so hard to mobilise cost-effectively.
- Enable mobility on any device – these platforms fully enable bring or choose your own device strategies as it supports all devices, from Chromebooks, Windows devices or Apple iMacs to tablets and smartphones of all kinds.
- Maximise security – strong access management ensures the IT administrator has a clear-cut view on who can use what, while data is available from the Awingu platforms and is never stored on local hard drives.
- Leverage a strong technology partner ecosystem with out-of-the-box integration into native cloud services such as Microsoft Office 365, Dropbox and Google Apps.
- These companies are often part of end-to-end solutions delivered by larger IT players, such as Samsung, HP, Microsoft and even Google, aiming at introducing new competitive dynamics in incumbent vertical IT stacks.
These companies represent a valid alternative to more traditional desktop virtualisation technologies – Citrix or VMware – for typical virtual desktop infrastructure and remote desktop use-cases but they come with easier deployment and integration, flexibility and total cost of ownership:.
- Mobilising any app – also an AS400 service – can be done in a matter of hours instead of days.
- Infrastructure needs are very light – integrated cloud-based packages are also available from our cloud partners.
- Customers can start with a small footprint for minimal investment, then grow at their own speed. User licences are as low as $7 a month.
The bring-your-own-device (BYOD) opportunity is really huge. Gartner, for instance, gave BYOD its stamp of approval by predicting that half of employers will require employees to supply their own device for work purposes by 2017. Tech pros with BYOD-related skills are in hot demand. BYOD resonates with coveted millennial workers and their blended work-life lifestyle. And a swath of chief information officers told CIO.com that they are jumping on the BYOD bandwagon.
Moreover, BYOD has spawned high-value companies in the hot mobile device management space. The MDM market is expected to hit nearly $4bn by 2019. A new wave of startups is challenging the establishment in driving faster mobilisation of applications. Awingu is one of them.
Awingu recently completed a third funding round from its existing shareholders. These shareholders are a balanced mix of industry, private and venture capital partners – Hummingbird Ventures, Proximus, Flemish Investment Fund PMV and Michel Akkermans, former Clear2Pay founder & CEO. The fresh funding will support further growth that will come from new and existing markets. A regional office will be opened close to Irvine, California, to start servicing the US market, and the platform itself will continually be enriched, embedding even more partner technologies.
Proximus invested in Awingu to build on established market trends of workspace-as-a-service (WPaaS), BYOD and mobilisation of enterprise applications without compromising on security. Faster wireless networks – 4G – make it possible to work anytime and anywhere and have more engaged and productive workforce.