nGenx, a cloud services pioneer in the delivery of hosted workspaces,
including applications, data, and desktops, today named six key trends
that it expects to drive substantial adoption of Workspace as a Service
(WaaS) solutions and services in 2016. These trends include the
continued adoption of cloud computing technologies; growing demand for
more flexible software licensing; the consumerization of IT; the need
for greater data security; enhancements in business continuity, and
greater focus on IT cost containment. As these trends grow, they are
expected to drive higher demand for WaaS by small and medium businesses
over the next 12 months.
According to new research published by Transparency Market Research, the
global WaaS market is forecast to reach $18.4 million by 2022,
representing a CAGR growth rate of 12.1 percent from 2015-2022. This is
largely fueled by increasing enterprise mobility trends such as BYOD and
the concerns around the security of smartphones, tablets and personal
laptops for official work. In agreement with this forecast, nGenx has
identified the drivers it expects will result in significant adoption of
WaaS solutions and services in 2016.
1. Continued adoption of cloud computing by businesses of every size to
increase operational efficiency: Deployment of WaaS solutions enables
organizations to reduce the capital expense of upgrading and migrating
operating systems and applications. Furthermore, these systems and
applications can be managed and upgraded from a centralized server,
increasing efficiency and ensuring the security and integrity of
organizational data.
2. Software licensing flexibility with the option to use the same
application regardless of whether it is on a desktop, laptop, tablet,
smartphone: The cloud model has opened the eyes of customers interested
in paying only for what they consume. Now with greater mobility in
computing and use across multiple devices, software licensing is
becoming more flexible to accommodate user needs to access applications
and data from different devices without the hindrance of redundant fees.
3. Continued pressure on IT professionals to reduce costs as much as 50
percent: With traditional server hardware and software, deploying and
maintaining an application can cost four times the original software
price tag. Additional costs can include environmental factors such as
air conditioning, racking and protecting IT systems; resource
management; data backup; and unplanned repairs. IT professionals will
increasingly adopt WaaS as a way to reduce these costs by half.
4. Greater demand for workforce mobility: Employees increasingly expect
to have the ability to work from anywhere using their preferred
computing device. In this "bring your own device" (BYOD) environment,
traditional computing platforms are incapable of providing the desktop,
application, and data access necessary to remain productive. WaaS is a
game-changing technology for organizations that have adopted BYOD,
allowing secure access to employees who use their smartphones, tablets,
and laptops for work.
5. Security: Traditional computing models have left gaps in security
that exposes IT organizations to risk. The right WaaS solution addresses
these gaps with more rigid controls, granular user management,
customized reporting, and audit trails to achieve the strictest security
and compliance levels in a cost-efficient manner. These centrally
managed, higher level features allow for compliance with PCI, HIPAA,
GLB, SARBOX, FINRA, and other data protection standards.
6. Business continuity and disaster recovery: Many organizations believe
that in the event of system downtime caused by a natural disaster,
major power outage, or other reason, their disaster recovery (DR) plan
will keep them up and running. However, the majority of DR strategies do
not include the user workspace because of the cost. As a result, many
organizations are turning to WaaS as an affordable, easy way to ensure
uptime, whenever or wherever a disaster takes place.
"All indications are that WaaS adoption will not just increase in 2016,
but soar as a result of significant industry trends," said JD Helms,
president, nGenx. "Small and medium businesses are looking for ways to
operate at an enterprise level without the associated expense and
infrastructure. Additionally, the boundaries between workspaces are
dissolving with software licensing becoming more flexible and IT
managers recognizing the ability to lower costs with WaaS. There has
never been a better time to become a WaaS solutions provider, and we
look forward to meeting the expected demand in 2016."