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Ingram Micro Taps Amazon WorkSpaces for DaaS
Technology distributor Ingram Micro is bringing the Windows desktop to Samsung mobile users by way of Amazon WorkSpaces.
Announced earlier this month, the new Desktop as a Service (DaaS) offering is aimed at so-called "prosumers," Ingram Micro's term for freelancers, students, entrepreneurs and other users who do the vast majority of their computing tasks on their smartphones.
Prosumers also require reliable access to their productivity apps, even when they're traveling or otherwise not in a traditional office environment.
Ingram Micro's DaaS offering taps into the virtual desktop capabilities of the Galaxy S8 and S8+ smartphones, which Samsung launched earlier this year in a bid to court exactly those types of productivity-focused mobile users. A complementary docking station, the DeX, lets Galaxy S8/S8+ users connect their devices to a keyboard, mouse and large-screen monitor to mimic a desktop computing scenario.
The offering also uses the Amazon WorkSpaces service to deliver users' Windows desktops to their devices. Based on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud, WorkSpaces lets users easily provision cloud-based Windows desktops -- including files, applications and documents -- to supported devices.
Third, Ingram Micro leverages its own cloud platform to simplify the process of setting up a DaaS scenario for mobile prosumers. Until now, the cost and complexity of configuring a virtual desktop environment has typically meant that DaaS was feasible only for SMBs or enterprises, Ingram Micro argues.
To lower these barriers to DaaS, Ingram Micro says it developed "a custom-built Cloud Store" to automate the setup process and reduce the advanced IT legwork required.
"Using our robust platform and technical expertise, the Ingram Micro Cloud services team has created this simplified and automated solution for Samsung mobile users to easily get set up and use a virtual Windows desktop," said Tarik Faouzi, vice president of Global Cloud Partners and Solutions at Ingram Micro, in a prepared statement. "This collaboration demonstrates Ingram Micro Cloud's commitment to empower every user and partner by reducing the complexities of access to innovative cloud technologies."
Ingram Micro is extending these DaaS capabilities to its partners, as well. "The full mobile desktop offer, including Samsung smartphones and peripherals, Amazon WorkSpaces and several of our Windows-based SaaS services, is already available to our cloud channel partners in the US. Later this year, we'll be making it even easier to provision the solution by making it available through the US Ingram Micro Cloud Marketplace," wrote Renée Lawrence, director of services product marketing for Ingram Micro Cloud, in a blog post.