4 minute read
Monetizing 5G with a small-to-medium business cloud solution for today’s flexible workforce
Ericsson Wireless Office remote workspace service targets the $90B small-to-medium business (SMB) market with new opportunities for 5G revenue.
The global pandemic has changed the way we work and accelerated workplace digitalization. As we begin the transition to a new normal, it’s clear that enabling a more flexible and remote workforce is an IT priority moving forward. In fact, according to a 2021 Ericsson IndustryLab study (t.eric.sn/2WVzajK), nearly 60 percent of white-collar work is expected to happen outside the company premises by 2030.[1]
This shift will be driven not only by changing employee expectations but also by the opportunity to save money on office space: 55 percent of SMB decision-makers are very satisfied with the ability to cut back through remote working.[1]
Even before the pandemic, the traditional enterprise IT model was beginning its downturn. At the same time, the appbased cloud workspace environment was starting its rise as the future of IT. As with many technologies, early virtual desktop infrastructure and Desktop as a Service offerings had their challenges—including poor user experiences, IT complexity, hidden costs and fragmented Software as a Service capabilities. Consequently, these technologies had yet to evolve into scalable, mass-adoption models.
Today, SMBs are in search of solutions that give their employees full access to processes and productivity tools— regardless of the device they use or where they’re working from. Post-pandemic workfrom-home compliance and disclosure obligations are also putting pressure on IT leaders to quickly plan for and implement agile and secure remote work solutions in preparation for any future crises.
As technology evolves with the likes of scaling end-user compute, premium SSD storage, on-demand application provisioning and robust end-to-end security—including multi-factor authentication, zero-trust environments and geo-location-based authentication driven by artificial intelligence and machine learning automation—the resulting improvements in performance, cost and complexity make today’s remote work solutions much more appealing.
Eliminate the need for local IT and simplify relationships with technology vendors for software licensing and advanced support services, and you get Ericsson Wireless Office, a solution for the masses available through a single pane of glass.
The $90B SMB market could not be more ready for a remote workspace solution that’s easy, flexible, secure and affordable.
Work from anywhere
More than half of SMB employees agree that their respective companies have become more positive about remote working during the pandemic, and they believe these habits are here to stay.1 Wireless Office enables businesses with limited IT staff and budgets to onboard workers with access to high-performing virtual desktops, including business apps, compute, storage and redundancy—in a matter of minutes. Employees can work from anywhere using any device, regardless of operating system.
Simplify desktop and app delivery
For many SMBs, connectivity is an issue, networks are too complex to manage and in-house IT comes with a high cost. It’s time-consuming and costly to buy and maintain IT software, hardware, networks and security.
Wireless Office removes the dependency of in-house IT expertise, physical installments and devices, while providing reliable and secure network access to employees—anywhere and anytime. Unlike its predecessors, Wireless Office simplifies software license provisioning and management of most business software titles, including Microsoft 365, Adobe Creative Cloud, Autodesk, QuickBooks, G-Suite and many more. It can also support line-of-business apps.
The account administrator simply assigns employees software licenses by selecting titles from an app-store menu. Businesses can also leverage existing licenses by selecting titles from a bringyour-own license menu. When using the remote desktop, applications appear to the end user as if they are running locally on the device.
Streamline hardware management
With less work taking place on company premises, businesses must be able to provide their employees with full access to processes and tools, regardless of the devices they use or whether they are in the office, at home or on the go. Traditionally, engineering and design-oriented apps required expensive machines and towers, along with local servers, to handle their heavy workloads. Mobility was the tradeoff for performance. With the recent shift to work-from-home, organizations must find a way for mobility and performance to coexist.
Using thin clients coupled with cloud services would enable this transition, which five in ten SMB decision-makers agree would be quite beneficial for their employees.[1]
Wireless Office is a device-agnostic service that offloads the strain on local resources for better application performance. As a result, it enables businesses to replace expensive employee laptops and PCs with low-cost devices, extend hardware lifecycles and support bring-your-own device.
Deliver end-to-end security
Security is a top technology challenge for SMBs and therefore, a priority investment area. This is especially true for companies that handle sensitive data, such as retailers requiring secure payments and healthcare providers handling private patient data. Top investment considerations include securing data and preventing employees from downloading unknown apps. With Wireless Office, an embedded security framework delivers a secure remote-access service that lets businesses protect their applications and data from internet threats while maintaining control and access governance over their contractors, partners, vendors and employees.
5G is a key enabler
SMB usage of 5G is expected to grow by more than 50 percent by 2030.1 Seventyfive percent of the SMB dematerialization frontrunners agree that 5G contributes to the expansion of a company’s international activities, while nearly 80 percent are interested in a virtual desktop solution.[1] Two-thirds of SMB decision-makers believe 5G will be an important innovation platform, as its security, low latency and high data speeds enable a more mobile workforce.[1]
Watch the video at t.eric.sn/3lsqUjE to learn how easy it is to onboard an employee or contractor with Ericsson Wireless Office compared to traditional IT and VDI/DaaS solutions.
