NComputing’s OneSpace Plugs Mobile Business App Gap

NComputing aims to bridge the gap between desktop business apps and mobile devices, without compromising on the productivity-boosting potential of either. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based client virtualization specialist has announced OneSpace, a product that delivers a unified desktop comprised of Windows, Linux and software-as-a-service apps like Salesforce, along with cloud and on-premises file storage, to iOS and Android devices.

With OneSpace, the company solves one of the biggest technological hurdles currently affecting small and midsized businesses that use smartphones and tablets, according to Brian Duckering, senior director of product marketing for NComputing. According to the company, business users maintain a computing device hierarchy.

“Number one is the PC or laptop to do the heavy lifting,” Duckering told Small Business Computing. These are followed by smartphones then tablets, completing a computing trifecta of sorts.

The Power of Desktop Software on a Mobile Device

Covering all your computing bases may seem like a prudent measure, but it hurts the productivity of small business workers who decide, for example, to take a tablet to a job site instead of lugging around a laptop. Despite the many strides developers have made in mobile apps, those apps often don’t hold their own against their full-featured desktop counterparts.

As a result, small businesses see opportunities falling into the gap between desktop and mobile apps.

In a company-sponsored survey, NComputing reports that “83 percent of respondents said that making business applications and data available on mobile devices would have a high or medium impact on their business.” Eighty-six percent of those polled said that there were challenges delivering Windows applications to mobile devices.

NComputing developed OneSpace, which is based on the company’s vSpace client virtualization platform, to address those challenges. Available in hybrid and all-cloud versions, the product allows organizations to securely deliver desktop software to smartphones and tablets while maintaining a “rich end-user experience,” said Duckering, and “providing the full feature set of Windows apps on a tablet.”

In prepared remarks, IDC research manager Brett Waldman noted “a growing market demand for simple workspace solutions that unify mobile, desktop and SaaS applications and data” that can be accessed from any device. “For organizations looking to remain competitive, it is important to enable employees to take full advantage of their mobile devices by supplying them with corporate sanctioned applications, even Windows applications, on their device of choice,” he explained.

OneSpace fits the bill, said Waldman. “NComputing OneSpace provides a solution that’s tailored for small and medium sized businesses.”

Unlike screen-mirroring technologies, OneSpace uses a native, touch-enabled mobile UI experience. Current vSpace customers can use OneSpace to extend their current virtualized apps and desktops to mobile users.

OneSpace is currently in private beta. NComputing plans a public beta in early spring. Subscriptions start at $29 per user per month when the product officially launches in late spring.

Pedro Hernandez is a contributing editor at InfoStor. Follow him on Twitter @ecoINSITE.

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