Remember back when End User Computing was just about which version of Windows you had installed on your PCs? That seems so long ago now. But even then we (the EUC industry, not the ‘Royal We’) complained that it was pretty tough.
Back then, if we were going to draw a diagram of EUC, we’d probably just draw a couple of PCs on a single slide and then stick our collection of PCLM tools around them. I still have a few slides like that somewhere…
How different it is now!
These days we talk about DEX, UEM, VDI, RDS, ICA, HDX, IAM and others. It’s a jungle of terms and topics. I’ve got a pretty good handle on the state of the EUC industry, the different players and trends, and what’s hot and what’s not. But then that’s my job. For a customer trying to work out the industry, it must be an absolute nightmare. The big analysts are out there offering some help. I, however, am a very visual person. I just want to see what the hot topics are, where the different vendors fit in, and which vendors complement each other.
Above is my system for doing this.
People in the industry I’ve shown this to have variously called it ‘The EUC Honeycomb’, or The Matrix.
One of the big benefits of this system is that I can demonstrate where different players across the EUC space can work together to provide a more comprehensive solution for customers and partners.
Here’s an example of a big Digital Workspace Vendor integrated with IGEL:
There is a key for the above, but very basically, the brighter the hue of the hexagon, the stronger the vendor plays in that space.
Now, a lot of this is based on my own opinion of a vendor’s capabilities reached through my own research and also speaking to employees of the vendors themselves.
I’m working on codifying my scoring system, and also providing my definitions for each of these areas. I’ve found so far though that it’s been very well received and simplifies conversations when it comes to the overall EUC ecosystem.
Give me a shout with any questions!