ANS claims Cisco first with hosted desktop launch

Mancunian outfit claims it is now one of Cisco's most highly decorated partners

ANS Group claims to have stolen a march on the competition by becoming the first Cisco partner in Europe to launch a Cisco Powered Desktop as a Service.

The Mancunian VAR's Cisco Powered Managed Workspace Service, launched today at Cloud Expo Europe, allows users to connect to Microsoft Office and their other workplace applications through ANS' cloud infrastructure.

To date, three US firms - Netelligent, Quest and NEC Corporation of America - are listed on Cisco's partner locator as having a Cisco-backed Desktop as a Service offering but ANS is the first in the UK and Europe, managing director Paul Sweeney claimed.

"There will be lots to follow but we are the first to get over the line," he said, adding that Cisco carried out a rigorous check of ANS' processes and procedures before it lent its backing to the service.

Sweeney said the service marks a breakthrough for Cisco as well as ANS, as it allows Cisco's sales staff to be recognised on sales of ANS' workspace services.

"Cisco is trying to move away from just selling tin in the traditional way and into cloud services," he said. "This is a switch in mindset: every time we sell a workspace we buy some Cisco kit to run it on. Rather than Cisco trying to sell hardware and us trying to sell cloud, this brings the two together."

ANS has also bagged a Master CloudBuilder accreditation with Cisco, meaning it sits alongside the likes of Wipro and Didata among the vendor's most highly decorated UK partners, Sweeney said.

ANS' journey from reselling tin to becoming a managed service provider is also nearing completion, Sweeney added.

"Seventy per cent of our business is now managed services," he explained. "Next year we hope to have got to the point where our costs will be covered just by recurring revenue, which is the Holy Grail."