With the advances in cloud computing and its services such as Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), or Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), business analysts and citizen developers can create programs and apps without knowing codes or program languages. From the development side, there is rapid application development (RAD) and low code no code (LC/NC) to assist people without technical or coding knowledge to be able to write and develop applications. Its advantage gives the rise of rapid prototyping and fast feedback over long drawn-out processes. Furthermore, it enables citizen developers to solve everyday problems without reaching out to the IT department.

From the system and DevOps, a combination of software developers and operations, it aims to deliver applications and services for organization by focusing on rapid IT delivery. End-user computing (EUC) is another rapid approach and non-programmers way into development and IT systems. From technopedia, End-user computing (EUC) refers to computer systems and platforms that are meant to allow non-programmers to create working applications. It is broad and may encompass different meanings that are more or less related, but has the overarching context of allowing end users to better control their computing environment without the aid of real programmers.

Types of End-user computing (EUC) are a wide range of resources that are focused toward end users or business users without technical know-how. And with the ability to work anywhere and work from home after the pandemic, virtualization and cloud computing enables organizations to manage infrastructure more efficiently and users be more productive. The result is more users are able to implement EUC and set up their system and DevOps. The cost effectiveness and efficiency will allow organizations to scale up or down the resources.

With work from home, it becomes increasingly remote-first IT services. As a result, network admin is struggling to maintain and to service devices. Furthermore, as more and more devices are connected outside the corporate firewall, the IT team needs to support, diagnose and repair, deploying patches without devices. Desktop virtualization is the implementation of cloud-hosted desktops is on the rise.

Benefits of End-User Computing (EUC)

There are many benefits to end-user computing.

  • Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is an example of EUC and remote working. It offers safe and highly available access to business applications 24/7 and anywhere. Users don’t have to be at a certain location, and can work anywhere. The result is organizations able to hire more talents outside of their local area.
  • Freeing IT resources is another benefit of EUC. Users without technical knowledge and abilities can set up and implement applications and systems. Furthermore, the ability to take ownership of applications according to their needs and schedules empower users. He or she can decide when and where to develop and what data is needed.
  • EUC can help install and scale your new applications, manage security and policy. It makes it easier to manage a large number of computers.

Drawbacks of End-User Computing (EUC)

There are many drawbacks to end-user computing.

  • The drawback is that it takes away from their real job. For example, a finance or accounting person will spend more time on implementation and development instead of what they were hired to do. There is a need to define their job and responsibilities.
  • Another drawback is development of inappropriate systems or causes duplication. There is a saying “too many hands in the cookie jar”. The result is too many people are trying to do something or the same thing, and they make a mess of it.
  • Lastly, EUC can ignore long range and technical issues. There is no long term planning, and sometimes one technical issue can repeat itself since there are no centralized fixes or in the road map.

End-User Computing (EUC) solutions

Companies provide EUC solutions such as Amazon AWS, Dell, and VMWare. Amazon AWS provides cloud native desktop and application virtualization. It can increase security, agility, reliability and optimize the cost. The solutions are such as cloud-native persistent desktops (Amazon WorkSpaces), cloud-native non-persistent desktops and applications (Amazon AppStream 2.0), and cloud-native secure web access (Amazon WorkSpaces Web).

Dell offers All-Flash storage and Converged Infrastructure to make the implementation EUC faster and simpler. Likewise, it is offering mobility and BYOD to end-users, and the ability to centralize desktops and data by making it secure and easy to manage users.

VMWare offers multi-cloud enterprise infrastructure to run the applications and manage the virtual desktop. The back-end infrastructure provides high performance storage to host desktop sessions, storage and networking to handle multiple loads. Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) can be on public cloud or on premises. It can support many different devices from laptop to tablet and from company owned devices to bring-your-own-device (BYOD).

Sources:
https://www.techopedia.com/definition/11493/end-user-computing-euc
https://dataconomy.com/2022/08/end-user-computing-euc/
https://aws.amazon.com/products/end-user-computing/
https://www.dell.com/en-us/dt/learn/remote-work/end-user-computing.htm
https://www.vmware.com/topics/glossary/content/end-user-computing.html