A number of companies, including Google, Slack, and Zoom, are coming together to launch the Modern Computing Alliance. The goal of the alliance is to address IT challenges that companies are facing across the entire technology stack, from silicon to cloud.
Their mission is to “drive ‘silicon-to-cloud’ innovation for the benefit of enterprise customers—fueling a differentiated modern computing platform and providing additional choice for integrated business solutions.”
Founding members of the group include Google, Box, Citrix, Dell, Imprivata, Intel, Okta, RingCentral, Slack, VMware, and Zoom.
The Modern Computing Alliance will attempt to tackle the most pressing issues in computing today, including performance, security and identity, healthcare, and remote work, productivity, and collaboration.
To address performance issues, it will invest in creating a seamless, user-friendly experience, Google explained. For example, it can increase video and audio quality in Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) by leveraging hardware-based capabilities and platform optimizations.
The group will also work to create advanced cloud data security, as well as improve data loss prevention solutions.
According to Google, healthcare is included in the list because providers need to improve their ROI on technology so that they can improve patient outcomes and reduce IT costs. “Clinicians need more time ‘facing the patient’ and less time interacting with IT systems.To maximize their resources, we will optimize productivity, efficiency, and authentication in hospital settings, and improve performance for telemedicine applications,” John Solomon, vice presidnet of Chrome OS at Google, wrote in a post.
Finally, the Modern Computing Alliance will attempt to enhance the productivity of the distributed workforce. According to Google, in order to achieve this, IT needs transparency, simplified administration, and analytics for users and devices, while employees need better workflows to make the most of their tools. The alliance will provide silicon-to-cloud telemetry insights and analytics, as well as recommendations for optimizing workflows and automating repetitive tasks.
“The technology industry is moving towards an open, heterogeneous ecosystem that allows freedom of choice while integrating across the stack. This reality presents both a challenge and an opportunity. To address the complexity of this challenge requires a new level of collaboration in the form of an industry-wide effort. Technology leaders have to work together in new ways to develop open solutions that transcend products or brands any individual might envision, and create a better, more optimized experience for everyone,” Solomon wrote.
