Adam Jull of IMSCAD and Simran Bagga of Omnix International discuss the recent partnership agreement between the two firms and the sectors they’ll be targeting in 2023 and beyond

Workstation special report

Omnix International and UK-based virtualisation services specialist IMSCAD have announced a partnership. The seeds of the partnership were first laid approximately eight years ago, but in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the growing appetite in the built environment for digital transformation, as well as the need to work from different locations and devices, the two firms have inked a partnership.

“We work very closely with Autodesk and our skills are around deploying graphical software in a VDI (virtual desktop infrastructure) or cloud environment. This allows people to work more flexibly and on different devices Value-Add Partnership 700 IMSCAD has carried out more than 700 deployments of its virtual environment solution and such like away from the traditional workstation. Since Omnix and Autodesk have a long history of joint innovation, and Omnix has a broad reseller base, they were the perfect match for us to get into that customer base with our solutions and services,” said Adam Jull, CEO & Founder of IMSCAD.

“We’re effectively a services business and, as we are independent, we go across all solutions, and we just advise our customers on what to do, and then they can decide whether to go ahead or not. To date we’ve got over 700 deployments under our belt and have Autodesk customers globally in VDI or cloud, so we have a lot of experience and expertise that we can offer.” Simran Bagga, Vice President of Omnix Engineering and Foundation

IMSCAD has carried out more than 700 deployments of its virtual environment solution

The firm needed a solution to enable remote work for 50+ design users and chose a private cloud solution. The solution included three servers, two of which include two GPUs, providing desktops to 20 users each and the third, one GPU providing desktops for the further 12 users.

Another example of a successful on-premise VDI solution is that of HUNT EAS, a New York-based engineering, architectural and surveying firm. Hunt had an existing Virtual desktop solution in place, but the solution had never performed, and the company was looking to upgrade from the existing four server environment providing desktops for 65 users to one providing desktops to 90+ users.

The new environment consists of five servers and provides all users great performance running AutoCAD, Autodesk Revit and other applications. It has proved invaluable over the last year through the pandemic as well as when major snowfall affected New York last winter.

SHOWCASING THE TECHNOLOGY

Discussing how Omnix and IMSCAD will address the local market, Bagga states: “The big focus for us is on getting partners to be comfortable selling this technology because everybody wants to sell what’s in their comfort zone, and today these solutions are outside that zone. What we’re trying to do here is have a dedicated in-house commercial resource whose job is to pitch the IMSDCAD solutions to our existing channel ecosystem because we have a very healthy channel ecosystem, given the fact that we are a reputed value-added distributor.

Following that, we’re going to engage with the market with a number of activities including doing training webinars for our sales and technical partners and customers. We’ve defined a well-structured go to market strategy where we’re saying ‘hey, can we enable there in person if a customer wants to meet us, our teams in the UK manage all these companies and their requirements all over the world – we’ve done about 700 Autodesk customers in a virtual environment so far. It’s quite a specialist job and there are challenges, but we focus on it day in and day out – that’s our specialisation as a company. This is what we sell; we guide a customer and liaise with the customer on what’s best for them, and then go and deploy it.” Asked about the profile of companies they’re keen to target and which sectors show the most promise, Jull remarked: “AEC firms are obviously key but we’re also looking into the manufacturing and oil and gas sectors. One of Omnix’s partners is focused on the oil and gas market and they’ve just signed up with us.” Bagga concluded: “We’re looking to focus on the UAE and Saudi Arabia as our key markets, followed by Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain. “There is no specific order of markets we want to focus on but we’ll go wherever we see opportunities to position and pitch these solutions. Saudi Arabia is definitely on our cards to visit and make a strong pitch for because of the amount of development happening in the country at the moment – technology such as this will help firms achieve their goals.” This article originally appeared on MEConstructionNews.com and recruit partners to think about this technology’. We’re also looking at how these partners can translate the experience they have to customers, so we’re keen to handpick a few of our partners to tell the story to their customers. We’re looking to put together a number of case studies in the next few months. There’s a lot of heavy lifting to do when it comes to showcasing technology like this.

Jull added: “From our point of view, we’ve built our business in the US and Europe, and we do everything remotely – we remote consult, remote deploy and remote support. So, while we won’t be there in person if a customer wants to meet us, our teams in the UK manage all these companies and their requirements all over the world – we’ve done about 700 Autodesk customers in a virtual environment so far. It’s quite a specialist job and there are challenges, but we focus on it day in and day out – that’s our specialisation as a company. This is what we sell; we guide a customer and liaise with the customer on what’s best for them, and then go and deploy it.

Asked about the profile of companies they’re keen to target and which sectors show the most promise, Jull remarked: “AEC firms are obviously key but we’re also looking into the manufacturing and oil and gas sectors. One of Omnix’s partners is focused on the oil and gas market and they’ve just signed up with us.

Bagga concluded: “We’re looking to focus on the UAE and Saudi Arabia as our key markets, followed by Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain.Bagga concluded: “We’re looking to focus on the UAE and Saudi Arabia as our key markets, followed by Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain.

There is no specific order of markets we want to focus on but we’ll go wherever we see opportunities to position and pitch these solutions. Saudi Arabia is definitely on our cards to visit and make a strong pitch for because of the amount of development happening in the country at the moment – technology such as this will help firms achieve their goals.