ByteSpeed is a major IT solutions provider headquartered in Moorhead, Minnesota. They have been offering custom IT hardware, enterprise networking solutions and IT services across the US for 21 years with a strategic focus to serve K-12 Education. ByteSpeed launched Computer Lab as a Service (CLaaS), a fully managed remote learning solution using Amazon AppStream2.0. CLaaS provides students quick and secure online access to applications such as Adobe CC and Autodesk for remote learning and virtual labs.
“With the onset of the pandemic, schools had to quickly switch to remote learning. To meet our customers’ demand, we evaluated multiple solutions and discovered that on-premises deployment was not feasible due to complex hardware & software management, complicated licensing, lack of ability to scale, and high upfront costs. We selected Amazon AppStream 2.0 as it provided a secure, scalable and cost effective foundation for CLaaS, with no upfront investments and no management overhead.
We engaged SynchroNet, an AWS Advanced Consulting Partner to help us with the project. Synchronet helped design the architecture, complete testing, build automation, and launch a pilot in 8 weeks. The feedback from the pilot was overwhelmingly positive leading to the launch of CLaaS in 2 weeks. Synchronet also helped us develop a custom usage dashboard providing schools user and organization level reports to optimize costs. Amazon AppStream 2.0 enabled us to save hundreds of thousands of dollars in hardware, licensing and management costs, while also reducing our onboarding process from weeks to just 1 day.
For education, this means students have greater access to learning resources and applications, regardless of platform or device. It doesn’t matter whether they’re using Chromebooks, Macs, or PCs, or whether they’re in the classroom, the library, or at home. Amazon AppStream2.0 has helped us transform the student experience, enabling them to learn in ways they haven’t had so far. This solution will continue to provide value for years to come as educators adjust to this “new normal” and look to leverage the extensive investment they have made in student devices.”
– Lucas Hulne, Chief Technology Officer, ByteSpeed