IFS brings mobile workforce scheduling to the cloud

IFS has announced the launch of IFS 360 Scheduling, the workforce optimisation toolset, in the Windows Azure cloud. The new deployment option provides customer benefits such as quick implementation and flexible, on-demand scale-out to handle workload peaks.

One benefit of running IFS 360 Scheduling in the Windows Azure cloud is the speed of implementation – customers can deploy a production-quality environment in less than one hour. By outsourcing the maintenance of servers and software, companies enjoy reliable and hassle-free use while focusing exclusively on their business.

“Speed and reliability are crucial for our customers, many of which face demanding time constraints such as emergency response times and need real-time computing power, all of the time.

By making IFS 360 Scheduling available on Windows Azure, we can offer best-of-breed scheduling software that is reliable, scalable and quick and easy to implement,” said Laurent Othacéhé, CEO, IFS 360 Scheduling.

The new cloud offering is another step in IFS’s strategy for cloud computing, enabling IFS customers to extend their options with cloud-based applications.

“This new offering is a perfect example of how we can leverage cloud and Software as a Service (SaaS) technologies for an application which truly benefits from such a deployment model, regardless of whether the customer is running the rest of the IFS Applications suite on-premise, hosted or in a private cloud,” said Dan Matthews, CTO, IFS.

Rather than expanding its own data centres, IFS has chosen to run the IFS 360 Scheduling cloud offering on Windows Azure.

This strategy reaffirms IFS’s commitment to recognised state-of-the-art standards and technologies and provides a cost-efficient platform for innovative business solutions, as recently also evidenced by the smartphone apps series IFS Touch Apps.

“Running IFS 360 Scheduling in the Windows Azure cloud is an excellent example of how to leverage the reliability, scalability and ease-of-use of our cloud for the benefit of the business user.

By building on the investments Microsoft has made in Windows Azure, IFS is able to respond to customer needs and quickly roll out innovative, business-critical solutions,” said Kim Akers, General Manager for ISV partners at Microsoft Corp.