Beginning with ZENworks Service Desk 8.0, we have taken our progressive step to move from Native Mobile Apps to Progressive Web Apps (PWA). As part of ZENworks Service Desk 8.1/8.1.1, we have provided full-fledged PWA support for Service Desk’s End-User Portal.  Now, we are moving ahead to introduce PWA support for the new Technician Portal with the next release for ZENworks Service Desk 8.2.

Why this move?

Every business today expects to be able to use their mobile devices to interact with their most important apps, and Service Desk is one of those apps. The question is no longer if they should be accessible, but how. In that respect, mobile websites are quick and easy to get to and don’t require a download or have platform dependencies. In comparison with native mobile apps, Progressive Web Apps are Efficient and Economical. They work on-demand and are always accessible. By choosing to use a PWA over a native application, your mobile device consumes less memory or data (Twitter PWA is an example) without sacrificing the convenience of a native app. Moreover, you can save this modern web capability on your home screen so that it gives you an app-like experience.

With all these benefits, we thought PWA not only serves as a viable alternative for our customers but also provides more flexibility and ease of use.

The new PWA for ZENworks Service Desk End-User Portal functions like a native app that allows for app-style gestures and navigation. With the help of service workers, it is able to load instantly, even in areas of low connectivity. With the help of pre-caching, the app stays up to date at all times, displaying the most recent version upon launching. Our intuitive design gives you the complete set of features of the Portal with options to scroll both horizontally and vertically.

The Future

Like the biggies in the industry (Google, Apple and Microsoft to name a few) who are driving the transition to PWAs, we too are strengthening our PWA capabilities by bringing some key features such as Push Notification, SSO and more.