Google Reintroduces Cameyo to Let Enterprises Run Windows Apps on Chrome Browser

Google relaunched Cameyo, a virtual app delivery (VAD) solution, on Wednesday. Now called Cameyo by Google, the company's latest enterprise product enables users to run legacy Windows or Linux-based applications as progressive web apps (PWAs) or directly in the Chrome browser. The tech giant also says that the solution will eliminate the need to use virtual desktop environments to stream apps. The relaunch comes more than a year after the Mountain View-based tech giant acquired the company, with a strategy focused on bringing enterprises tied to Microsoft's operating system to ChromeOS.

Google Relaunches Cameyo for Enterprises

In a blog post, Google Cloud announced the relaunch of Cameyo. Citing data from last year's Forrester study (commissioned by Google), the company claimed that while 90 percent of IT leaders prefer web-based applications for their end-user computing strategy, 50 percent of their internal applications still rely on legacy client-based apps. The company claims that Cameyo fills this gap.

The main offering of the enterprise product is its virtual app delivery solution. This means any operating system-tied application can be converted into PWAs or run entirely on the Chrome browser. This method also solves the enterprise hurdle of bearing the cost for virtual desktops, which is traditionally used to stream applications.

Cameyo supports all kinds of legacy applications across specialised tools such as enterprise resource planning (ERP), Windows-based design programmes such as AutoCAD, and even the desktop version of Excel. Google says this solves two problems: First, the end user experience is improved as they don't have to switch between virtual desktop environments; and second, the IT department does not have to handle the complexity.

But the underlying strategy of Google is simple. It wants enterprises to rely less on Microsoft's ecosystem and instead migrate to its products. Additionally, the switch to web apps will also help the company push enterprises towards its ChromeOS-powered Chromebooks, as they will be inherently compatible with these applications.

Likely this is why the blog post mentions this near the end as a subtle nudge: “For organisations that have been looking for a more secure alternative to Windows in the wake of years of security incidents, outages, and forced upgrades to the next Windows version, Cameyo now makes it possible for IT to migrate to ChromeOS — including the use of ChromeOS Flex to convert existing PCs to ChromeOS — while maintaining access to all of their Windows apps.”