PaaS and the Deskless Worker Revolution
How PaaS with AI and AR are Driving the New IT-Engineering Alliance
Background
The term "metaverse" may no longer dominate headlines like it did just a short time ago, but it actually never went away. Its core principles have continued to evolve and found a home in multiple industries, where it has been delivering real, practical value.
As the concept matures, it has shifted from futuristic hype to practical applications and taken root in industries that rely on the integration of both digital and physical assets. This evolution is shaping a new era by uniting two traditionally separate domains: Corporate IT and Engineering IT.
Historically isolated, these areas are now converging through advanced Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) architectures, and creating a better foundation on which data and physical assets can finally interact.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Augmented Reality (AR) are also playing a role. But at the heart of the change, it is PaaS that is enabling efficient integration across different organisational functions and emerging as the true driver of this modern workforce revolution.
The Challenge of Supporting the Deskless Workforce
For decades, the separation between Engineering IT and Corporate IT has led to disconnected systems that have largely overlooked the needs of deskless workers. These employees work on the front lines or behind the scenes in roles as diverse as maintenance, field service, and production. In local government its pretty much the outdoor workforce.
Engineering IT has traditionally focused on physical assets like machinery, equipment, facilities, and infrastructure, managing these with a portfolio of specialised networks, network protocols, controllers, computer models, and data. Meanwhile, Corporate IT has managed digital assets such as company data, software, and online systems, primarily supporting office-based employees and customer interactions. One side focuses on operational assets, while the other centers on customer engagement.
These two domains have traditionally run on separate networks, each tightly controlled with minimal integration, making a true unified approach to operations difficult. This lack of connection between the engineering operations and IT teams not only makes workflows inefficient, if not impossible, but doubles the effort and resources required to keep these systems distinct.
For the customers of these systems, the deskless worker, this divide can mean limited access to the same tools, data, and support that office-based teams receive leaving them underserved in a system designed to support corporate functions, rather than the hands-on, physical work they perform.
How PaaS Helps Build Cross-Functional Dependency
The ability to digitise physical assets, for example a digital twin, is what has transformed operations. A digital twin is just a virtual representation (a digital model) of a physical asset, or system, or process, that is continuously updated with real-time data from its physical counterpart. Augmented Reality (AR) tech then allows workers to interact with both the physical and digital versions in an immersive and natural way.
The greatest challenge in expanding the adoption of these advanced technologies has been integrating data1 and data models from primarily engineering-focused technologies into core business systems.
Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) architectures, like ServiceNow’s Now Platform, are now transforming this landscape by establishing a common environment for both digital and digitised physical assets to interact.
Equally important for organisations using these platforms is that the digitisation of assets has made engineering and IT mutually dependent: engineering will need to lean on IT for data management and automation support, while IT will need to lean on engineering to connect digital systems with physical assets.
In other words, successful operations in a contemporary sense, now require more collaboration between these traditionally separate areas, as digital tools and data have become essential to managing physical assets.
By connecting PaaS to corporate software systems that track everything from inventory to maintenance schedules, workers can use AR to stay digitally connected to machines and corporate systems in real time, whether on the factory floor, at a project site, in remote facilities, or even in a shopping aisle or loading dock.
This integration delivers significant time and efficiency gains, resulting in clear financial benefits over current practices.
AR’s Role in the Deskless Workforce Revolution
The biggest beneficiaries of this transformation are deskless workers, who represent over 80% of the global workforce but have long been underserved by traditional IT solutions.
These workers aren’t only in private sector roles like mining or factory jobs; they include people you see daily in supermarkets, retail, and other close-to-consumer businesses. Deskless workers also play vital roles in local governments, utilities, and government business enterprises (GBEs).
Through AI-enabled PaaS and with the support of AR, these workers now have access to real-time data and collaborative tools that are as transformative for field operations as office digitisation first was just a few decades ago.
Enteprise grade AR Innovations from well known tech companies like TeamViewer through to lesser known Siemens solutions are playing their part in allowing organisations to bridge digital and physical disciplines and equipping all parts of the workforce to thrive in a connected, purpose-driven ecosystem. Here are some examples of solutions bringing these elements together:
TeamViewer Frontline: TeamViewer is a company well-known for their “you-see-what-I-see” remote connectivity technical assistance and helpdesk support software. IT agents use it all the time to “remote in” to your desktop. This is the company that helped many organisations to steer a business continuity path through the work-from-home tidal wave during the pandemic. TeamViewer Frontline is a prominent example of how AR can enhance workflows for deskless workers by integrating digital overlays into physical tasks. Frontline’s wearable, AR-based tools enable technicians, factory operators, and warehouse staff to access real-time information on a range of workflows to ultimately improve task efficiency and empowers cross-functional collaboration by facilitating communication between on-site and off-site teams.
ServiceNow Field Service Management (FSM):
ServiceNow’s Field Service Management (FSM) could be paired with a solution like TeamViewer Frontline to deliver an augmented reality (AR) experience for field service workers. While FSM provides the digital backbone for task coordination, workflow management (for example, mobile access to work orders, step-by-step instructions, and live collaboration tools), and IoT data integration, TeamViewer Frontline would bring in the AR capabilities and system of record functions. This combination would enable a comprehensive field service solution where ServiceNow handles the organisation-wide workflow and data integration (for example through to financial transactions), while TeamViewer Frontline enhances hands-on tasks with AR-driven support, making it ideal for complex field operations requiring digital coordination, visual assistance and operational workflow management.PTC Vuforia: The Vuforia platform from PTC is an example of AR tools that assist automotive, aerospace, and manufacturing industries in overlaying digital information onto physical spaces. Vuforia’s Chalk app, which allows remote experts to annotate and guide users in real time, and Expert Capture, which captures complex workflows for later reuse, both support cross-functional tasks and real-time AI insights. These capabilities bridge IT and engineering, providing both fields with tools for precision, accuracy, and consistent data flow. While it does not produce its own wearable hardware it is designed to integrate with various AR-compatible devices to deliver immersive experiences. For example, a notable partnership includes support for (Microsoft) HoloLens and HoloLens 2, enabling users to access AR content through Microsoft's mixed reality headsets.
Microsoft D365 Guides and Remote Assist: D365 then integrates AR and AI to drive digital and physical convergence in hands-on industries. With Dynamics Guides, workers can receive holographic, step-by-step instructions using HoloLens, enabling cross-platform collaboration and real-time training. Remote Assist connects technicians to experts in real time, making complex tasks achievable without expert travel. This seamless blend of AI-driven remote assistance and AR visualisation exemplifies the shift from hype to practical, outcome-driven solutions that can be applied across regional and remote operations and jurisdictions.
Siemens Teamcenter and Mindsphere: Siemens leverages its Teamcenter and Mindsphere platforms to enhance digital twin and IoT capabilities. Teamcenter creates a single digital thread across the product lifecycle, while Mindsphere collects and analyses real-time data from physical machines. Together, they enable companies to simulate, monitor, and optimise physical assets through an AI-powered interface. These tools integrate with PaaS solutions, reinforcing the cross-functional capabilities that empower real-time, cross-platform flow of information essential to the industrial metaverse. Siemens' Teamcenter and Mindsphere platforms do not produce their own wearable hardware. Instead, they integrate with various wearable devices through partnerships. For example, Siemens has collaborated with companies like TeamViewer to incorporate augmented reality (AR) solutions into their platforms.
My Take
Organisations exploring Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) along with augmented reality (AR) and AI should consider PaaS as the foundation of their industrial metaverse framework.
PaaS acts as the core technology that unifies AR, wearable tech, and AI-ready data, enabling companies to empower their deskless workforce by creating a seamless environment where machines, workers, and systems can effectively collaborate. It literally bridges the traditional divides across technology investments.
To fully realise the transformative benefits of integrating these capabilities, strong technology leadership is essential. Organisations should ensure their executive leaders, including tech leaders like the CIO, are engaged as primary stakeholders in these initiatives.
Not just because they play a crucial role in overseeing the integration of solutions, but because without executive support, these technologies risk adding to the long list of siloed investments keeping engineering and IT disconnected and operational costs high.
i.e. The complex data from digital twins, AR applications, and IoT devices.