Software development arm of $9 billion US technology firm invests in UK for European base
Apple mobility partner, WWT Asynchrony Labs, the software development arm of $9 billion World Wide Technology, has opened its European headquarters in London’s Canary Wharf. The firm partners with Apple in an R&D role with access to alpha and beta products. It delivers custom software to global brands such as Mastercard, Papa Johns and Emerson, as well as the US Department of Defence.
WWT Asynchrony Labs has benefited from early access to the emerging technologies which have arisen during its government work. The company’s recent work includes a virtual healthcare system built on connected sensors and communication tools, to enable remote care.
Kelly White, WWT Asynchrony Labs London general manager ,commented: “London has been on our radar for a long time and we’re delighted to be expanding the tech community into Canary Wharf. Setting up an Agile software lab here makes perfect sense; it represents the maturity of our technology approach and of London as a technology hub. For us, Canary Wharf represents the real strength of London, as a meeting place between fantastic tech innovation and longstanding financial services expertise. Even after Brexit, we think that London is where technology will increasingly impact enterprise.”
Ben Boswell, VP Europe at World Wide Technology, added: “Companies that did not previously consider themselves technology firms are finding that they need to integrate new technology at great speed. Innovation is linked to profitability but all too often the link is not fully made between business outcome and technology delivery. Frankly, the emerging technology market is proliferated by immature solutions and undisciplined agile development practices, which do not lend themselves to immediate at scale deployment. At enterprise level, this simply doesn’t fly.”
He noted: “We’ve seen the need here for the mature, disciplined approach that Asynchrony adheres to. The Business Innovation team works with stakeholders to visualise the business impact that is needed, and secured, scalable, production-quality code can be delivered within weeks. From the perspective of our customers, the small up-front investment that comes through such a sharp focus on creating a minimum viable product for a specific business need is a refreshing way to access the latest technologies.”
