Latest news with #Devolutions
Arabian Post
24-06-2025
- Business
- Arabian Post
Avalonia Accelerate Backed by €3 Million Deal from Devolutions
Avalonia UI has secured a €3 million sponsorship deal with Devolutions, the provider of Remote Desktop Manager, to boost the development of the Avalonia Accelerate suite over the next three years. This partnership aims to accelerate improvements in documentation, tooling, and core functionality, benefiting the entire Avalonia community. The alliance between Devolutions and Avalonia arrives as the latter seeks new means to sustain its open‑source framework while delivering advanced capabilities to professional developers. Introduced in April 2025, Avalonia Accelerate's Phase 1 features—such as a 3D DevTools viewer, native WebView integration, and a multimedia control—are key components of the strategic roadmap supported by this sponsorship. Avalonia's leadership emphasises that Devolutions' funding will be directed into three core areas: speeding up development cycles, enriching developer documentation, and expanding tooling infrastructure. The approach aligns with Avalonia's business model of maintaining an open‑source core while offering optional commercial add‑ons like Accelerate and Enterprise Support that underpin long‑term sustainability. Avalonia CEO Mike James, speaking in a recent interview, said this sponsorship 'secures a reliable funding bridge to enable our engineering teams to expand Accelerate capabilities without compromising the open‑source core.' The partnership, he added, aims to 'deliver rapid, measurable improvements in tooling and documentation that benefit all users.' Independent observers note that this steady funding contrasts with Avalonia's earlier funding model, which relied heavily on enterprise support contracts, commercial licences for Avalonia XPF, and occasional donations. ADVERTISEMENT Previously, Avalonia faced financial strain despite a rise in usage and community engagement. By late 2024, enterprise support and custom development revenue represented over 30 percent of income, but lower‑tier indie support schemes accounted for less than 1 percent, prompting the project to adjust its revenue mix. The shift to optional commercial features under Accelerate—such as an improved XAML designer and hot‑reload—was designed to provide professional developers value while preserving free access to the core UI framework. Under the agreement, Devolutions will help fund Accelerate Phase 2 and Phase 3, expected to introduce enhancements like advanced XAML tooling, performance optimisation, and improved cross‑platform support. While specific feature sets remain under development, early roadmap insights hint at capabilities aimed at mobile developers, teams focused on desktop engineering, and web‑embedded scenarios—adding value across sectors. Technologists within the open‑source community note that the Avalonia Accelerate deal demonstrates a viable model for sustaining open‑source frameworks through commercial backing. 'Rather than fragmenting the ecosystem, this is injecting stability,' said one contributor. Long‑time Avalonia developer Nikita Tsukanov remarked, 'With three years of funding, we can plan multi‑phase improvements and dedicate resources to documentation and tooling—areas that were historically underresourced.' Critics of optional‑paid open‑source models warn of risks, citing examples where commercial forks led to fragmentation or slowed community contributions. However, Avalonia's governance ensures that all core features remain MIT‑licensed, and that Accelerate components are independently maintained as non‑open‑source additions. CEO Mike James emphasises that the sponsorship does not alter the free nature of Avalonia; paid tools are entirely optional and are intended to supplement, not supplant, the open‑source foundation. Devolutions, an enterprise software vendor known for Remote Desktop Manager, selected Avalonia due to its role as a core technology in their cross‑platform strategy. Since adopting Avalonia for their UI lifecycles, Devolutions has contributed to its stability and performance. Sponsoring Accelerate reflects a move to deepen that integration, providing a reliable path for feature development aligned with Devolutions' internal roadmap. Avalonia remains one of the cross‑platform UI frameworks, used by organisations ranging from independent developers to firms like Unity, JetBrains, and Schneider Electric. The platform's high GitHub star count and vibrant community have been critical to its ascent, but sustaining complex tools—such as hot‑reload, advanced diagnostics, and rich multimedia—demands stable investment. By channeling sponsorship funds into developer‑centric improvements, the deal seeks to achieve a dual objective: retain and grow community adoption while delivering enterprise‑grade tooling. It enables Avalonia to plan longer‑term enhancements—like XAML designers and AOT compilation—while continuing to ship solid open‑source updates to its MIT‑licensed core.
Techday NZ
12-06-2025
- Business
- Techday NZ
SMBs overestimate cyber readiness as tools & AI uptake lag
A new global survey shows a significant gap between small and medium-sized businesses' confidence in their cybersecurity readiness and the actual measures they have in place to defend against evolving threats. The "State of IT Security for SMBs in 2025" report, released by Devolutions, draws on responses from 445 IT, security, and executive professionals around the world. It finds that while 71% of SMBs say they feel confident in handling a major cybersecurity incident, only 22% report having an advanced cybersecurity posture. This disparity suggests that many organisations may be at greater risk than they believe. PAM practices The report highlights privileged access management (PAM) as a particular area of vulnerability. More than half of SMB respondents (52%) still depend on manual solutions—such as spreadsheets or shared digital vaults—to manage privileged credentials. This reliance on manual methods has actually increased since 2023, raising concerns about efficiency and security. "Manual access management isn't just inefficient – it's dangerous," notes Maurice Côté, VP Product at Devolutions. "The human is often the weakest link – and spreadsheets don't make us stronger. SMBs need lightweight, easy-to-deploy PAM tools designed for their reality." Despite the increasing risks, many SMBs have not adopted automated or fit-for-purpose tools to manage sensitive access rights, potentially exposing them to insider threats and credential misuse. Slow uptake of AI Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being discussed widely as a potential game-changer for cybersecurity. The report finds that 71% of SMBs intend to increase their use of AI-driven tools, which can aid in threat detection, anomaly identification, and predictive analysis. However, only 25% of respondents are currently leveraging AI in their cybersecurity practices, and 40% say they have not started at all. The slower pace of adoption is partly attributed to concerns about cyber threats targeting AI systems themselves, issues of data privacy, and a shortage of in-house expertise to implement advanced technology. "Artificial intelligence is a powerful advancement, but like fire, it must be handled with care," said Martin Lemay, CISO at Devolutions. "It's not without flaws, and its reliance on vast amounts of data makes strong governance and clear regulations essential to prevent misuse." This highlights that while AI can offer efficiency and intelligence in defending digital assets, it introduces new challenges that SMBs must navigate carefully. Budget issues The report also notes a general trend of increased investment in cybersecurity, with 63% of SMBs boosting their security budgets. However, nearly a third still allocate less than 5% of their overall IT budgets to security-related spending. This raises questions about whether new investment is being targeted effectively toward the highest-priority areas. "Budget increases are encouraging, but throwing more money at cybersecurity doesn't work if it's not aligned with real risks," said Simon Chalifoux, CIO at Devolutions. "SMBs need to spend with intention – on tools, processes and training that match their environment." The survey findings indicate that organisations often spend in ways that do not correspond to their most significant security risks, leaving gaps that could be exploited by attackers. From awareness to action Across all key areas—PAM, AI adoption, and budgeting—the report identifies a pattern: increased awareness is not always translating into practical action. While SMBs are more alert to cyber threats than in the past, many have not yet implemented measures that are widely considered best practice. "Cybersecurity isn't a checklist – it's a commitment," said David Hervieux, CEO of Devolutions. "It's not enough to feel secure; SMBs need to build the systems, habits and culture that make them secure. That means measuring their posture honestly – and investing like it truly matters. Because it does." As cyber threats become more sophisticated, organisations face growing pressure to close the gap between perceived preparedness and the reality of their cybersecurity defences. The report suggests that without updated tools, smarter spending, and a commitment to continuous improvement, SMBs risk remaining vulnerable as the threat landscape evolves.
