WH

ITE

PA

PE

R Accelerate User-Centric Init iat ives with AdminStudio Suite from Flexera Software™

Accelerate User-Centric Init iat ives wit h AdminStudio Suite from Flexera Software

2

Accelerate User-Centric Init iat ives with AdminStudio Suite Today’s organizations are facing a new workforce, one that uses computing devices in all parts of life, not just work. These new users expect access to what they need to do their jobs, regardless of locat ion or device used. Computing devices are no longer just company-provided PCs as the proliferat ion of user-owned computers, smartphones, tablets, and thin-client devices cont inues to add to the picture. In order to address user expectat ions and reduce management costs, organizations are evaluat ing or implementing user-centric init iat ives enabling a model that removes the dependency of tradit ional desktop computing management. The idea of user-centric computing is not new, but the ability of IT departments to implement and provide user-centric computing to the general workforce is just becoming a reality. This whitepaper focuses on how AdminStudio Suite® from Flexera Software accelerates the transit ion to this new model.

User-Centric ComputingAt its core, user-centric computing gives users control of their computing experience, providing them with access to any combination of computing environments, applicat ions, sett ings, and data from any location or device. User-centric solut ions provide the user with pieces of the computing environment (desktop, applicat ions, data, and sett ings) on demand, where only the required resources are delivered based on the user’s device and location. When working from a company managed Windows PC, users can request

applicat ions that are delivered direct ly to their desktop. When using a non-Windows tablet device, the request for an applicat ion init iates a session-based connect ion to an appropriate server-based computing environment that already has the applicat ions installed. In both scenarios, the user is not required or expected to supply the device type or locat ion of the request.

User-centric computing requires more than just target ing users for resource delivery. The first step is to define the resources that require management. Applicat ions, user data and sett ings, and computing environment are resources that must be managed in order to complete the solut ion. Applicat ions, and the definit ion of applicat ions, have changed over t ime. Today, applicat ions are not only Windows® Installer (MSI) and executable-based installers, but also include applicat ion virtualizat ion, session, mobile, and cloud-based.

Administrators must be able to support applicat ions from many different vendors in various formats and produce resources in mult iple formats support ing different user devices. User data and sett ings must roam to the appropriate endpoints to enable applicat ion usefulness. The last resource for user-centric computing is the computing environment, since most applicat ions are built for delivery to Windows-based desktops. In scenarios where users are connect ing from non-Windows-based devices, a Windows-

Accelerate User-Centric Init iat ives wit h AdminStudio Suite from Flexera Software

3

based computing environment from a session-based or Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is required.

Next, user-centric computing solut ions must orchestrate the delivery of the appropriate resources to users based on their locat ion and their connect ing device. User-centric models require delivery of the resources to tradit ional desktops, sessions, and VDI with logic that can ident ify the request ing user, locat ion, and device type. Users working from home access a secure webpage that displays their accessible applicat ions. On request, the self-service portal ident ifies the user’s locat ion, device type, as well as any dependencies, and routes them to an appropriate delivery mechanism. If the user is accessing the applicat ion from a company owned laptop, the applicat ion can be delivered as a tradit ional installat ion or streamed as a virtual applicat ion with the appropriate data and sett ings. However, if the user is accessing from a home computer, a session or VDI based connect ion is init iated with the same applicat ion, user data, and sett ings applied on the delivery technology.

In a typical organization, management of a user- centric solut ion spans many IT technologies, thus the consolidat ion of management tasks and tools is crit ical for success. The start ing point for user-centric computing is applicat ion readiness, as applicat ions must be packaged in formats that support all of the delivery mechanisms, device types, users, and locations. Therefore, applicat ion readiness presents a limit ing factor for adoption of new technologies like session, VDI, and Microsoft System Center 2012 Configurat ion Manager in user-centric computing. Microsoft® System Center 2012 Configuration Manager Applicat ion ModelMicrosoft® System Center 2012 Configurat ion Manager adopts a user-centric applicat ion delivery approach. This is a significant change as applicat ions are not just installed and uninstalled, but also evaluated on a per-delivery basis to ensure applicat ions are delivered to users’ defined endpoints in the appropriate format. Configurat ion Manager 2012 defines policies and relat ionship rules to evaluate user ident ity, applicat ion dependencies, device type, and network connect ion in order to deliver the applicat ion in the most appropriate way. This new approach to applicat ion delivery is a combination of Configurat ion Manager 2012 and the information that administrators populate to support user-centric deployment.

Applicat ions are created by defining typical name, and version information, and now include the ability to define mult iple delivery types (App-V, MSI, Citrix®, etc.), applicat ion dependencies (.NET, Java™, Silverlight®), and requirements (RAM, primary device, organizational unit). User device affinity in System Center 2012 Configurat ion Manager is a method of associat ing a user with one or more specified devices. This enables

deployment of applicat ions targeted at users only on devices defined by administrators or the users themselves.

The result is client computers that evaluate policies and rules prior to installat ion, decide whether it should deploy an applicat ion and match which deployment types to use. The decision to deploy an applicat ion is made on criteria such as operat ing system version, available disk space, locat ion for request, etc. For example, if a user is assigned Microsoft Office® as a requirement, the combination of applicat ion definit ions and user device affinity determines the deployment method. If the user is on her primary device the installat ion is performed as a Windows Installer deployment. However, on a device that is not a primary device, Microsoft Office is deployed using applicat ion virtualizat ion.

As with previous versions, Configurat ion Manager st ill supports delivery of business crit ical applicat ions to devices, but now adds the ability to provide a self-service portal that allows users to select their own applicat ions. The populat ion of the applicat ion model is the primary migrat ion task for administrators, as most have hundreds or thousands of applicat ions but do not current ly have sufficient data required to complete the process. Adoption of the applicat ion model requires administrators to create applicat ions in the Configurat ion Manager. Each applicat ion requires data to enable the user-centric model including:

• Deployment Types: Mult iple deployment options for a single applicat ion to address different content locat ions, programs for installat ion, detect ion methods, requirements, and dependencies.

• Requirements: Set of criteria evaluated before deployment of applicat ions including operat ing system (RAM, disk space, operat ing system version, etc…), User (primary devices), or custom (scripts, queries, etc.) ident ifying the correct deployment type.

• Dependencies: Requirements that the device must have present prior deployment including the ability to remediate missing dependencies.

Administrators will need to discover and populate this and general catalog information for each applicat ion. This information is often dependent on the infrastructure options available including session and VDI, current operat ing system levels including 32 and 64-bit, device inventory, and available applicat ion formats. This process represents limit ing factor that must be completed prior to making user-centric computing available throughout the organization. Flexera Software Accelerates User-Centric Init iat iveAdminStudio Suite 11, the latest version from Flexera Software, improves the process of moving towards User-Centric Computing and adopting Configurat ion Manager 2012. AdminStudio enables the applicat ion readiness processes by automating applicat ion compatibility for

Accelerate User-Centric Init iat ives wit h AdminStudio Suite from Flexera Software

4

Windows® 7, applicat ion virtualizat ion conversion, and day-to-day applicat ion packaging operat ions. AdminStudio helps companies reduce management efforts by enabling packaging staff to accept any format of applicat ion, prepare and evaluate for tradit ional and applicat ion virtualizat ion compatibility, and produce consistent packages in any desired format from MSI to applicat ion virtualizat ion. AdminStudio Suite eliminates the need for mult iple stand-alone tools and provides an integrated solut ion support ing the migrat ion of applicat ions into the Configurat ion Manager 2012 applicat ion model. This built-in capability mines data from MSI-based installat ions located in Configurat ion Manager, the AdminStudio applicat ion catalog, or file-based locations providing the following features:

• Integrat ion with Configurat ion Manager 2012

• Bulk Import from Configurat ion Manager 2007 and 2012

• Support for Configurat ion Manager 2012 applicat ion model

• Detect, view and edit Configurat ion Manager 2012 applicat ion metadata

• Publish to Configurat ion Manager 2007 and 2012

The process of populat ing the Configurat ion Manager applicat ion model requires information that packaging teams or administrators typically do not have. Generally, packaging engineers and delivery software view applicat ions as catalog data, considering the name, manufacturer, and version as well as the installat ion files and commands that must be run to automate the installat ion. Software was typically delivered to well-known computer configurat ions when users were not logged on. Support ing user-centric computing, however, requires both packaging efforts and support ing delivery solut ions that can ident ify the user request ing the applicat ion, the type of device the user is connect ing from, and the location of the device, and then choose the appropriate delivery mechanism that best suits the scenario. The integrat ion of AdminStudio and Configurat ion Manager 2012 accelerates migrat ion by automating these key steps in this applicat ion readiness process.

AdminStudio 11 accelerates transit ions to user-centric computing by enabling the bulk import of applicat ions from Configurat ion Manager 2007 to Configurat ion Manger 2012. The interface presents applicat ions in an easy-to-read format allowing the import of some or all applicat ions. Before the import, AdminStudio includes the option to ident ify and select only good candidates for migrat ion to Configurat ion Manager 2012. The solut ion filters applicat ions based on such criteria as:

• Packages that do not contain files to deploy (e.g., packages that were created simply to execute logic).

• Packages that have not been deployed during a defined t ime frame (e.g., 1 year) are filtered out to avoid migrat ing applicat ions that are no longer in use.

• Packages which no longer meet corporate standards, such as those which have had support phased out (IE 6 for example).

Reducing the number of applicat ions with the filtering capability speeds the adoption of Configurat ion Manager 2012 by quickly ident ifying and migrat ing good candidates before moving on to those that require more work.

AdminStudio 11 analyzes information from exist ing installat ions and captures requirements like operat ing system version support, and dependencies on addit ional software installat ions for populat ion into the Configurat ion Manager applicat ion model. AdminStudio 11 maintains the applicat ions in an easy-to-navigate Applicat ion Catalog, providing a tree-view of the catalog that displays all available applicat ions and the deployment formats available for each applicat ion. This view shows, at a glance, the applicat ions included and what deployment types are available for each applicat ion. This great ly simplifies management of the applicat ions, as any gaps between user requirements for applicat ion access and the readiness of applicat ions for that access can readily be determined.

AdminStudio Applicat ion Centric Model

After analysis, the AdminStudio interface provides a unified view for edit ing and modifying applicat ion metadata within AdminStudio. As a result, IT staff members can achieve high levels of product ivity and accuracy in working with metadata. Maintaining the optimum complement of metadata with each applicat ion provides the information needed to manage applicat ion assets in the most cost-effect ive manner.

Accelerate User-Centric Init iat ives wit h AdminStudio Suite from Flexera Software

5

In addit ion, the process also publishes and copies the required applicat ion sources to the Configurat ion Manager 2007 or 2012 site servers. This enables Configurat ion Manager Administrators to replicate the applicat ions to the appropriate distribut ion points and target the applicat ion deliveries to the correct users and computers. This process accelerates the move towards user-centric computing by reducing administrator workload; migrat ing hundreds or thousands of applicat ions in the new applicat ion model by automating the tasks, reducing manual entry errors, and increasing consistency of the data migrated. After the init ial migrat ion, the process of collect ing data is part of the standard workflow in AdminStudio, enabling packaging engineers to cont inue to populate the database with new and updated applicat ions. ConclusionOrganizations are increasingly support ing employees’ desires to ut ilize addit ional types of non-managed devices. Support ing these addit ional devices and environments requires IT to change their approach to desktop computing, with processes and procedures that support user-centric computing. Support ing this new model of computing requires applicat ion delivery solut ions that opt imize the delivery of applicat ions for users on mult iple and different types of devices that access resources from any location. Flexera Software’s AdminStudio 11 enables administrators to make capturing information for the Configurat ion

Manager 2012 applicat ion model a repeatable and consistent process. Automating the populat ion of the init ial migrat ion and providing ongoing support accelerates the adoption of an organization’s user- centric computing init iat ive.

About Flexera SoftwareFlexera Software is the leading provider of strategic solut ions for Applicat ion Usage Management; solut ions delivering cont inuous compliance, optimized usage and maximized value to applicat ion producers and their customers. Flexera Software is trusted by more than 80,000 customers that depend on our comprehensive solut ions-from installat ion and licensing, ent it lement and compliance management to applicat ion readiness and enterprise license optimization - to strategically manage applicat ion usage and achieve breakthrough results realized only through the systems-level approach we provide. For more information, please go to: www.flexerasoftware.com

WH

ITE

PA

PE

R

Copyright © 2012 Flexera Software LLC. All other brand and product names ment ioned herein may be the trademarks and registered trademarks of their respect ive owners. AS11_WP_User-Centric_Jan12

Flexera Software LLC1000 East Woodfield Road, Suite 400Schaumburg, IL 60173 USA

Schaumburg (Global Headquarters):+1 800-809-5659

United Kingdom (Europe, Middle East Headquarters):+44 870-871-1111+44 870-873-6300

Australia (Asia, Pacific Headquarters):+61 3-9895-2000

For more office locat ions visit:www.flexerasoftware.com