Get to User Centric IT Faster! AppSense and Centrix Partnership Accelerates Desktop Transformation

I am pleased to write that AppSense and Centrix Software today announced a strategic partnership to provide organizations with a comprehensive, user-centric transformation program.  AppSense and Centrix Software have been successfully working together with joint partners on large desktop transformation projects for our enterprise customers, and are proud to formalize this partnership and methodology to benefit many more enterprise IT strategies and projects.

AppSense embraces a full partner community and eco-system comprising other leading vendor/solution providers , platform partners, reseller partners, system integrators and consultancy partners, and are very excited to partner with Centrix Software.

Why? Corporate IT strategy is at a tipping point; we have entered a period of transformation, a new generation of virtual desktops, application delivery methods and multiple accessing devices are being used by an increasingly demanding and mobile workforce, coupled with migration projects such as Windows 7 adoption has paved the way for replacing static, infrastructure based computing to that of IT as a Service, orchestrated around the user and their requirements at any point in time.  AppSense and Centrix Software enables enterprise desktop transformation projects and facilitates the move to a user centric computing strategy by delivering on the requirements at each stage of the desktop life-cycle and providing both the insight and management options to seamlessly adoption new technologies such as Windows 7, Application and Desktop Virtualization, Cloud Computing and Bring Your Own Device initiatives.

The press release can be read on AppSense News Pages here.

Together, AppSense and Centrix Software will be hosting a joint webinar, “Transforming the Enterprise Desktop″, on Wednesday, October 5th at 3 p.m. GMT. The webinar will be hosted by Richard Pegden, Director of Product Marketing at Centrix Software and myself. To register please visit the webinar registration page here.

Like all of our partners, thank you Centrix Software for your continued support and enthusiasm, we look forward to even greater success in making the move to user centric computing a simple, low-cost process.

Gareth Kitson
Director of Product Marketing | EMEA.

Windows 7 challenge equals opportunity for IT services firms

Last week, I touched on how user virtualization can remove friction from OS migration by shifting IT teams from a point-in-time migration mindset to one where each user’s ‘digital personality’ becomes portable across any operating system or deployment method.

But just as Windows 7 migration provides an opportunity for AppSense technology to take on a more strategic role, it is also an opportunity for IT services firms to step up and provide strategic counsel on how to overcome difficulties parting ways with Windows XP.

AppSense’s Helen Major made this point in a CRN article by Caroline Donnelly today:

“Large-scale migration projects can be costly, time consuming and disruptive,” [Major] added. “Unless companies are given options that minimise these three things, we will definitely see a continued reluctance from IT managers to move off XP.”

The compelling event of XP support sunset offers IT services firms with the right mix of skills a tremendous opportunity to build a more strategic relationship with customers. Moreover, CRN’s Donnelly cites Microsoft numbers that peg the migration-related services opportunity at $400m (£251m).

Resellers and service providers? This could be your finest (and most lucrative) hour, and AppSense can and should be the centerpiece of the strategy you bring to your customers.

IT pros? You’re not alone. In fact, you can find some of the most talented experts in the business among the ranks of the AppSense Certified Solutions Providers.

Doug Lane
Director of Product Marketing

ComputerWeekly (Again): NATS to roll out cloud-based virtual desktop infrastructure with Citrix & AppSense

My my.. and who said VDI isn’t real? and that it doesn’t cut costs?

Following on from my other customer related post this morning – The Co-operative Group cuts costs with Citrix XenDesktop & AppSense User Virtualization – I’m pleased to share with you another article about another leading enterprise organization adoption a joint solution of Citrix and AppSense technologies to enable the desktop strategy to employ cloud-based virtual desktops to reduce the IT spend.

NATS, the UK’s air traffic control organisation is rolling out 6,000 virtual desktops based which “will be provided using the Citrix XenDesktop and XenApp suite of software. AppSense user virtualisation technology will provide NATS staff with personalised and compliant desktops”

Further information:

CompterWeekly – NATS to roll out cloud-based virtual desktop infrastructure

NATS Official Website – NATS takes to the Cloud

Citrix Community Blog – NATS UK

As you can see, desktop virtualization is real, it’s happening, and Citrix & AppSense work together hand in hand on nearly all of them ;)

Cheers!

Gaz

Business Analysis Profile: A review of AppSense as a company – leadership statistics and growth plans…

Alistair Houghton has written an interesting article about AppSense, “a ray of light bursting through the dark economic stormclouds”.

He details annual revenues in excess of $70m, Goldman Sachs investment, $2.4bn market opportunity, customers, partnerships, Charles Sharland the Entrepreneur, head count, office locations, recent recruitment, and expansion.

You can read the article in full here – Tech firm AppSense looks to growth

Thanks

Gaz

AppSense and Citrix Music Video – Virtualize!

As you probably know, Citrix and AppSense share many things; a long-standing partnership, thousands of joint customers, hundreds of joint partners, multiple case studies, and now, I am pleased to share with you – a joint Music Video!

That’s right, Citrix and AppSense have teamed up once again, this time for your viewing pleasure.  Fabian Kienle, Channel Manager Eastern EMEA Citrix and I have recorded videos before ( CitrixTV Interview ) but this time we teamed up to do something a little bit different, and something Fabian has much pleasure in doing.. A MUSIC VIDEO.

You may remember from previous blogs that Fabian has created music videos before, and together we have now filmed a parody of the Timberland and One Republic song, Apologize.

This video is set in one of the server rooms in the Citrix Demo facilities in Munich, and in it you see some of the AppSense DACH team and Fabian singing along to parody version of the song, performed by my girlfriend Kayley Rose.

The Video Cast are:

Drums: Jens Schmidt – AppSense
Guitar: Dr Benny Tritsch – AppSense
Technician: Sascha Goeckle – AppSense
Chello: Chris Baugh – AppSense
Piano: Fabian Kienle – Citrix
Camera & Production: Dominik Nagel – DNS
Vocals – Kayley Rose

You can view the video on the AppSense YouTube Channel here, or by clicking on the screenshot below:

 

I hope you enjoy the video as much as we did making it, look out for many more to come.. you never know, Citrix Synergy Barcelona Party could be headlined  by the Citrix And AppSense Band LoL

Again, thanks to everyone for giving up their time to make this video, and look forward to continued success and our tight partnership!

Gaz

AppSense Application Manager 8.3 is released – Enhancements to leading User Rights/Privilege Management

Today we are pleased to announce that the world of user centric computing takes another leap forward with the release of AppSense Application Manager 8.3.

Part of the User Virtualization Platform (UVP), AppSense Application Manager secures and reduces the cost of millions of corporate desktops and ensure users have access to only the applications, rights, networks and applets at any given time by controlling application & network access and user rights management.

Based on customer & community demand & feedback AppSense Application Manager 8.3 brings greater flexibility and granular control of User Rights Management (URM) with enhancements to existing functionality and also through the addition new features and capabilities.

What is User Rights Management?

For those who are unaware, URM enables enterprise IT departments to reduce access control privileges on a per user, group, application or business rule basis. It ensures users have only the rights they need to fulfil their job and access the applications and controls they require, and nothing else – ensuring desktop stability, improving security and productivity, all while reducing desktop TCO.

With User Rights Management, access to applications and tasks is managed dynamically by managing user rights on demand in response to user actions. For example; Administrator rights can be applied to a named application or control panel applet for a particular user or user group, either elevating the privileges of a standard user to an Administrator level, or, dropping the rights of an Administrator to that of a standard user account.

By controlling user rights throughout the user session, IT can now provide users with the accessibility they require to perform their job, while protecting the desktop and the environment and reducing desktop management costs.

So whats new in AppSense Application Manager 8.3?
(All information contained on this page assumes prior knowledge of AppSense Application Manager 8.2)

Feature highlights include:

• Self-elevation of Administrator Rights for selected / power users.
  This enables power users to remain productive and reduces support desk calls and associated costs in relation to end-user requests.
• Granular control of self-elevation
  Dynamically modify the configuration based on the user, device, location and time & date context with options to restrict self-elevation ability to certain application or actions.
• Auditing and reporting
  The reporting options help with the user rights discovery process, an important step in achieving least privilege management.
• Secure Dialog Boxes
  When an application is elevated to Administrator rights, it is imperative that this application cannot be used as a gateway to access the underlying desktop, operating system, other applications or files under the context of the Administrator.  This feature ensures that only the application is elevated to Administrator and any dialog box such as File Open or File Save remains under the context of the Standard User.

Thanks to all of our customers, partners and alliances for help drive our user virtualization solution & shape the future of user centric computing.

For more detailed information, please use the following links.

Whats new in AppSense Application Manager 8.3 webpage – here

Whats new in AppSense Application Manager 8.3 PDF overview – here

Thanks

Gaz

User Centric Computing Leaps Forward with the release of AppSense Environment Manager 8.1

Hot off the back off another record year for AppSense, closing FY10/11 last month with massive growth, today we are extremely proud to announce the world of user-centric computing will take a huge leap forward as major new features & enhancements are added to the leading User Virtualization (UV) solution in the release of AppSense Environment Manager 8.1. 

Whilst on the surface, a point release may seem like a simple update from previous versions, the new AppSense Environment Manager 8.1 codebase delivers revolutionary changes based on enterprise customer and partner feedback and includes decades upon decades of development time.  These revolutionary changes not only enhance the existing product offering (functionality, performance, scalability) but also provides an improved UV platform that can meet both today’s and tomorrow’s requirements.

User Virtualization is becoming increasingly important and forms the foundations for any desktop transformation project and according to leading analysts should be part of any computing strategy.  As part of the Environment Manager 8.1 release, Ian Song, Senior Research Analyst for IDC’s Enterprise Virtualization Software program commented,

“The user experience is critical to the effectiveness and efficiency of the enterprise, and is increasingly becoming more complex for IT to manage as new desktop devices and computing infrastructures are used. Technologies like AppSense user virtualization simplify the role of IT and provide users and IT with choice while improving performance and the overall experience.”

Furthermore, AppSense Environment Manager 8.1 is embraced by leading AppSense partners who share the same strategic vision as Ian Moulster, Desktop Virtualization Product Manager at Microsoft also states,

“AppSense and Microsoft have a long standing relationship, share the same vision of flexible working and anywhere access, and together we enable organizations adopt technologies that provide solutions that improve end user experience, reduce IT workload and improve operational efficiencies and costs. With this latest release, AppSense further enhance their already strong solution and I look forward to our continued joint success in the future.”

Release Highlights Include:

• THE single platform to manage all users
• New architecture for even greater simplicity, scalability and performance
• New Features and Capabilities based on Customer  & Partner feedback
• New management tools for more granular control

The new modularized software architecture lays the foundations AppSense User Virtualization to easily and seamlessly accommodate mobile, tablet, phone and cloud based platforms in future versions, in addition, we have created a framework whereby new features can be developed, tested and implemented in plug n play fashion, enabling customer demanded features to be released to market in an efficient and timely manner.

A massive thank you to all who have helped develop, test, feedback, beta, release this monumental piece of software – we are extremely proud and so far the community has welcomed and embraced this new version… thank you!

More information can be found:

• On the AppSense Environment Manager 8.1 webpage ( also contains a link there to a more detailed Whats New Document).
• A press release, complete with supporting quotes can be read here

Thanks!

Gaz

AppSense to Join Virtualization Community at BriForum Europe

BriForum is nearly here!

Blogger and analyst Brian Madden’s annual virtualization geekfest returns to Europe next week (10-11 May) at the Chelsea Football Club in London, and as with all community events, AppSense is proud to be an event sponsor along with Citrix and Intel.  The AppSense team will be turning out in a big way to take in and contribute to the jam-packed agenda of great virtualization community content.

We’ll dive right into the deep end on Tuesday as AppSense’s Benny Tritsch will put his independent community hat on (not AppSense hat) and join respected independent consultant Shawn Bass to reprise their popular session “RDP, RemoteFX, ICA/HDX, EOP and PCoIP VDI: Remoting Protocols Turned Inside Out.” If the past is any indication, this will likely be one of the most attended and discussed sessions at the event as two of the sharpest guys in the space drill into how graphics and media remoting works and do a head-to-head comparison of the most popular protocols.

Later on Tuesday, our newly appointed VP and CTO Harry Labana and Brian Madden will team up for the other must-see session of the day, “The Future Desktop: What Should it Do and What Should it Look Like?” There is no shortage of new desktop and application delivery approaches these days, and there are even more views and opinions on what is on offer and what best suits specific use cases. Wondering where is it all going and to what degree will IT teams be able to rise to the occasion? You can bet that Harry and Brian will each have some insightful and provocative perspectives, and that neither will hold back from speaking their mind.

On Wednesday, Brian will join AppSense technical minds Benny Tritsch, Simon Townsend, and David Shepherd, as well as highly respected Citrix CTP Pierre Marmignon, owner of www.CitrixTools.net and the free (and controversial) Virtual User Environment Manager solution, for a roundtable discussion on the state of User Virtualization. This all-star group will cover the key elements of User Virtualization, the types of solutions available, and how it is being applied in practice today.

AppSense’s Jon Wallace, like Benny Tritsch, will be wearing his non-AppSense, independent hat when he delivers his session “Mandatory and Default User Profile Tuning.” A recognized expert on the Windows registry and user profile architecture and author of www.InsideTheRegistry.com, Jon will demonstrate a practical collection of tips and tricks for optimizing log-on speed and usability when using mandatory and default user profiles. These tips are useful regardless of whether AppSense products are being used, so it’s a great opportunity for attendees to tap AppSense’s unmatched Windows profile knowledge.

As an event sponsor, AppSense will also sponsor the Geek Out Game Show, along with Citrix and Intel, on Tuesday at 5:35pm to 6:35pm

Throughout week, the AppSense team will also be manning the Demo Lab, so if you are attending BriForum Europe, be sure to stop by to say hello. It should be a great week!

For a the full agenda on this great event, please visit http://briforum.com/Europe/agenda.html   

See you all there!

High Demand For AppSense Training Courses Leads ADDITIONAL DATES ANNOUNCED!

Due to increased demand for AppSense Specialist Training Courses, I am pleased to announce that as part of our continued support for the User Virtualization Community, AppSense have created additional course dates to try to accommodate all of the booking enquiries.

For those unaware of the AppSense Education, Training and Certifications; The AppSense Education Service course offerings include real world scenarios and the hands-on instruction required to implement and maintain a Virtual User Infrastructure (VUI) solution. The AppSense Certified Professional (ACP), AppSense Certified Specialist (ACS) and AppSense Certified Expert (ACE) certifications provide knowledge and skill validation from the internationally recognized leader in UV technologies.

The additional dates are for the AppSense Certified Specialist course which two-day course is a follow on from the AppSense Certified Professional level and provides in-depth training on advanced concepts, configurations, troubleshooting and detailing monitoring & reporting.  The course includes the following modules:

Module 1 – Installing AppSense Management Center & AppSense Environment Manager
Module 2 – AppSense Environment Manager Components
Module 3 – AppSense Environment Manager Policy
Module 4 – AppSense Environment Manager Personalization
Module 5 – Troubleshooting & Debugging

These new additional dates and locations are:

17th – 18th May 2011
09:00hrs – 16:30hrs
Reading
UK

1st – 2nd June 2011
09:00hrs – 16:30hrs
Warrington
UK

28th – 29th June 2011
09:00hrs – 16:30hrs
Reading
UK

Places are limited on this popular course, so please secure your space as soon as possible if you wish to attend. 

To learn more and/or confirm you place: please email educationservices@appsense.com or telephone +44 (0) 1928 793 532

To learn more about the AppSense Professional Services and Education courses available, please visit the AppSense Education Services webpages here

Many thanks.

Cheers!
Gaz

The Sunday Times Profit Track 100 – AppSense Ranked 12th Firm With Fastest Growing Profits

The Sunday Times, a leading British Sunday Broadsheet Newspaper, has published a report on ‘Britain’s private firms with the fastest growing profits’ and places AppSense in 12th place!

Taken from the report “This year’s Sunday Times PwC Profit Track 100, which measures companies’ profit growth over their last three financial years, paints a picture of many of Britain’s best-performing private firms on either side of the recession.  The 12th annual list of growth stars, compiled by Oxford-based research and networking events company Fast Track, unveils the well-known names and emerging ventures that have driven growth through the downturn.”

The Profit Track 100 lists AppSense as the 12th fastest growing profit privately held firm in Britain, an amazing proof point of the need for user virtualization in today’s computing environment and further validates AppSense leadership in the market.

“12th – AppSense – 109.61% growth.  If people can access their software and personal desktop both in the office and outside via a mobile device, their firm may have ‘User Virtualization’ software developed by this Warrington company.  Five years ago Chairman Charlie Sharland moved the business into this field from security software development and it is now one of the market leaders.  Clients include Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Motorola and Unilever.  Helped by growth in America, profits have risen 110% a year, from £759,000 in 2007 to £7 million profit in 2010.“

2011 has seen further growth over 2010 AppSense figures, with each quarter being a bigger, record-breaking quarter than the one before.. could AppSense take the Number 1 spot in next year’s report?!  fingers crossed! :)

 A full copy of the report can be downloaded here

 A BIG thank you to all AppSense partners, customers and the community helping drive the technology and growth – looking forward to a great future working with you all!

Cheers!
Gaz