AppSense User Virtualisation Platform

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1 Reference Code: OI Publication Date: January 2011 Author: Roy Illsley TECHNOLOGY AUDIT AppSense User Virtualisation Platform AppSense SUMMARY IMPACT IT infrastructure has in recent times undergone many changes, particularly in the area that is traditionally referred to as the desktop. For many in the industry the term seems archaic, as the use of mobile devices, laptops, netbooks, and many other form factors are now encompassed under this umbrella term. Ovum considers that the ability to manage the applications and their delivery in a user-centric manner is essential to this new desktop environment if it is to deliver true flexibility. Underpinning this revolution are the various desktop virtualization technologies, which provide multiple different approaches to delivering a usercentric experience. However, the user layer remains the Achilles heal of many desktop virtualization solutions. Ovum considers that management of this user layer, or user virtualization, should be considered as a separate activity that operates not only as a layer above the core desktop virtualization technologies but also as a layer that spans across physical, shared server-based, and cloud delivered desktops, and as such acts as the central control point from which to orchestrate a desktop strategy. The AppSense approach uses standardized technologies such as Internet Information Services (IIS) and Structured Query Language (SQL) in a three-tier model that can be expanded as needed. AppSense is the first vendor to solve the ability to personalize user-installed applications on nonpersistent desktops. AppSense separates the user from the desktop, and stores and manages all user-related information using its User Virtualisation Platform. This provides a managed user experience irrespective of the connection, desktop platform, delivery mechanism, location, or device being used. Ovum. This Technology Audit is a licensed product and is not to be photocopied Page 1

2 KEY FINDINGS Strengths: Uses an industry standard three-tier model to deliver a proven enterprise scalable solution. Operates a user-based licensing model, so a user can have multiple concurrent access devices under one license. Solves the non-persistent desktop issue of user-installed applications. 12 years of experience, with more than 5,000 customers and over 10 million users, driving the development of a mature, stable solution. Strong partnerships and endorsements from Citrix, Microsoft, and VMware. Citrix Partner of the Year Global presence, with a 24/7 multilingual technical support center. Weaknesses: Currently does not support native Mac OS. Key Facts: i Works for physical desktop and legacy application scenarios as well as virtualized environments. i Largest user virtualization solution provider on the market, having sold 1.5 million licenses in FY09 10 alone. Over 10 million users to date. OVUM VIEW Effective application delivery in a dynamic business environment, which is characterized by a geographic separation between the user and the applications, data, and the systems they are accessing, requires new and innovative approaches to how these services are delivered and managed. Virtualization, particularly application and desktop virtualization, has proved to be an effective mechanism for organizations looking to streamline how its services are delivered, while at the same time reducing the costs and complexities associated with the management of desktop and application environments. However, the fact that there are multiple technologies for application delivery in a virtual environment, coupled with application-specific requirements that dictate the delivery platform, has meant that business users need to interact with a plethora of underlying platforms that their applications run on. Exposing the level of fragmentation within the IT infrastructure s back-end to business users would pose a threat to productivity. Ovum believes that the processes involved in IT delivery are currently very chatty in nature. This means that processes continually change from IT responsibility to end user and back, because very little thought is given to the separation of responsibilities between the IT department and the end user. However, Ovum considers that the AppSense approach to separating the user from the desktop and application delivery mechanism enables the construction of a viable user self-service/support model for the desktop, where IT s role is to provide invisible management and control. Ovum. This Technology Audit is a licensed product and is not to be photocopied Page 2

3 Recommendations AppSense User Virtualisation Platform is primarily intended for large-scale deployments (more than 1,000 employees). The solution is a comprehensive approach and could mistakenly be considered too complex for some smaller deployments; however, it has been successfully deployed by a number of smaller customers. AppSense solutions provide an excellent approach to any migration strategy, such as the current hot topic of transferring from Windows XP to Windows 7, or from locally installed applications to virtualized applications such as Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V). Ovum considers that due to the complexity of implementing large-scale deployments, specialist services should be used, such as those provided by AppSense or its accredited partners. Ovum believes that all organizations would benefit from an initial audit and best practices approach. FUNCTIONALITY SOLUTION OVERVIEW The AppSense User Virtualisation Platform comprises four major components to deliver user virtualization: Environment Manager, Application Manager, Performance Manager, and the AppSense Management Center. The AppSense solution is unique because it works with physical/local desktops, Citrix XenDesktop, Citrix XenApp, Microsoft Windows Terminal Services, Microsoft App-V, and VMware View desktop and application delivery mechanisms. Environment Manager The biggest complaint from most users is the time it takes to log on to their desktop. The cause for much of this delay is the way that desktops store and manage the personalization aspects that users apply to their working environment. Today users expect to be able to change various settings such as application settings, signatures, custom dictionaries, internet favorites, recently accessed files, screen resolution, wallpaper, language, and so on. However, most of these personalization settings are stored in a profile, and these profiles suffer from inefficiencies in the way that personalizations are captured and stored. These result in bloated profiles, which contribute to the slow log-on process that most users experience. Environment Manager takes a different approach. By separating the standard desktop build from the profile it can ensure that these personalization settings are stored efficiently, yet separately, from the operating system (OS). Ovum believes that this approach (see Figure 1) provides IT departments with an opportunity to reduce its management costs. By delivering and managing these personalization settings separately from the standard build, the latter can be optimized and these settings can be delivered in a controlled approach. More than simply performing profile management, Environment Manager supports the ability to apply corporate policy to any desktop. For example, a user may be allowed to access certain applications only when on corporate devices inside the firewall, or to make a restricted number of personalizations on corporate devices while having no restrictions on personal devices. Ovum. This Technology Audit is a licensed product and is not to be photocopied Page 3

4 Figure 1: The component-based desktop Source: AppSense O V U M In Ovum s opinion the most advantageous capability of Environment Manager is how it deals with the road warrior those individuals that are often disconnected from the corporate network for lengthy periods due to travel. AppSense has the concept of a personality, which the user can take with them to any device or location. The user can then synchronize back the next time they connect to the corporate network. This may sound trivial, but for users that operate in this way being able to change a setting while disconnected and it being available for reuse is a big productivity advantage. Application Manager Ovum considers that standardization is the key to application delivery, which benefits the organization by reducing support costs and increasing service levels through a reduction in the occurrence of desktop corruptions. For example, Application Manager is able to automatically block unauthorized applications from executing, even if they are new or unknown files. It does this by using a combination of secure OS kernellevel filters and Microsoft New Technology File System (NTFS) security policies and intercepting the application requests for a Windows desktop. Ovum considers that while more than 80% of corporate users are based on Microsoft Windows, it would be beneficial to have similar solutions for other popular OSs, such as Apple for example. However, Ovum approves of the ability to enforce these entitlement rules even when the user is not connected to the corporate network, effectively providing offline protection. Ovum. This Technology Audit is a licensed product and is not to be photocopied Page 4

5 AppSense Application Manager solves the problem of user rights management and having local administrators within the enterprise by being able to remove the administrator security token for specific applications or tasks. This either forces the application to run as a standard user or removes the ability to perform tasks which require administrative privileges, ensuring desktop security and reducing downtime and the associated support costs. AppSense can also elevate the privileges of a standard user to administrator level on a per task or per application basis. The other major element in application management is the ability to control the licensing aspects. AppSense has a unique, well-developed, and more importantly approved Microsoft application license management capability. Ovum considers that this capability in Application Manager provides the opportunity to track usage of applications, define and deploy policies on application usage on a per device basis, and audit what licenses and applications an organization/employee has or needs. Performance Manager The flexibility and agility aspect of server-based computing is driven by the shared resource pooling principals. However, being able manage the central processing unit, memory, and disk input/output (I/O) resources so that all desktops receive the optimal/correct level of resources remains one of the most difficult aspects of managing virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) implementations. Ovum s opinion is that many virtual management tools focus on server workloads and server virtualization, at best trying to retrofit that technology to VDI implementations and at worst simply ignoring it. AppSense has developed Performance Manager specifically for VDI type implementations but the solution can also be used for PCs and laptops, although not the current mobile devices such as the ipad. With Performance Manager, organizations can control the distribution of resources to individual desktops as well as to the individual applications and processes within the desktops, in terms of CPU allocation, physical and virtual memory, disk resources, and I/O. The result of being able to manage these in line with need providing enough resources to meet the service-level agreements by user/business unit and so on can result in fewer physical servers and hence a reduced power requirement. Ovum believes that this aspect is probably one of the most significant when it comes to maximizing return on investment from any desktop strategy. Management Center The desktop environment is increasingly becoming a heterogeneous estate of VDI, terminal services, local PCs, and mobile devices. In Ovum s opinion all of these must be centrally managed in order to obtain true user-centric computing, and to deliver flexibility and a high quality user experience. AppSense Management Center is based on a multi-tier architecture, which enables it to scale over more than a single location and to manage mobile workers who travel between sites. Ovum considers that an oftenoverlooked aspect is the ability to recover a user desktop session; in a centrally managed environment all the images and profiles are stored on a back-end database, which lends itself to be replicated for business continuity purposes. Ovum. This Technology Audit is a licensed product and is not to be photocopied Page 5

6 However, the area where Management Center adds the greatest value to an organization is the ability to centrally track policies and be proactive in terms of support. When it detects corruption Management Center uses an events engine to raise alerts, which can be sent to business managers to warn of potential disruption. Alternatively, Management Center can execute automated workflows to apply standard fixes. AppSense Management Center is also fully compatible with third party deployment tools, which roll out AppSense agents and configurations to endpoint devices and desktop sessions. SOLUTION ANALYSIS User experience AppSense employs a two-phased approach to addressing this vexing question; firstly, it separates the personalization data from the standard build and replaces the troublesome user profile, in doing so removing the inefficiencies associated with the existing profile management. Secondly, it uses personalizationstreaming technology to deliver those settings only when the user needs them. This can be further refined to use application-level personalization, where only those settings which are pertinent to that application are streamed when used. Ovum considers this to be a major aspect of delivering an improved user experience. Another area that IT support often spends a significant amount of time on is resolving user-generated problems associated with corrupt profiles. This situation can occur when a user makes a change that is incompatible with another setting, which results in the user s desktop becoming unusable. AppSense solves this issue first of all by replacing user profiles with a scalable three-tier personalization delivery solution. Secondly, built-in rollback capability effectively allows a simple click of a button to restore personalization back to a previous known good state. Ovum considers this to be a very good feature which allows IT to pass control and responsibility to the end user. Security The security of a VDI approach to a desktop strategy is one of the most compelling reasons to adopt it; VDI can be used to completely remove any data from end-point devices to avoid the loss of sensitive information, thus avoiding the potentially embarrassing laptop left on a train scenario. AppSense adds to this security with a number of key features that Ovum believes makes the entire desktop management operation more secure. Application Manager uses a couple of techniques to provide added security. First is the concept of trusted ownership, where only codes installed and owned by trusted owners are allowed to execute. Secondly, Application Manager assigns digital signatures to applications and files to prevent spoofing a situation where a user or application attempts to bypass security policies by imitating an authorized application. Adding to these features, Management Center supports full role-based access, which allows granular control over all access rights. Environment Manager also controls what a user is permitted to do within an application, such as copy and paste, print screen, print, or browse network drives on a condition basis, so that when a user is out of the office, their desktop is dynamically configured with tailored security policies. It can also self-heal a desktop, restoring services, processes, files, folders, or registry keys back to their gold build state if they are for whatever reason changed during the running of the desktop session. Ovum. This Technology Audit is a licensed product and is not to be photocopied Page 6

7 Management support The solution s management capabilities provide all the necessary features for an IT department to control a mixed physical and virtual desktop estate. Ovum believes that the following are significant features: Ability to integrate with active directory for authentication This enables the credentials to be verified before communication begins with the device. Automatic device detection AppSense uses Microsoft Windows Management Instrumentation and an agent to establish secure client communications. AppSense is able to detect any new device when it connects to the network and automatically register it. Application time limits Application Manager supports the ability to restrict access to applications according to when and how long they can run for. These are just a few of the many available management features that are supported by a comprehensive reporting capability. Ovum considers that AppSense has spent time and effort in ensuring that, in addition to including all the features needed for a leading user virtualization solution, these features are linked together in a cohesive management unit. This reduces IT management costs and drives the adoption of user selfservice. Scalability The scalability of the AppSense User Virtualisation Platform is its separation of the user personalization data, the OS, and applications. In Ovum s opinion, this combined with the practical three-tier architecture which uses standard components means that organizations can use this solution to deliver and support desktops from 1,000 to 140,000 (currently the largest AppSense project) across multiple locations. Interoperability Ovum believes that the ability to replace user profiles with a cross-platform and cross-delivery mechanism for personalization data represents a major leap forward, in terms of removing the constraints of changing the desktop delivery platform from a single monolithic PC-based approach to a more dynamic variable device. Through its approach to user virtualization, AppSense addresses these issues by employing an open architecture which supports all the leading virtualization technologies. AppSense is currently Microsoft Windows-centric in terms of the OS supported. However, Ovum understands that AppSense is monitoring its user community and if demand is seen for other OSs, it will develop appropriate solutions accordingly. Ovum. This Technology Audit is a licensed product and is not to be photocopied Page 7

8 PRODUCT STRATEGY MARKET OPPORTUNITY Many organizations have invested in, or are considering, desktop virtualization strategies. Ovum currently puts market penetration of VDI at circa 2 5% of the business desktop market, and this may reach 15 20% within five years. However, management issues are one of the biggest restraining forces, while migration to Windows 7 is an equally large force for change. Therefore, Ovum considers that AppSense has developed a solution which enables the end-user organization to deploy the type of desktop strategy that suits its requirements, rather than deploying a compromised, one-size-fits-all approach. This allows AppSense User Virtualization to span all desktops, not just VDI, meaning that the market potential for user virtualization covers physical desktops, virtual desktops, and server-hosted shared desktops. Based on current AppSense growth, the user virtualization market could very well be bigger than the VDI market. GO TO MARKET STRATEGY AppSense has partnerships with all the major desktop virtualization software vendors, including VMware, Citrix, and Microsoft. AppSense operates a mixed approach in its go-to-market strategy, with many large deals being led by global system integrators where AppSense is part of standard reference architecture, such as Computer Sciences Corporation, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, and Fujitsu. AppSense provides its key experience and technology, while other opportunities are dealt with by its channel partners. IMPLEMENTATION AppSense claims that the services and software it provides are an added benefit to many organizations. Ovum agrees with this sentiment because the process of transforming the desktop strategy involves many different elements, and unless the organization has experience of performing such a transition, professional guidance will accelerate the time to value. According to AppSense, a typical engagement begins with a pilot that is normally up and running within two three days. The pilot allows the organization to understand more about the benefits and challenges of deploying a new desktop strategy. The design of any implementation project depends on many factors; typically a 1,500 user project with 50 applications would take between days of service consulting, while the rollout, which may be dependant on many other factors, would take about 30 days. AppSense offers a wide variety of support options, operating a two-tier subscription-based offering which features gold and silver levels of service. These options provide access to AppSense documentation and its online knowledge base, as well as telephone and support. With the gold level of service this support is a targeted one-hour response time with 24/7 coverage and up to 10 named key contacts, while the silver service aims to provide a four-hour response time during normal office hours ( Mon-Fri) and six named contacts. Ovum. This Technology Audit is a licensed product and is not to be photocopied Page 8

9 DEPLOYMENT EXAMPLES Example 1 An enterprise customer approached AppSense Professional Services with a request to provide a high-level design which catered for 50,000 users. The design needed to be based on a Microsoft remote desktop services (RDS) solution run from the customer s two central data centers. The key requirements of the design included: Data center independence, for example if the end user s session was lost and they reconnected to the secondary data center, the most recent copy of the end user s application data would be available. No cross-data center traffic for personalization data. In order to achieve this, AppSense deployed its Personalization Server with inter data center replication. This was configured to occur regularly, to ensure that both data centers were synchronized. The customer also required a mechanism for deploying updated AppSense configuration files to its RDS estate, with minimal administrative overheads. Accordingly, AppSense Management Center was deployed to manage the AppSense configuration files. Example 2 Large government agency managed by a system integrator A large government body outsourced its desktop management to a leading system integrator, which as part of its offering chose AppSense User Virtualization to manage users on 140,000 desktop devices across 1,000 office locations. This contract marked one of the largest desktop outsourcing refresh projects in Europe. Of the 140,000 devices, over 100,000 will receive desktops via Citrix XenApp and Citrix XenDesktop, with the remaining 35,000 devices being physical desktops or laptops. Applications were delivered by a combination of Citrix Published and Streamed applications, Microsoft App-V, and locally installed applications. AppSense is being used across all desktops and applications to ensure that as users roam between desktop devices, locations, and delivery mechanisms, they receive a consistent user experience. Meanwhile, desktops and applications have been dynamically configured according to user, device, or location. The account director on the project said, AppSense s user virtualization solutions have a proven track record, and we look forward to working with them as we significantly reduce the total cost of ownership of the desktop estate and provide their end users with a seamless user experience. Ovum. This Technology Audit is a licensed product and is not to be photocopied Page 9

10 Example 3 A global retail bank With 31,000 users on Citrix and physical desktops, the bank was experiencing excessive log on times. Scripting was also becoming increasingly complex as IT were having to configure desktops based on the location of the user, the device they were using, and the desktop delivery mechanism. AppSense worked together with Citrix Consultancy Services to completely replace the existing Flex-Profiles and log on scripts for all 31,000 users with AppSense User Virtualization. Log on times reduced from minutes to seconds, and users now receive a consistent personal experience regardless of how they access their desktop. Meanwhile, IT have set rules within the AppSense solution to automatically apply a dynamical policy based on the user, device, and location. The bank can now use these conditions to ensure that desktops are compliant, secure, and configured correctly. Example 4 Engineering and defense manufacturer and a system integrator A leading system integrator was chosen by a large engineering and defense manufacturer to migrate 40,000 desktops to Microsoft Windows 7, changing their application delivery from locally installed to streamed delivery via Microsoft App-V. As part of this the system integrator used AppSense User Virtualization to abstract all of the user personality from the existing physical desktops, storing it separately. The desktops could then be quickly swapped to Windows 7, while application delivery was moved from locally installed to App-V. Upon access, the user layer of the desktop which had be abstracted from the previous environment was layered on top to provide a seamless user experience, at minimum cost, time, and risk. As the refresh was a phased roll out to Windows 7, if a user logged on to a desktop which was running any previous operating system, their settings would also be applied to that desktop. Any changes could then be applied back to their Windows 7 desktop at the next log on. As App-V could stream applications to any device in the organization, this meant that an application device license would normally have to be purchased for every device and every application. However, not every user or device would use every application. To solve this, reduce cost, and ensure compliance, AppSense was used to control application access on a per device basis, meaning that the customer now only needs to license the devices that actually run the application(s) in question. Further information on deployment examples of AppSense User Virtualization AppSense also has a number of video testimonials on its website, which can be viewed at Ovum. This Technology Audit is a licensed product and is not to be photocopied Page 10

11 Table 1: Contact Details Head Office: AppSense 17 State Street 19th Floor New York NY USA Tel: Fax: EMEA Head Office: AppSense 3300 Daresbury Business Park Daresbury Warrington WA4 4HS UK Tel: +44 (0) Fax: +44 (0) AppSense have offices throughout the world including: ANZ, Benelux, DACH, France, Scandinavia, UK and USA. For more information please or visit Source: AppSense O V U M Ovum s Knowledge Centers are new premium services offering the entire suite of Ovum information in fully interactive formats. To find out more about Knowledge Centers and our research, contact us: Ovum Europe 119 Farringdon Road London, EC1R 3DA United Kingdom t: +44 (0) f: +44 (0) /1 e: info@ovum.com Ovum Australia Level 5, 459 Little Collins Street Melbourne 3000 Australia t: +61 (0) f: +61 (0) e: info@ovum.com Ovum New York 245 Fifth Avenue, 4th Floor New York, NY United States t: f: e: info@ovum.com All Rights Reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, Ovum Europe Limited. Whilst every care is taken to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this material, the facts, estimates and opinions stated are based on information and sources which, while we believe them to be reliable, are not guaranteed. In particular, it should not be relied upon as the sole source of reference in relation to the subject matter. No liability can be accepted by Ovum Europe Limited, its directors or employees for any loss occasioned to any person or entity acting or failing to act as a result of anything contained in or omitted from the content of this material, or our conclusions as stated. The findings are Ovum s current opinions; they are subject to change without notice. Ovum has no obligation to update or amend the research or to let anyone know if our opinions change materially. Ovum. Unauthorised reproduction prohibited This report is a licensed product and is not to be reproduced without prior permission. Ovum. This Technology Audit is a licensed product and is not to be photocopied Page 11