ThinApp is a leader in application virtualization for the power it brings to the desktop, especially Horizon View. Once an app has been ThinApp’ed you never have to worry about it being part of the base image. It literally takes a load off the administrator to know that a particular app is now in a bubble and no longer has to be regression tested and threaten any conflicts in the golden image.
Yes, ThinApp is great but unfortunately not every application can be virtualized with ThinApp. Some apps have dependencies with other apps that make them incompatible with ThinApp, while others have a deeper level of interaction that needs to take place with the OS or system drivers to perform properly. Still other challenges come because every application virtualized with ThinApp must undergo an administrative packaging process. The process is really easy but when dozens or even hundreds of users call the help desk with “one off” application requests for apps they “need” to be productive.
It’s daunting to think you should task an administrator with packaging each and every app – even if just one user needs it. These challenges have left administrators with few options except to modify the base image or a child image to deliver “Difficult App” to users. These challenges have also knocked several users with “one off” application requests out of the VDI pool.
Enter Liquidware Labs and FlexApp technology. FlexApp is included with their ProfileUnity User Management solution. FlexApp is application virtualization for both User and Department level installed apps.
It supports VMware Horizon View in non-persistent implementations but will also soon support Persistent desktops as well. ProfileUnity delivers full User Management which is very beneficial in a product that centralizes user persona delivery with application delivery because it simplifies things and makes the end-user experience seamless.
Monday, January 27. 2014
VMware ThinApp + Liquidware Labs FlexApp = App Nirvana for Horizon View
Now I know what you are thinking, “Isn’t that a competitor to ThinApp?” Well actually the answer is, “no.” FlexApp is built on a different method of application virtualization. Applications are virtualized through “Symbolic Links” (these are much like an advanced group of shortcuts) that redirect application binary files back to a follow the user VHD or VMDK. This virtual disk contains containers with the actual binaries in them that the application needs to operate.
It’s a technology that could be called Application Redirection and it works for even difficult to virtualize applications with multiple application dependencies like iTunes and any app that needs to look native to the Windows OS. This technique is complementary to ThinApp because it can fill the gap with being able to virtualize difficult applications. While there is an administrator packaging console to package and assign applications to a group of users such as a department, FlexApp also features a User Installed Application (UIA) method.
FlexApp UIA empowers select Horizon View users with the ability to install their own applications just as they natively would – no packaging console needed! FlexApp UIA uses the same symbolic link technology that leaves the underlying golden image untouched. Admins can limit users through several methods including only signed applications, whitelist/blacklist, and even to a specific approved directory “App Store” on the network. ProfileUnity also includes ThinApp entitlement, inventory, and reporting capabilities. You can assign a ThinApp package to a user, group or any context aware filter. Applications can even be cached to end points including offline laptops.
The solution also makes ThinApp package sandboxes portable where it is part of the users profile that is managed with ProfileUnity. Overall, the solution is very complementary to ThinApp, ThinApp management, and the management of Horizon View users. It has been said that desktop computing is all about the applications and I think you’ll find most people agree with that. By using ThinApp and FlexApp together you’ll be much closer to 100% application virtualization and streamlined image management for Horizon View.
Read more – How Community College of Rhode Island used Horizon View, FlexApp and ThinApp to deliver desktops to 18,000 students.
It’s a technology that could be called Application Redirection and it works for even difficult to virtualize applications with multiple application dependencies like iTunes and any app that needs to look native to the Windows OS. This technique is complementary to ThinApp because it can fill the gap with being able to virtualize difficult applications. While there is an administrator packaging console to package and assign applications to a group of users such as a department, FlexApp also features a User Installed Application (UIA) method.
FlexApp UIA empowers select Horizon View users with the ability to install their own applications just as they natively would – no packaging console needed! FlexApp UIA uses the same symbolic link technology that leaves the underlying golden image untouched. Admins can limit users through several methods including only signed applications, whitelist/blacklist, and even to a specific approved directory “App Store” on the network. ProfileUnity also includes ThinApp entitlement, inventory, and reporting capabilities. You can assign a ThinApp package to a user, group or any context aware filter. Applications can even be cached to end points including offline laptops.
The solution also makes ThinApp package sandboxes portable where it is part of the users profile that is managed with ProfileUnity. Overall, the solution is very complementary to ThinApp, ThinApp management, and the management of Horizon View users. It has been said that desktop computing is all about the applications and I think you’ll find most people agree with that. By using ThinApp and FlexApp together you’ll be much closer to 100% application virtualization and streamlined image management for Horizon View.
Read more – How Community College of Rhode Island used Horizon View, FlexApp and ThinApp to deliver desktops to 18,000 students.
