Notes

Softricity's SMS Announcement : What does this particular really mean regarding the Application Virtualization Market
For recent weeks I? ve recently been organizing my ideas about Softricity? s February 6, 2006 announcement about how they will will be functioning with the Microsoft company Manageability Team to offer application virtualization and streaming inside Microsoft Systems Managing Server (SMS). Precisely what did the headline really say? What does this mean for Microsoft? What does this mean for Citrix? h Project Tarpon and even Altiris? s Application Virtualization Solution? Most importantly, what does this specific mean for an individual?

Psychological Announcement almost all about?

First off, let me explain the basics of this really important announcement. In order to summarize, Softricity offers partnered with Ms to offer a product that has a build-in Softricity SoftGrid -- including application virtualization, on-demand streaming and even self-provisioning? right into Microsoft company Systems Management Machine (SMS). Which means that any kind of SMS customer may now virtualize their own applications and make use of them throughout their existing SMS application application. They can drive out virtualized software using SMS? distribution push methods, supply them on-demand making use of Softricity? s draw methods, and these people can use TEXT MESSAGE? s metering and asset management resources to discover and even track both MSIs and virtualized software.

Softricity is supplying two version associated with the product. SoftGrid for SMS General allows you to do all the things an individual can do together with SoftGrid (virtualization and even streaming) from within just SMS. SoftGrid for SMS VX (virtual extensions) just let us you virtualize? in addition to uses the TXT push delivery to find the virtualized applications to be able to end-users.

With this specific solution, there will be no longer a purpose for a SoftGrid Management Console plus, with their VX variation (virtualization only, zero streaming), the SoftGrid Server. The sole requirement is for apps to be virtualized through Softricity? t Sequencer. This process is extremely similar to be able to most traditional packing tools, so generally it means that if you may have a good SMS deployment, you don? t have got to change substantially in your procedure to get the benefits regarding virtualization and loading.

What does this mean for Softricity?

This is huge for Softricity! The actual announcement amounts to be able to is an information towards the market that will Microsoft has chosen its partner intended for virtualization and buffering. Besides the technical rewards of this story, it is significant to realize that Microsoft is dealing with Softricity to sell this solution to their very own SMS user foundation. The reason regarding this is that it benefits each party just as well as typically the end-user. Softricity rewards by being chosen as the first player for virtualization and streaming? and even the capability to enter into a market where Microsoft currently keeps 40% of the enterprise and thirty percent of SMB app seats. Microsoft benefits because they can right now say they fix many of the underling issues of which have caused difficulties and organized SMS deployments. During my very humble opinion, this announcement is innovative as you are nowadays in a position to manage your own application deployment, upgrades, removal, licensing complying, and asset inventory needs with one particular solution.

What does this mean with regard to Microsoft?

Most of the complaining about SMS, regardless of whether by users or maybe the press, can become essentially to one particular thing: the situation regarding application conflicts. Intended for more information upon this issue with SMS and other EDS solutions, please examine my To Set up delete word paper.

Now with SoftGrid for Microsoft SMS, generally there is the opportunity for SMS to eliminate many associated with the problems that has held up it is adoption. Most involving the cons complete in my? To put in or Not? report (conflicts, testing, and so on. ) are negated by deploying individuals applications through application virtualization via SoftGrid. Simply put, this implies Microsoft has dealt with SMS? s short-comings, enabling as the nearly all complete solution intended for application deployment on the market today.

What does this kind of mean for Citrix?

Since Microsoft has partnered with Softricity, the question in that case becomes where this particular leaves Citrix? h Project Tarpon in addition to Altiris? s Application Virtualization Solution? Permit? s talk concerning Citrix Project Tarpon first.

Citrix? s i9000 Project Tarpon had been first announced at Citrix iForum june 2006. Citrix describes it as a? streaming? solution. It is essentially Citrix? s entry into the software distribution and systems management market, designed to distribute applications to be able to a desktop and even address application issues by utilizing their? Application Isolation Surroundings? technology found inside their flagship product or service, Presentation Server four. 0 (which, when you read my personal? To Install or perhaps Not? paper, We believe is not really true application virtualization). As Project Tarpon remains to be in alpha dog, with no official beta and/or technical options are actually made accessible to us/me, We are not able to be able to go into how Citrix products even comes close and competes along with Microsoft SMS besides what is previously detailed in my personal To Install or Not paper.

But you do have to question just what will happen whenever they start to compete with SMS. Generally there? s without doubt the particular best thing proceeding for Citrix is usually their channel. They will have one associated with the biggest and a lot loyal resellers in the market. Just look what they did with Citrix Gain access to Gateway. Acquired through Net6, Citrix surely could use their great channel to take the SSL VPN market by tornado. Yet , it is definitely going to become interesting to view what happens when Project Tarpon lastly ships and they will start competing with Microsoft. Citrix might find that succeeding in a market Microsoft currently rules may be some sort of little bit tougher than even they could muster. We is going to have to wait and even see.

For more information about Citrix Application Internet (Project Tarpon) remember to visit:
[http://www.citrix.com/English/ps2/technology/feature.asp?contentID=22714]

What can we learn from this for Altiris?

In contrast to Citrix, Altiris currently has a beta version of software program virtualization solution upon the market together with plans to assimilate it into their own broader application application solution. Altiris at the moment holds 6% associated with the enterprise and even 10% of SMB application deployment marketplace, and has solutions for nearly every facet of server in addition to application deployment plus management (they are usually Microsoft? s range one competitor in the systems management space). This has usually given Altiris a leg up upon any new area of application deployment they want to be able to dive into, but with the Softricity / Microsoft agreement, Altiris has found that their opponent in traditional application deployment, Microsoft, will certainly be marketing in opposition to them. Thus Altiris has become a much more direct competitor to be able to Microsoft SMS. As Microsoft is extremely competitive in the particular enterprise space and because SMS is practically given away in order to Microsoft enterprise clients, it seems like to me personally that Softricity has the upper hand in gaining also more market share inside the application virtualization market.

For more information on Altiris Software Virtualization make sure you visit: http://www.altiris.com/Products/SoftwareVirtualizationSolution.aspx

What can we learn from this for you?

So what performs this imply to you? With no going in to an excessive amount of detail on the subject of the problems we face around deploying and managing software, I will only say that we have always got a problem along with application deployments due to the character of distributed community computing. We will be required to perform advantage inventory and application license metering owing to license contracts and industry compliance regulations which may be performed using any of the several products on the market today. Together with the new Microsoft / Softricity collaboration there is typically the opportunity to standardize on the sector leader, Microsoft System Management Sever (SMS), while overcoming program conflicts with the particular Softricity SoftGrid regarding Microsoft SMS.

Of course, this is only one component of the specific means to fix the application management and deployment challenge. Microsoft SMS coupled with Softricity SoftGrid for SMS, Terminal Services or Citrix, and VACA PowerFuse (as discussed in The Pursuit for Unified Management) guarantees excellent application response time and functionality for end-users by allowing them to compute via workstations, laptops and terminal servers, while the particular backend system and application administration, license, asset control will be controlled through 2 easy-to-use tools.

Extra Resources:

See the Official Softricity announcement web seminar. Presented by Softricity? s Don Potts, Microsoft Alliance Supervisor and Jeff Fisher, Director of Organization Development.
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