AppV is Hot Now

Microsoft App-V seems incredibly hot right now, with everyone getting ready to jump on App-V 5 when SP2 comes out. There is way more activity in this space than I have ever seen!

 

I have been running training classes on App-V for over six years now. Back when Microsoft bought Softricity, I saw an interest spike. But it was not a big spike, and it did not last long. I also have been seeing a somewhat larger boost in interest in the last 2+ years as customers started on their Windows 7 Migration, a boost that has continued through this year. That boost has caused me to add an extra class into the schedule each year, and those classes have been mostly full.

But in all of that time I never booked a student for a class until after the previous class had completed. Until now. This summer it has been hot. We have a class starting next week in Boston. Full. The next class is in Phoenix in December. Full. I added a new class today in January through our partner in Phoenix (ThinClient Computing). It already has students booked. What is going on?

Companies that use App-V 4.6 are ready to move over to 5.0. Companies that use Citrix Streaming for App Virtualization (which is going away) are switching over to App-V. Companies that never used App-V and are now a tad late in their Windows 7 Migration are using it to get done faster. Companies that completed an overhaul to SCCM2012 are now ready to virtualize their apps. Companies that finished their Migrations are virtualizing apps for flexibility. It is like a huge wave hitting us right now.

And finally there is what Microsoft is doing to the product. App-V 5 is a complete rewrite of the application virtualization stack; modernizing what AppVirt is all about and trying to make it simpler. While I have recommended App-V 5 for new customers, I have been cautious with existing customers thinking about upgrading to version 5 until we see a number of new issues resolved and other new things that we had been asking for. Most of these should be solved with the release of SP2, although I am still cautious about how well it will perform. . But the customer interest tells me that they are ready commit to SP2 now, before we even see the final bits.

App-V is finally hot.

By Tim Mangan

Tim is a Microsoft MVP, and a Citrix CTP Fellow. He is an expert in App-V and MSIX.