{"id":2575,"date":"2016-11-28T03:00:33","date_gmt":"2016-11-28T08:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tmurgent.com\/TmBlog\/?p=2575"},"modified":"2016-11-29T21:08:22","modified_gmt":"2016-11-30T02:08:22","slug":"the-low-spark-of-high-heeled-boys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tmurgent.com\/TmBlog\/?p=2575","title":{"rendered":"The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shhh! Don’t tell anyone this about App-V.\u00a0 Just because you didn\u2019t hear any sound\u00a0does not mean that there wasn\u2019t a lot a noise involved. \u00a0In the last year, Microsoft has made two incredibly big moves with its App-V product, and you probably didn\u2019t hear much about it. What happened? First, Microsoft has effectively stopped charging you for App-V.\u00a0 Second, they are now bundling it into the appropriate operating systems directly.<\/p>\n

We have been asking Microsoft for this ever since they acquired Softricity, the company that created the original version, some 10 plus years ago.\u00a0 What we didn\u2019t realize is that by doing these two things, it also eliminated the need for Microsoft to do traditional product marketing for it.\u00a0 So in all of that silence, the only voices we hear are from vendors that want to sell you something else.<\/p>\n

So don\u2019t be fooled by what you don\u2019t hear.\u00a0 App-V is here to stay and you need it. And Microsoft is betting that you do big time.\u00a0 Why else would they build it into the operating system, and in so many ways. But to make sure that you have some data to counter those silly arguments your boss might hear from vendors; let\u2019s try to address them here.<\/p>\n

We were children once, playing with toys<\/i><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

[Note: Thanks to Capaldi & Winwood for a few lines, you can listen to the song here<\/a>!]<\/span><\/p>\n

First, a little history.\u00a0 Softricity created the original application virtualization platform back in 2001.\u00a0 They weren\u2019t the only company to try this; several others also tried and faded away or rebranded themselves a few times as the market clearly made Softricity the leader in this space. A few of the competitors in this space are still around, but the market leadership is so clear that I don\u2019t think Gartner even tracks it. Microsoft acquired Softricity in 2006 and rebranded the product as Microsoft App-V. This eventually led Citrix to drop their own competing product (Citrix Streaming) in favor of App-V, although VMware still sells their ThinApp version, even if they don\u2019t do much development on it.<\/p>\n

Several years ago Microsoft refreshed the App-V product with a re-write from the ground up.\u00a0 Initially the re-write was problematic, and we cautioned customers to give it time to mature until SP2 arrived.\u00a0 While grand in vision for adapting to the needs of the enterprise today, App-V version 5.0 fell a little short in execution – failing to deliver on the promise to simplify Application delivery in the Enterprise due to performance and virtual application issues.<\/p>\n

But since that time Microsoft has been quietly addressing shortcomings and has been delivering on the promise to deliver simplicity to application preparation and delivery for most applications, while maintaining the option for the enterprise to use advanced techniques on applications that have special requirements. Many of the applications that previously had issues with application virtualization are now a snap to produce, and those paying attention to the changing \u201cbest practices\u201d are succeeding.<\/p>\n

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Don’t worry too much, it’ll happen to you<\/i><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

When it comes to applications\u00a0what is most important is how App-V 5.x has transformed how we look at applications.\u00a0 We use App-V today not only as a delivery and remediation solution for old applications, but as a flashlight to bring out the important details about applications that IT organizations need to understand to be able to deliver application and desktop services to users in a timely and quality fashion.<\/p>\n

As part of sequencing, App-V exposes more than a half-dozen types of the most common interfaces that applications use. These interfaces, directly supported by App-V, are referred to as \u201cextensions\u201d by the product.\u00a0 And by using a tool like our AppV_Manage analyzer, we can expose a handful of other interfaces, some of which work without App-V needed to manage them, and some which App-V explicitly does not support.\u00a0 This is critical information that allows IT Administrators to understand how the orchestration of multiple applications into a composite desktop for the use can be achieved.<\/p>\n

Additionally, in App-V 5.x Microsoft has altered the original approach to application isolation that some considered over-isolation.\u00a0 By exposing so many of the extensions outside of the virtual environment, these extensions create a much better and richer user experience that we had with the original product.<\/p>\n

If you had just a minute to breathe and they granted you one final wish<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Microsoft has effectively stopped charging you for App-V<\/b>. Ever since Microsoft rebranded the acquisition as App-V, the product has always been licensed at the client. The Server and Sequencer components don\u2019t have a license per-se, and if you have Configuration Manager support for delivery of the virtualized applications is supported there without additional cost. The client comes in two forms, one for Windows Server operating systems with Remote Desktop Services (RDS) and one for Windows Desktops. Many years ago, Microsoft changed the licensing for the App-V Client for RDS to simply include the license as a right of the RDS CAL that is already required for end-users to connect to the RDS Server.<\/p>\n

Microsoft made important changes to the licensing for App-V Client for Desktop operating systems last year.\u00a0 Before then, customers needed to purchase Software Assurance, and then buy an add-on called MDOP.\u00a0 In September 2015 Microsoft eliminated the need to purchase MDOP as an add-on by including it as part of new Enterprise Agreement Software Assurance packages.<\/p>\n

Bu<\/i>t it wasn’t the bullet that laid him to rest<\/i><\/strong> <\/i><\/p>\n

Microsoft is building the App-V Client into new Operating systems.<\/b> While there still is a need to install the App-V client on older systems, Microsoft now builds the App-V client directly into the OS on the Windows 10 Enterprise Anniversary version and Windows Server 2016. All you have to do is enable it.<\/p>\n

And with Windows 10, Microsoft is now making it pretty close to impossible to get the Enterprise version of Windows 10 without Software Assurance, so as you move to the new operating systems, you should be covered.<\/p>\n

There are some other small details, such as that the App-V client is also included in the Education and SPLA SKUs.\u00a0 App-V is not available in the Professional or Home versions of Windows 10, only the Enterprise version. And finally the sequencer is now delivered as part of the Windows ADK. \u00a0\u00a0And yes, it is part of the Windows Server 2016 build also.<\/p>\n

And the thing that you’re hearing is only the sound of…<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Vendors with other technology have entered the market in recent years, so without Microsoft really doing any Marketing of App-V, these are the loudest voices. I\u2019ve got nothing wrong with their products.\u00a0 Many of them are pretty good at what they do.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s important to remember their marketing\/sales motivation when they tell you how hard it is to sequence apps and how easy it is to deliver app with them.<\/em> I\u2019ve sat through a bunch of those sessions.\u00a0 They start by telling you how hard it is to sequence apps.\u00a0 They\u2019ll stress that you can\u2019t do 100% of the apps with App-V.\u00a0 Much of this is based on outdated versions of App-V, but yeah you\u2019ll never do 100% of your apps with App-V and nor should you try.<\/p>\n

They tell you how simple it is to do with them. How it is just running an installer and you can get any unskilled worker to do that.\u00a0 They won\u2019t mention performance and conflict concerns, but somewhere along the line they\u2019ll quietly slip in how they can\u2019t handle 100% of the apps and how you\u2019ll still want to use App-V for some of the apps.\u00a0 So let\u2019s be clear about this.\u00a0 The people feeding you FUD to sell you and they are comparing App-V 4.x to what they are selling.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the apps that are hard.\u00a0 We try to run apps that were designed in a different era, for a different environment, to work with different requirements or other apps.\u00a0 And the end-users just expect them to work.\u00a0 Every time, with all of their data.\u00a0 Over the last 5 years preparing most apps for delivery has gotten a lot easier.\u00a0 No matter how you deliver them.\u00a0 The real question you should ask is how will you handle the hard ones.\u00a0 And more often than not, that is where App-V is your best (if not only) choice.<\/p>\n

While you’re living beyond all your means<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

It generally makes sense for an enterprise to deliver apps and desktops using more than one technology.\u00a0 Traditionally, this has included:<\/p>\n