1.       Windows 7™ Migration

Of course the most obvious happening in EUC for 2012 is the wider scale migration of corporate desktops to Windows 7™. This is where the most focus, effort and investment will be during 2012.

But… the economic challenges for the western world will show their hand and migrations cannot be undertaken as they have in the past, with IT choosing the most standard COE (Common Operating Environment) they can and business units funding the vast amounts of money for migration of applications, data and user personalization onto a new desktop device.

This traditional buy-and-install world of corporate desktop is shifting to a more consumer style model with multiple application and content delivery options to a myriad of devices and owners. This trend will continue and increase throughout 2012.

The successful leaders of desktop transformation programs in 2012 will be the ones that coordinate the business units who have the money, the consumers who demand flexibility to match   their work styles, the systems integrators and outsourcers who will deliver the services, those responsible for the regulatory compliance and security of applications & data and the new technology options that additional devices, cloud and virtualization bring.

It quite simply is un-escapable, that adoption of a standard, locked down corporate desktop will continue to be eroded as organizations switch more to on-demand granular delivery of resources.

2.       The continued failure of traditional desktop migration methods to deliver the virtual transformation

If IT departments continue to adopt the current migration method, I predict that even more desktop transformation projects which actually successfully include significant adoption of some form of virtualization will simply stall through lack of funds and appetite by economically challenged businesses.

Why?

Today, the corporate desktop migration process is typically a 26 week process (yes, that’s right – half a year) where piecemeal front end planning is undertaken using separate data available from multiple point tools that somewhat fit the current method approach:

• Hardware audit (price per device)
• Software audit (price per device)
• Desktop management (price per device)
• Packaged application compatibility (price per app)
• VDI sampling based assessment (price per device)

From a software perspective, audits are based purely on what is installed, not what is actually being used, creating immediate inefficiencies in the traditional approach. With the above data,  a desktop COE is derived…and… a long list of applications needing remediation is produced… thus… necessitating an urgent need for an ‘app factory’ charging per app for remediation. Many organizations do not realize that this process could be streamlined significantly with an understanding of what is actually used and we predict more combined onshore/nearshore/offshore app factory models here as providers compete increasingly on cost rather than on usage insight which significantly reduces the remediation efforts needed.

The target COE and standard builds and platform are now readied, designed and built according to the sampling thresholds and derived requirements.

Detailed business unit and consumer specific use cases and needs are subsequently uncovered by a questionnaire and clipboard process at around week 20 by ‘floorwalkers’ (cost ~$1000 per man day) long after the standard COE has been built.

Floorwalking – It is now that the real application and information workflows, dependencies, sequences and personalization are discovered… and oh yes, this means business unit specific builds and more images. Additional applications are now discovered along with the re-sequencing, packaging and testing of applications, the cost of which is passed on to each business unit and department as the very first desktops are deployed… half a year later…

In reality, standard VDI builds often give way to a build per individual user leading to virtual sprawl and the accompanying increase in central infrastructure.

Business Units lose appetite, money becomes tighter, the business case is lost, lift and drop becomes a valid option and the transformation is deemed simply too hard and too expensive. This will continue unless organizations understand the value of deep usage insight right at the beginning of transformation processes and understand the value of service based delivery on demand to meet user needs.

3.       The 2012 Analytics Advantage – automated floorwalking for true desktop transformations

The good news is that in 2012 technology advances mean that detailed analytics is a reality for end user computing too. Comprehensive and real data analytics rather than simple, erroneous sampling approaches means that a shift in the transformation method is possible for 2012. Smart integrators are already adopting this method.

Analytics software for End User Computing (such as Centrix WorkSpace iQ) will be increasingly used to undertake totally automated ‘floorwalking’ right up front in the planning cycle.

Adoption of Centrix WorkSpace iQ already more than doubles every month as companies and systems integrators use this more successful and affordable method. Expect to see the major vendors and outsourcers adopt this approach in order to accelerate the success of the transformation for their customers. Microsoft has already done so by including Centrix WorkSpace iQ™ as part of its Windows 7™ Jumpstart method.

Exact Business Unit, Departmental, User work style, applications, web sites and content access needs are automatically captured right up front alongside audit and management data. The applications that businesses really use and need can be tested for compatibility and prioritized for cloud, virtualization and remediation according to actual demand.

Application and content workflows are thoroughly understood so business unit offerings can be sequenced and created as part of the common operating environment (COE) – serviced by the providers, virtualized and cloud enabled where beneficial, secured and monitored where needed with flexible, low cost options provided where not.

Transformation costs are reduced by more than 40%, user acceptance increases, applications not used do not need to be remediated or tested for compatibility (remediation needs are reduced by up to 80%) and most importantly the time to transform reduces by more than half!

Fast, affordable Windows 7™ and virtual transformations will be a reality during 2012 with this approach!

4.       Increasing use of shared WorkSpaces

• The growing comfort of companies to source SaaS, private and public cloud applications along with increasing use of browser based enterprise applications to supplement their continued use of desktop installed applications means that a mix of access methods is necessary
• Business units and end users are gaining even more control of the IT budget and it is becoming ever more distributed externally
• In addition, consumerization is driving increasing demand for messaging, collaboration, enterprise social networking, document and information sharing – now often sourced from the cloud. These have already become daily utilities alongside traditional Windows™ and personal productivity applications

2012 will see increased adoption of shared workspaces such as Centrix WorkSpace Universal™ by companies and providers alike.

These seamlessly aggregate the secure access to this diverse set of applications and content automate the provisioning and delivery of services and provide deep underpinning analytics.

They should include the ability to subscribe to services through an integrated storefront that provides a complete services portfolio by federating resources from multiple, diverse providers both inside and outside the company, not just SaaS but also physical Windows™, virtual, mobile, private and public clouds. Inherent in this is the change from “centrally pushed local applications” to “user driven install on demand applications”

A complete chargeback view is provided as use is metered and monitored with full underpinning analytics. This provides the transparency of consumption needed by the business units, the insight required for IT and the information necessary to meet the visibility needs of regulatory compliance.

End users and devices can be registered and ‘whitelisted’ through the WorkSpace with services provided instantly according to policy based trust levels and access rules that leverage the growing security standards such as SAML and OpenID.

Personalization and the simple ability for end users to plug their own cloud resources into a private workspace brings the personal cloud into the fold.

The adoption of the shared workspace not just a cool consumerization and access solution for end users, it is also an invaluable sourcing tool that delivers commercial advantage for the company as it protects against lock-in by any one vendor or platform provider.

5.       Increasing consumerization of IT

We hear a lot about the ‘consumerization of IT’ but what does it mean and is it real? Consumerization of IT refers to increasing use of personal devices for business purposes. Is it happening? Absolutely. We see increasing numbers of users accessing IT resources from their personal devices and this trend is only going to increase.

The days where what IT says goes are long gone. Many IT departments may not have accepted this yet, but it is a fact. Business users today are more technically savvy than they have ever been in the past and if they don’t like the answer they get from IT, they will find different ways to get the services they need. If that means bypassing and circumventing IT, then so be it.

The ease with which users can sign up to SaaS and web-based services makes the increase of this trend inevitable through 2012 and beyond.

Years ago, organizations used to provide company cars for some of their employees, before ultimately deciding that it was far easier to give individuals a car allowance and let them manage the vehicle they wanted, its maintenance and servicing. I predict that IT will move in the same direction in regard to device management and we will arrive at a point where IT no longer provisions devices but simply enables users to bring their own device and securely access the services and content they need. That will not happen for several years yet, but we are on that journey.

As a result, what IT departments need to do in response is to change mindset – start managing the service delivery to the user rather than the infrastructure and the devices. With this change in ethos, IT can be well positioned to accept and embrace the consumerization of IT.

To read the full article click here.

By Caroline Donnelly, 18 Jan 2012, CRN

Application monitoring vendor to wind down channel recruitment activities after bagging 15 new partners.

To read more click here.

Newbury, UK: January 18, 2012 - Centrix Software today announced that WorkSpace iQ, an analytics solution for end-user computing environments, has been named as Desktop Virtualization Product of the Year 2011 by industry experts at SearchServerVirtualization.com.

Centrix WorkSpace iQ provides IT organizations with rich and detailed intelligence on their end-user computing environments. The information it provides enables desktop and application teams to reduce the cost of desktop transformation and maximize the value of new application-delivery methods such as a virtual desktop infrastructure. By monitoring and metering the entire end-user computing environment, WorkSpace iQ, delivers to IT teams an unprecedented and unique level of insight into user requirements and IT consumption patterns in the fastest time.

“We’re very proud to have been recognized by the team at SearchServerVirtualization.com for this award,” said Paul Burke, director of products at Centrix Software. “Desktop virtualization offers organizations fantastic opportunities to reduce cost and increase agility but does require a different approach to traditional desktop computing. WorkSpace iQ helps IT teams build a more detailed picture of the user environment so that they have the information they need to make the right technology choices and ensure their organisations gain business value from virtual infrastructure investments.”

The judges of the SearchServerVirtualization.com awards named WorkSpace iQ the Desktop Virtualization product of 2011 because of the quality of insight it offers customers, stating: “Workspace iQ 5.2 provides detailed information about desktops and applications in a virtual desktop infrastructure, including metrics on user sessions and licensing. With this information, organizations can significantly decrease the application footprint on desktops and, by extension, reduce the need to repackage programs using application virtualization. In addition, Workspace iQ can facilitate a major reduction in licensing costs. Ultimately, the use of Workspace iQ could result in customers being more open-minded about application-delivery methods, and it would empower them to adopt more flexible approaches.”

SearchServerVirtualization.com’s 2011 Products of the Year showcase technology solutions that provide exceptional benefits for IT shops of all sizes. The awards span five areas of virtualization technology – virtualization security, virtualization management, hardware for virtualization, desktop virtualization and backup and storage. Products are evaluated by a panel of independent judges who grant awards based on ease of integration, functionality, innovation, manageability, performance and value.

For more information about the SearchServerVirtualization.com 2011 Product of the Year Awards and to view the complete list of winners visit: http://searchservervirtualization.techtarget.com/guides/Products-of-the-Year-2011.

About Centrix Software

Headquartered in Newbury, UK, with offices in Boston and New York, Centrix Software provides award-winning unified end-user computing solutions that optimize the way IT infrastructures deliver applications and content provisioned from physical, virtual, web or hosted platforms. By enabling a user-centric approach to IT service delivery, Centrix Software helps its customers to be more agile, flexible and efficient in how they deliver client-side technology services. Centrix Software’s solutions have helped leading organizations in banking and securities, insurance, telecommunications, retail, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, energy and utilities, and the public sector. For more information please visit www.centrixsoftware.com.

For the latest information on Centrix Software:

• Centrix Software Twitter
• Centrix Software Blog
• Centrix Software YouTube channel
• Centrix Software Facebook page

Contact

Kellie Collier / Ben Hart
Goode Communications
Tel: +44 (0) 1491 873 323
Email: kellie.collier@goode.co.uk / ben.hart@goode.co.uk

Jane Rimmer
Centrix Software
Email: jane.rimmer@centrixsoftware.com

To read more click here.

Newbury, UK: January 10, 2012 – Centrix Software, a leading provider of unified end-user computing solutions, today announced the signing of 15 leading IT service and solution providers to its UK partner programme. Amicus ITS, Axess Systems, Backup Data, Bull, Calligo,COMPAREX UK, Glasshouse, ICM, Innovtech, Montal, M-Tech Systems, On Ware, Storm Technologies, Virtuoso, Ultimate Computer Systems will work with Centrix Software to help organizations develop, deploy and manage next generation desktop and application services and support the growing diversity of their end-user computing environments. The expansion of new partners to its channel network follows the recent appointment of SDG as a new UK distributor for Centrix Software.

The newly signed partners will feature Centrix WorkSpace as part of their enterprise solutions portfolio. Centrix WorkSpace provides enterprises with the ability to track and manage application and service demand across their business, as well as deliver unified workspaces that aggregate the delivery of local, virtual, cloud-based and web applications and content. Using Centrix WorkSpace, organizations can:

• Build the business case for new technology investments, such as virtualization
• Reduce the time needed to deploy new application and desktop platforms, such as Windows 7, application virtualization and desktop virtualization
• Manage the growing diversity of applications and devices – from the licensing of installed productivity applications to the use of cloud services, BYOD and enterprise tablets

Centrix WorkSpace includes:

• WorkSpace iQ™ – an analytics and reporting solution that monitors and meters the technology services and assets installed and consumed across end-user computing environments. The rich insight and intelligence it provides enables organizations to make informed technology decisions based on patterns of usage and user requirements
• WorkSpace Universal™ – a unified end-user computing platform that aggregates and manages the delivery of services to users provisioned from legacy, virtualized and cloud-based platforms, allowing organizations to maintain control and service flexibility

“The impact of changing workstyles and the growth in mobile, SaaS, cloud and virtualization technologies are changing the dynamics of end-user computing environments,” said Lewis Gee, senior vice president of EMEA sales and marketing at Centrix Software. “To maximize the benefits of next generation application and desktop technologies, IT decision-makers have to know more about technology consumption from a user perspective. Experienced IT solutions providers are best placed to help organizations make the change from being infrastructure-led to user-centric. We are committed to providing the solutions that can help address this requirement and are delighted to be working with the organizations we have announced today.”

Quotes from organizations joining the Centrix Software channel network:

“New service-oriented desktop solutions, such as desktop virtualization, have to be designed and implemented with user and business requirements at the core,” commented Ian Freeman, storage and virtualization practice lead at Bull. “Centrix WorkSpace delivers an unprecedented level of insight into the dynamics of the end-user environment. At a time when technology decision-making has to be backed by strong business justification, its ability to demonstrate the impact and value of new desktop and application investments is invaluable.”

“Many organizations are looking at their desktop strategies as they plan their migrations from XP. This presents a great opportunity to review the efficiency of their current environments and where new technologies can enhance user productivity,” said Nick Umney, solutions group manager at Storm Technologies. “Centrix WorkSpace provides a solution that not only gives organizations this intelligence but at a speed that wasn’t possible before. We are looking forward to working with Centrix Software to help our customers accelerate their transformation projects.”

“The Centrix Software team has a wealth of experience and understanding of the changing dynamics of enterprise and public sector organizations,” commented Mike Chambers, managing director of COMPAREX UK. “Its solutions provide tangible business value and are instrumental in helping organizations achieve more technology agility. We look forward to building a close relationship with the team.”

Centrix Software now supports over 50 partners in its UK channel network. The appointment of new partners follows the addition of Centrix WorkSpace to the Microsoft Jumpstart programme, an initiative designed to help resellers accelerate desktop transformation projects around Windows 7.

About Centrix Software

Headquartered in Newbury, UK, with offices in New York, Centrix Software provides award-winning unified end-user computing solutions that optimize the way IT infrastructures deliver applications and content provisioned from physical, virtual, web or hosted platforms. By enabling a user-centric approach to IT service delivery, Centrix Software helps its customers to be more agile, flexible and efficient in how they deliver client-side technology services. Centrix Software’s solutions have helped leading organizations in banking and securities, insurance, telecommunications, retail, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, energy and utilities, and the public sector. For more information please visit www.centrixsoftware.com.

For the latest information on Centrix Software:

• Centrix Software Twitter
• Centrix Software Blog
• Centrix Software YouTube channel
• Centrix Software Facebook page

Contact

Kellie Collier / Ben Hart
Goode Communications
Tel: +44 (0) 1491 873 323
Email: kellie.collier@goode.co.uk / ben.hart@goode.co.uk

Jane Rimmer
Centrix Software
Email: jane.rimmer@centrixsoftware.com

To read the article click here.

Eventually computers became ‘affordable’ enough for corporations to buy more than one. But with so-called ‘turnkey’ systems costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, IT decisions were made by boardrooms, not individual departments. IT management was centralized, for no other reason than the fact that IT systems were as well.

When the price of personal computers dropped an order of magnitude, they fell within the realms of departmental budgets and it was the beginning of the end for traditional models of centralized IT. Then parts of the organization that were frustrated with waiting for IT systems to be delivered started to buy their own – for example, the term “Blackberry Effect” was coined to capture how sales departments were procuring their own servers and issuing devices to their staff.

As personal computing costs moved to the hundreds, it became possible for managers to authorize purchases. In parallel, more computer-savvy individuals were becoming frustrated that corporate-issued  equipment was less capable than their own kit. The trickle became a flood as prices dropped still further and as mobile phone contracts offered top-of-the-range devices on a monthly fee. And so, we started talking about consumerization.

But still prices fell, not just for hardware but for software. Application prices, that had previously been prohibitively high, plummeted with the arrival of app stores for smart phones, then desktop computers. At the same time, software-as-a-service models enabled individuals to buy enterprise-class functionality on a credit card. Pay-per-use models saw prices drop from dollars, to cents.

While we can all debate about the exact timeline, the point is that cost erosion has taken us from a place where IT decision making was purely corporate, to where decisions are being made by individuals. Yet, against this background, IT management still functions according to older models, as though tens of thousands are being spent. In many organisations, IT management is broken.

Increased control is not the answer – while it may be tempting to simply tell people that they can’t install new applications, use their own devices or access web-based software packages, the chances are that people will do it anyway. Often senior executives can be the worst culprits, but they’re in the business of doing business, not fitting with rigid and out dated IT policies.

Rather, IT management has to transform, moving its focus from telling people what they can and can’t use, and towards understanding what is being used. To do so requires a different mindset, built around vigilance and awareness of risk. For example, if a package is being tested by one person and it has no direct relation to customers, it is low risk. If an unauthorized service is being accessed by many people to manage customer data, that’s a different story.

Trouble is, the skill sets aren’t always there. IT managers may be technically savvy but they don’t necessarily have a background knowledge in risk assessment and they aren’t always fully au fait with the businesses they support. Savvy IT executives know that to do a good job, they need to engage more closely with the business. Equally however, they need to embrace diversity while retaining control.

Things are not going to get any easier: in the future, IT will become more fragmented, as the cost of entry lowers and it therefore appears simpler to replace. Experience in building a picture of what applications and services are the greatest value to the business, and those which could cause problems should something go wrong, may well prove the most valued skills for senior IT management in the future.

To read the article click here.

If you wanted to do anything about it however, you’d have to be quite specific about the costs associated with a lack of desktop knowledge. So how, specifically, should you be thinking about identifying such costs and using them to support a business case? Here’s five places you can look to identify tangible costs and, therefore, the benefits of gaining a clearer picture of your desktop estate.

* Administration and support overheads have an intrinsic cost which, while variable, can nonetheless be measured. The length of time a support call takes to resolve will include time to build a picture about the equipment concerned – its configuration, what’s installed, whether patches are up to date and so on. If your support staff are logging resolution time, they can also be estimating how much time was spent information gathering. If this is running at greater than 20-30% on average, then advance knowledge can clearly bring down the support costs overall.

* Software licensing and subscription costs can be a minefield, and it is very easy to lose track of who is actually using what. Particularly with the increased use of software as a service models, which can leave traditional software packages languishing in desktop and laptop storage. Last year IDC estimated that companies could save up to 20% of their software budget by implementing better license management – and doing so reduces the risk of falling foul of an external software audit.

* Patch management is frequently cited as a source of aggravation to desktop managers and operations staff, due to its contribution to the overall time taken keeping machines up and running. The proportion of this time that can be attributed to knowing the current state of the desktop estate is harder to measure, but one is directly proportional to the other. Indeed, perhaps costs related to the patch management issue alone are sufficient to warrant a review of desktop information. Poorly patched machines also add to the probability of a security breach, with the associated potential for data loss, intrusion or other – often expensive – form of attack.

* Energy costs are ever increasing and yet there are still many machines left on unnecessarily, overnight and even over weekends. This, incredibly, can make up three quarters of a company’s out-of-hours power costs. By increasing the knowledge you have about your desktop and laptop computers, you can identify which are being left on unnecessarily and save money as a result.

* Maintenance and repair costs increase dramatically for computers over 3 years old, largely because this is when hardware drops out of warranty. In the simplest case, knowing when computers reach the three-year point can save unexpected expense due to hardware failure. In addition it can simplify (and therefore reduce cost of) forward planning, for example by keeping a smaller number of spares.

Other areas exist, and no doubt you can think of other pockets of unnecessary operational expense caused in your own organization. An important corollary is that every minute of operational time wasted dealing with a business user’s computer during office hours, is a minute that they cannot access the facilities and services they need to do their jobs. While user productivity is notoriously hard to measure and cost, it is vital to remember that users and their management will be the ultimate beneficiaries of operational efficiency. Building an understanding of your desktop environment will not only save you time, but help the business as a whole.