AdminStudio 2013 adds application readiness support for mobile applications

Flexera Software has announced the release of AdminStudio Suite 2013, the market-leading Application Readiness solution. New enhancements help organisations manage their consumerisation of IT and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) initiatives by streamlining their ability to test, fix, prepare, package, migrate and manage applications in mobile, Windows 7 and virtualised environments.

“Having to continually manage large-scale migrations is the new normal for IT departments. Yesterday it was Windows 7. Today it’s virtualisation, the cloud and mobile. Tomorrow it will be something else,” said Maureen Polte, Vice President of Product Management at Flexera Software. “AdminStudio 2013 automates Application Readiness, helping IT future-proof the application estate and manage constant change.”

Ensuring Control and Best Practices for Mobile Application Management
With the increased uptake of mobile enterprise apps, organisations want the ability to centrally manage, and deploy all of their enterprise applications, including mobile apps. AdminStudio 2013 includes a new Mobile Pack to support both Apple iOS and Windows Store apps, enabling IT Managers to centrally manage, track and report on mobile apps leveraging the same processes and best practices used to manage physical and virtual applications. It also provides full support for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1, which supports Windows Intune Connector, thus helping IT managers accelerate deployment of iOS, and Windows Store applications.

“We know there’s a lot of uncertainty around managing mobile apps because IT fears losing central control,” said Polte. “Our customers are demanding that the same best practices and processes they use for managing other enterprise software should also apply to mobile apps. AdminStudio 2013 is the only solution that provides centralised and automated application usage management for all apps, including mobile.”

Streamlining Virtualisation
AdminStudio 2013 further extends its industry-leading virtualisation support, enabling organisations to minimise the time and cost associated with migrating their software estate to virtualised environments. New functionality includes:
· Enhanced Microsoft App-V 5.0 Support: AdminStudio Suite 2013 offers substantially enhanced support within the AdminStudio Virtualisation Pack for Microsoft App-V, including App-V 5.0. Enterprises can now automatically test suitability of applications for conversion and deployment as App-V 5.0 virtual applications, and run tests to identify conflicts with other applications. The system converts MSI and .EXE to the Microsoft App-V 5.0 format and uses the new App-V Conversion Wizard or Platform AdminStudio APIs to accelerate App-V 4.5 and 4.6 to App-V 5.0 conversion. It also allows direct editing of App-V 5.0 packages, eliminating the need to reconvert from an MSI in order to modify the package. Finally, AdminStudio 2013 lets enterprises easily support new App-V 5.0 capabilities, such as defining Virtual Connection Groups in AdminStudio and publishing directly to Microsoft System Center 2012 Configuration Manager.
· Greater Efficiency for Client Virtualisation: AdminStudio 2013 Virtualisation Pack now supports Symantec Workspace Virtualisation, giving IT the information it needs to ensure the apps in the estate are suitable candidates to be converted. The system will automatically test conversion suitability to Symantec Workspace Virtualisation package format, convert the Windows Installer package or packages, as well as import and manage existing Workspace packages.

Moreover, AdminStudio Virtual Desktop Assessment helps organisations identify the best Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) candidates. Now, AdminStudio Virtualisation Pack includes a limited edition of Virtual Desktop Assessment to monitor key system behaviours of computers, users and applications. This allows enterprises to identify which users are good candidates to move to VDI and to collect detailed data that assists with sizing and planning of VDI environments. AdminStudio 2013’s Test Center also facilitates application virtualisation decision-making with the ability to view critical application usage test results from AdminStudio Virtual Desktop Assessment alongside AdminStudio application virtualisation compatibility test results.

Accelerate Windows 7 Migration Efforts
To assist organisations racing against the clock to migrate to Windows 7 prior to the Microsoft XP end-of-support date, AdminStudio Suite 2013 includes new APIs that help streamline and automate Windows 7 testing. The new APIs can be integrated with existing .NET applications or scripting environments such as Microsoft PowerShell, allowing users to manage more of the application compatibility testing and remediation process with PowerShell scripts. This facilitates higher throughput and speeds up the migration process. It also gives application packagers full control when scripting application compatibility testing tasks so they can focus on the most complex and difficult packages while the vast majority of apps can be automatically remediated and readied for user testing or deployment.

”Major migrations – such as transitioning from Windows XP to Windows 7, or virtualising applications – occur regularly, and they take enormous amounts of time when testing, fixing and packaging is done manually,” said Polte. “AdminStudio 2013 can automate as much as ninety percent of the migration process, allowing IT to focus on the small percentage requiring their time and attention.”