Decomplexifying IT Service Delivery

Bright, Brighter & Brightest

2012-01-16T09:03:00.000+01:00

I just returned from RES Software yearly Sales Kick Off in Amsterdam and I feel more energized than ever!

It is fantastic to work at a company that provides completely unique solutions to the market that will help organisations meet both current and future demands like BYOx and coIT. No other vendor can do this! We also have great leadership in Bob Janssen, CTO and co-founder. A true thought leader.

In short here's the recap:

BRIGHT PEOPLE with a BRIGHTER FUTURE and the BRIGHTEST SOLUTIONS

It is going to be an awesome 2012!

/Patrik

How to reduce Firefox profile size with RES Workspace Manager

2012-01-10T09:37:00.001+01:00

My colleague Musa Cakar at RES Software has created an article on how to reduce the profile size in Mozilla Firefox with the help of Workspace Manager.

You'll find Musa's article here.

/Patrik

Get started with RES Workspace Manager Express

2011-11-28T13:59:00.001+01:00

In this video I will show how to get started with RES Workspace Manager 2011 Express to replace roaming profiles and login scripts or GPO's.

Yes, the video is longer than normal but I have captured the complete process with reboots and all. Even so it is only 18 minutes long!

Download your FREE version of RES Workspace Manager 2011 Express here.

Register and get started with RES Baseline Desktop Analyzer here .

/Patrik

RES Service Orchestration SR3

2011-11-21T15:20:00.001+01:00

Service Release3 of RES Automation Manager Service Orchestration is now available for download.

These are some of the fixes:

Action 'Provide Information' could not be completed when using categories with many subcategories.
Clients and Dashboard: Support for Swedish language. Blame me if it is not correct :-)
New Site ID generated after upgrading to SR2.
Services not returned when person was marked for deletion. This could occur:
- If the person was marked for deletion through a Data Reader/Data Link
- If the return workflow contained at least one action.
Special characters not shown correctly in e-mail notifications.

The service release is available for download here

/Patrik

Leveraging Microsoft ConfigMgr in RES Automation Mananger

2011-11-15T14:08:00.001+01:00

Many companies that use RES Software products already have Microsoft ConfigMgr (SCCM) in place for application and OS distribution. Also companies that yet have to purchase RES products use Microsoft ConfigMgr ;-)

In this video you will see how you can leverage an existing ConfigMgr infrastructure to build and maintain a library of IT changes with the help of RES Automation Manager 2012.

RES Automation Manager also extends the capabilities of Microsoft ConfigMgr with the introduction of a self-service portal. A very easy way of introducing a private application market place for your user's.

See this post on what else is new in RES Automation Manager 2012.

/Patrik

Delivering IT as a Service the easy way

2011-11-10T13:48:00.000+01:00

I've added a new video by request that shows the value of using RES Dynamic Desktop Studio to deliver ITaaS.

Just sit back and enjoy the show...

/Patrik

Seamless Change of Application Delivery Infrastructure

2011-11-10T10:16:00.000+01:00

I have created a short video that shows how IT seamlessly can change application delivery infrastructure without affecting end-user productivity.

Using Zero Profile Technology in RES Workspace Manager allow IT to make these kind of seamless changes.

Happy user = happy admin!

Increase the speed and adoption of new technologies by implementing a User Workspace first!

/Patrik

RES Automation Manager 2012

2011-10-31T09:47:00.000+01:00

RES Automation Manager 2012 enhances existing capabilities with the following:

Cross platform support (including Red Hat & SuSE)
Take all your existing management scripts, copy & paste them into controlled and secure modules. Can be included in RunBooks to make changes in multi-tenant systems & services.
New Linux Tasks:

Execute Command
Reboot
Shutdown
Download Resource

Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager integration
Utilize the Automation Manager Self Service Portal to install applications through collections in ConfigMgr. You can also query the ConfigMgr client status (version, available services, cache options etc).

Scalability and performance improvements, including native 64-bit support
Unlimited scalability through the new Dispatcher+. Previous recommended limit per Dispatcher was 150 CCA (concurrent agents). This limit has been removed.

Launch window support
Control when jobs can be launched on systems to prevent changes during business hours. This can be overruled in the delegation model (for emergency maintenance).

Agent, Team and evaluator relationship enhancements
Allows for running queries and then automatically perform an action based on the outcome.
Evaluators now included:

=
>
<
<=
>=
<>
LIKE
NOT LIKE

Enhanced support for evaluators in the following queries:

Query AD Computer
Query AD Group
Query AD Object
Query AD Organizational Unit
Query AD User
Query Computer Properties
Query Disk Space
Query Installed Programs
Query Service Properties
Query TCP/IP Properties

New Task: Change Team Membership
Add or remove agents from teams directly in a task.

New Global Setting: Default Schedule
To have an additional safe net the default scheduling can be changed from Scheduled to On Hold. This also applies to rescheduled jobs.

Job Scheduling
The option to schedule offline agents at next boot is enhanced with; or when Agent is resumed after hibernate, sleep or standby. this is very useful for managing laptops.

RunBook Scheduling
The option to use RunBook parameter has been enhanced with the following;

to select Agents on computer name
to select Agents on active Console user
to select Agents on last Console user
to select most recent Agent on last Console User

Global Variables
When configuring a Task, the values of many fields can now optionally be replaced with Variables. Similar to parameters, Variables function as placeholders for customer-specific values, such as, server names, passwords or credentials. Different from parameters however, Variables are resolved at the moment of Job execution, rather than at the moment of Job scheduling.

Plus many additional enhancements.

/Patrik

Citrix Synergy 2011 Barcelona

2011-10-21T09:59:00.000+02:00

Citrix Synergy 2011 in Barcelona is just around the corner. RES Software will be exhibiting as usual and will be there with more people than ever.

Make sure you stop by to get the latest and greatest on the RES Software great offerings.

You probably heard of RES Workspace Manager 2011 Express being launched this Wednesday. Now you have a possibility to see it in action at the booth (#200).

We will also make another announcement that you do not want to miss.

There will be presentations and live training courses available to attend at the booth.

Attend the following session;

Delivering ITaaS today with Citrix Technology (SYN603)

Geek Speak Live! Panel Session: Desktop Transformation - thinking outside of the out-of-box scenario

Geek Speak Live! Panel Session: User Profiles smackdown (SYN507)

Citrix: It's all about me! Desktop personalisation and user profiles (SYN317)

Intel Corporation: Intelligent Desktop Virtualization helps optimize your deployment (SYN602)

These are the great technical people you can meet at our booth and in sessions:

Bob Janssen - CTO and co-founder of RES Software, The Netherlands
Bob de Kousemaeker - Product Manager, The Netherlands
Grant Tiller - Product Manager, United Kingdom
Eddie van Ravesteijn - Presales Director, The Netherlands
Arie Joosse - Presales, The Netherlands
Haakon Flender - Presales, Norway
Frode Kipperberg - Solution Engineer, Norway
Adam Stockley - Presales, United Kingdom
Alexander Sebestian - Presales, Germany
Sean Donahue - Senior Deirector, Global Alliances, US
Jeff Wettlaufer - Senior Director, Global Product Marketing, US

And many many more....Oh and I will be there as well!

This is where you will find us:

/Patrik

RES Workspace Manager - NOW FOR FREE!

2011-10-19T06:28:00.000+02:00

Introducing

First, why should you even bother about this free version?

If you already find it very easy to manage what the user gets on their desktop and why, you probably already have Workpace Manager installed :-) If not, you need it to prepare for any future changes and to be able to deliver IT as a Service. Feel free to take a look at any of my previous blogs and videos about User Workspace Management.

What can it do for you?

The management of your users will be greatly simplified! You can migrate existing desktops into managed workspaces with minimal impact. I urge you to use RES Baseline Desktop Analyzer to quickly get from current state to desired state. RES BDA is also for FREE!

You will get context aware desktops. How about;

Follow me printing
Follow me shares
Follow me applications
Follow me configuration
Follow me user settings

The users will be happier with a profile solution that really works! Easily switch between Windows XP and Windows 7 or even Windows 8 without loosing personal settings.

Conclusion!

You will get:

The leading profile management solution for free
A replacement for group policies
A replacement for login/logout scripts

AND IT IS CONTEXT AWARE!

Note: The free version is of course limited in its functionality. But be amazed over what you actually get for free...

There is absolutely NO EXCUSE anymore for creating complex group policies or managing insanely long login scripts. You do not even have to bother about user profiles!

Download your free version here NOW and take the first step towards nirvana.

Oh...did I mention that it is for FREE? And the context awareness? No? Well...it is free AND context aware :-)

/Patrik

Windows 8 Persona Management

2011-09-19T14:39:00.000+02:00

This short video demonstrates RES Workspace Manager handling persona's (profile) between Windows 7 and Windows 8 in real time.

It just works!

/Patrik

World leading solution now even better!

2011-09-05T07:52:00.000+02:00

RES Workspace Manager SR2 is released. This world leading User Workspace Management solution is now even better!

This service release does not only contain improvements but also new functionality. Here's a few examples:

1. Configuration Wizard - Now customers can get up and running with the solution even quicker with the built-in configuration wizard. This wizard will guide you through common configuration choices and paths in a few steps. You can choose between Evaluation or Production setup. It even includes sample data for Usage Tracking analysis!

2. Navigation map - The console has been enhanced with a navigation map to make it even easier to quickly jump to desired sections.

3. Video tutorials - Video tutorials make it even quicker to get started with RES Workspace Manager as well as configuring various parts such as Folder Synchronization and Workspace Model. You will find all video tutorials here.

Besides the above new features, RES Workspace Manager also now officially supports Citrix XenApp 6.5, has reduced network I/O, support for Baseline Desktop Analyzer files support for shares in advanced connection states and more...

Make sure to upgrade if you are an existing customer or install if you want to make the single most important step in your desktop management strategy.

/Patrik

Change, Adapt and Expose!

2011-09-01T16:57:00.000+02:00

Change, adapt and expose. Three words that describe what RES Dynamic Desktop Studio does for an IT department based on organisational requirements.

When there is a organisational need or requirement, it will almost always end up in some sort of technical change. Let me give you an example:

There is a new person joining the company. In order for that person be productive access to services is required. One of the services required is e-mail. The IT department will have to create an e-mail account on a mail server (often done manually).

RES Automation Manager can automate this change immediately upon the request (i.e. need) from the organisation through fully automated service orchestration. No IT interaction required.

But is this all? No, just adding a mailbox will not enable user's sending and receiving e-mail. The technical change needs to be adapted and exposed to the user based on their need and individual situation.

First they need a mail profile and then, if they are a remote worker, they need offline access . Maybe additional mailboxes needs to be opened, and finally the signature needs to be created.

RES Workspace Manager takes care of everything that needs to be adapted and exposed.

RES Automation Manager takes care of the technical change.

These products are RES Dynamic Desktop Studio.

RES Dynamic Desktop Studio will help any IT department with making changes, adapting and exposing them based on the actual user need and situation.

Here's a demo!

/Patrik

Independant Overview of User Environment Management!

2011-06-29T07:58:00.001+02:00

Ruben Spruijt at PQR has finished the last touch on his awesome whitepaper on not only WHY to invest in User Environment Management (Workspace Management), but also guidelines on HOW to chose a solution.

It contains a head-to-head analysis of the following vendors;

Appsense, Citrix, Immidio, Liquidware Labs, Microsoft, Quest, RES Software, Scense, Tricerat, Unideska and VUEM.
This whitepaper is really good reading if you want to get an independent view on this subject of which I personally have been blogging about for a while now, maybe a bit biased ;-)
Some excerpts from the whitepaper:

"It’s important to have a Vision and Strategy around Application and Desktop Delivery. User Environment Management should be part of this Vision and Strategy. Designing, building, managing and maintaining the Optimized (Virtual) Desktop infrastructure using the right technologies, corresponding vendors and products is the destination."
"Our experience is when the organisation understands the meaning of user workspace management and sees the opportunities and benefits this provides to the users and the IT organisation, the customer is often surprised that this solution has not been applied earlier."
Please follow Ruben Spruijt on Twitter: @rspruijt to get more insight on this topic.
Rubens article can be found here along with a link to download the whitepaper.
For more information on RES Dynamic Desktop Studio please visit the website or read some of my blog entries here!
Great work Ruben and team!

/Patrik

Visit RES Software at Citrix Synergy in San Francisco

2011-05-09T13:47:00.000+02:00

RES Software are happy to be a platinum sponsor at Citrix Synergy in San Francisco May 24th to May 27th.

This is a great opportunity to meet with myself and my colleagues to get the latest and greatest from RES Software and how we continue add value to Citrix solutions.

You'll find us at booth #308

Here we will do in booth demo's and presentations as well as educational sessions.

Make sure you also attend our break-out sessions with Bob Janssen and Jeff Fisher:

Managing FlexCast Delivery with RES Dynamic Desktop Studio - Thursday May 26th, at 2:00 PM at Moscone 2024

RES software solutions for Desktop Transformation - Friday May 27th at 2:00 PM at Moscone 2024

If you cannot attend, you can still follow what happens on Twitter and Facebook

Hope to see you in person.

/Patrik

How to do more with less in three easy steps

2011-04-29T07:58:00.000+02:00

According to Gartner, 40% of unplanned downtime is caused by human errors. This is also the only way for IT to do more with less! Besides greatly reducing unplanned downtime, automating your daily IT tasks will;

Standardize IT
Increase Quality of Service
Free up time to focus on strategic responsibilities
Grow IT maturity
Increase security

RES Software Automation Manager gives you an easy way of automating daily IT tasks without adding to complexity or increasing the administrative overhead. There is NO point in selecting a solution that is complex - not if you have any of the above goals.

The following videos will explain the three steps that will help you move from a Basic to a Dynamic IT as a Service environment.

Step 1 - Take an existing manual task and automate it:

Step 2 - Create Run Books and delegate them to help desk:

Step 3 - Delegate IT changes back to the organisation through self service:

By taking this practical, non-complex and easy approach to IT maturity and Microsoft I/O model, It staff will be less stressed and users more happy. Nirvana?

Take your first easy step now...

/Patrik

How to split the Workspace Manager datastore

2011-03-31T14:11:00.000+02:00

I have created a video that shows how you easily can split the RES Workspace Manager database to a primary and secondary datastore.

The primary will be used for configuration and log data and stored in a high available Microsoft SQL server environment.

The secondary datastore will be used for Usage Tracking and I have selected to store this in a MySQL server database running on RedHat Enterprise Linux 5.6.

Before we go ahead and split the data store we have to make sure that all clients have the MySQL Connector ODBC drivers installed. This is done in a few seconds with RES Automation Manager.

When the connector software has been installed we can go ahead and split the data store.

When the split is complete, RES Workspace Manager will automatically create a new pointer on the Workspace Composer so Usage Tracking data is copied to the new datastore.

/Patrik

Relieving IT stress by implementing automation - Step 3

2011-03-25T09:58:00.000+01:00

The final video in the series on 'How to relieve IT stress' explains how RES Automation Manager and Service Orchestration further removes the need of human interaction when implementing changes in the IT infrastructure. The Run Book we created in the previous video can now be delegated back to the organization as a service. This will;

Allow the organisation to decide when changes are needed
IT will still be in control on how the changes are implemented
Free up time for both the IT administrator and the service desk

This is the third and final step in the maturity process moving from a rationalized to a dynamic IT environment.

Compare the 'Before Automation' video with the 'Step -3' video. How much time did IT spend on making the actual change in the 'Step -3' video?

This means more time to deliver on strategic responsibilities and less resources needed for mundane repeatable tasks.

Here's the previous videos in the series;

Step 2 - Creating Run Books

Step 1 - Automating daily IT tasks

Before Automation

/Patrik

Relieving IT stress by implementing automation - Step 2

2011-03-24T09:39:00.000+01:00

This third video in the series on 'How to relieve IT stress' explains how the previously created task in RES Automation Manager can be turned into a run book and delegated to service desk. This will;

Minimize IT administrator workload
Create more time for strategic initiatives.

This is the second step in the maturity model moving from a standardized to a rationalized IT infrastructure.

In the next video I will show how these Run Books can be delegated back into the organisation through self service. This will not only offload the service desk but also allow the organisation to be in control on when changes will be made while IT still are in control on how the changes are implemented. Stay tuned...

/Patrik

Relieving IT stress by implementing automation - Step 1

2011-03-23T09:54:00.003+01:00

This video shows that automating daily IT tasks with RES Automation Manager can make changes;

Predictable
More secure
Increase Quality of Service

This is also the first step in the maturity model moving from a basic IT environment to a standardized IT environment.

In the next video, I will show how you can create Run Books of the standardized tasks and delegate them to service desk. This will further relieve stress from the IT administrator.

/Patrik

Relieving IT administrator stress by implementing automation - Before Scenario

2011-03-22T14:18:00.000+01:00

The only way to do more with less is to automate daily IT tasks. I will show, in four different videos, how easy this is done with RES Automation Manager.

Before scenario: No processes or automation in place. Changes are being done ad hoc and 'uncontrolled'. User request a change that has to be done in Active Directory by an IT administrator.

This video shows how changes could be done in the above scenario.

In the next video I will explain how risk can be reduced by automating daily IT tasks. Step 1 in the maturity model.

/Patrik

Focus on the right things when delivering services to your users

2011-03-22T10:29:00.000+01:00

Delivering It services is not an easy thing. Sometimes we make it even more difficult than necessary. We will have to live in a world of multiple service delivery mechanisms. Users will have multiple ways of accessing services. VDI, TS, desktops, laptops and other mobile devices. For IT to keep up with new demands they must invest in new technologies. The problem is that this only adds to complexity and the difficulty managing the users.

Take a look at the list below and think about delivering IT services and what is most important;

How? (delivery technology)
When? (time)
Where? (location)
Why? (ID/role)
What? (content/service)

Having a technical background I know that it is easy to fall back into your comfort zone - technology. But is this always best for the company?

My preference would be like this;

What?
Why?
Where?
When?
How?

With this I am not saying that how is unimportant but it should not be priority one!

What potentially could happen is that the technology itself will limit on what you must deliver. You should be able to select the best technology for every purpose and not let this result in a more complex environment to manage.

You need a solution that helps you focus on what to deliver instead of how - i.e. managing a hybrid environment.

Such solution could be RES Workspace Manager. RES Workspace Manager helps you manage the desired state of the user. Decoupling all user related settings from the underlaying technology stack. You can call it virtualization, but we call it User Workspace Management. The context of the user (ID/role, location and time) will determine what will be delivered using a hybrid delivery technology.

Look at an earlier blog post explaining the concept of User Workspace Management.

/Patrik

Applying multiple policies on the same application

2011-03-04T10:29:00.000+01:00

In this short video I demonstrate how you easily, without scripting or creating multiple application packages, can apply multiple configurations on a single application instance.

For more information about context aware just-in-time application configuration, please visit RES Software.

/Patrik

Removing Local Administrator Rights

2011-03-02T11:51:00.000+01:00

I have created a new video, this time with better audio, that demonstrates how to apply Dynamic Privileges to an application. Dynamic Privileges can help remove users having local administrator rights on their computer.

Please visit RES Software for more information on how you can decrease your desktop TCO and at the same time increase security.

/Patrik

Turn existing scripts into dynamic and reusable tasks

2011-02-22T13:57:00.001+01:00

A lot of administration, particularly on servers, is used with scripts either with Powershell, VB or Secure Shell (SSH). You can basically do anything with scripts and more and more features are exposed to scripting.

The problem with scripts is that they are usually hard to maintain and troubleshoot. They are rarely documented which results in painful hand overs to new administrators. Scripts are also often created for one distinct purpose and cannot be reused.

So how can you take existing scripts and make them dynamic and reusable?

The answer is RES Automation Manager.

In RES Automation Manager you can easily import your existing scripts and turn them into a module/task. This task can then be scheduled in a controlled fashion by administrators with no administrative rights on the systems the script is being executed on. By using parameters in RES Automation Manager the scripts can be generic, dynamic and reusable. I will explain exactly how it works in the below video.

If you want to know more on how to get in control, please visit RES Software on the web.

Patrik

Query uptime and perform controlled reboots

2011-02-22T11:40:00.000+01:00

I got a question last week from a company if they, with RES Automation Manager, could easily query uptime on their Windows servers and then perform a controlled reboot.

I have created a video that demonstrates how this can be done.

Beware that this is a very powerful tool and could cause unwanted results if used in the wrong way.

This can be avoided by delegating control and setting a scope on possible systems where the task can be executed.

If you want to know more about RES Automation Manager please visit RES Software on the web.

/Patrik

How to change local administrator password in less than 60 seconds on all computers

2011-02-21T11:31:00.000+01:00

In this video I demonstrate how easy it is to change the local administrator password on all servers and desktops in less than 60 seconds.

With RES Automation Manager making changes like this is as easy as 1 2 3!

This module can be delegated to help desk and the actual change is done without them having local administrative rights. All changes are audited.

For more information, please visit RES Software on the web.

/Patrik

How to remove local admin rights and elevate rights when needed

2011-02-09T15:58:00.001+01:00

Removing local administrator rights from desktops and laptops have a huge impact! According to Gartner you could reduce the TCO with as much as $1237 per user per year! It could also, according to Microsoft, mitigate the effect of 92% of critical vulnerabilities.

There are a lot of reasons why local administrative rights is needed. It could be legacy applications, access to specific Control Panel applets or applications that need to change hardware settings.

What are we waiting for? Let's go ahead and see how it can be done.

RES Workspace Manager 2011 have the possibility to add Dynamic Privileges to specific processes for specific users.

In the video I demonstrate how it is configured and the way it works.

If you want to know more, please visit RES Software.

/Patrik

How to enforce Separation of Duties in a Windows Server environment

2011-01-21T12:00:00.000+01:00

Some regulations require organisations to enforce separation of duties. In a Windows server environment this is very hard to achieve. When doing maintenance on a Windows server and logging on to the server, you automatically have access to all applications and resources. There is no way of giving different user groups access to individual application sets. If you have to do maintenance on a domain controller it is even worse. You now have been given the keys to the kingdom.

Here´s an excerpt from Wikipedias definition of Separation of Duties:

In information systems, segregation of duties helps reduce the potential damage from the actions of one person. IS or end-user department should be organized in a way to achieve adequate separation of duties. According to ISACA's Segregation of Duties Control matrix ^[3], some duties should not be combined into one position. This matrix is not an industry standard, just a general guideline suggesting which positions should be separated and which require compensating controls when combined.

Separation of duties should prevent any individual to have access to a single complete system.

With RES Dynamic Desktop Studio, life will become a lot easier. You can make sure users only can access applications tied to their duties, and when they have to perform these duties, an approval process need to take place.

In this demo I show how this could work.

Please visit RES Software for more information about RES Dynamic Desktop Studio.

/Patrik

RES Virtual Desktop Extender (VDX) Demo

2011-01-19T11:12:00.003+01:00

I have produced a short video demonstrating the capabilities of RES Virtual Desktop Extender. RES Virtual Desktop Extender technology let users seamlessly access local applications from their virtual desktop or terminal server start menu. In the video I demo the difference looking at a HD video on your virtual desktop with and without VDX.

Another reason for using this technology, apart from resource intensive applications, is applications that needs access to local hardware. How do you burn a DVD from your virtual desktop?

For more information about this technology, please visit RES Software.

/Patrik

How do you secure a virtual desktop environment?

2011-01-10T14:42:00.000+01:00

Securing central environments like Terminal Server (with or without Citrix) has always been a challenge due to the fact that many people are accessing the same computer. Worst case you have to have multiple Terminal Server farms to adapt to different security needs. This requires complex configuration and management. The challenge is the same when it comes to VDI.

A successful and cost effective VDI implementation requires as few images as possible running in stateless/non-persistent mode. Traditional desktop management tools is not enough. Traditional security based around the device will also fall short. Since the user's desktop now runs in the data center, knowing the physical location of the user is critical.

This also brings us to another question; how do you troubleshoot an environment where desktops reverts back to the previous state when the user's log off? More about this in my next blog article.

What you need is dynamic context aware computing. Settings, configuration and security based around the user's context will ease the adoption and management of virtual desktop infrastructures.

In this movie I demo context aware security to comply to some security regulations where applications only are allowed to run at specific physical locations. By having a context aware and dynamic VDI environment, changes in the user's context (in this case the location) will automatically update the workspace and make sure security regulations are followed.

Please watch my previous video about User Workspace Management to get more details about the concept of context aware computing.

/Patrik

RES User Workspace Management

2010-12-30T15:53:00.000+01:00

In this video I explain the concept of User Workspace Management - the recipe for future success.

Please visit RES Software for additional information.

Happy New Year!

/Patrik

RES Software Zero Profile Technology - Demo

2010-12-22T08:43:00.005+01:00

This is a short video demonstrating some of the capabilities of RES Software Zero Profile Technology.

Roaming profiles and folder redirection is not enough if you have a non-static and changing environment. Migrating profiles only move the problem.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q93RtG4qEFc

/Patrik

IT as a Service through Dynamic Desktops

2010-12-21T17:15:00.000+01:00

I have created a short video demonstrating the capabilities of RES Software Dynamic Desktop Studio to help IT deliver services through dynamic desktops.

/Patrik

Ease VDI adoption?

2010-12-01T16:23:00.000+01:00

If you want to implement virtual desktops there are a few factors that I recommend you look into. I have listed three of them below that I think are important:

1. Choose your preferred desktop virtualization vendor.

2. Consider a technology agnostic profile management solution.

3. The move from physical to virtual desktops must be close to seamless from an end user perspective.

If you do the above, I believe the project will have greater success potential at lowest possible cost and highest user satisfaction.

How do I select virtual desktop technology?

If you leave out profile management and instead focus on who is best at delivering a virtual desktop, the choice becomes a bit easier. Look at what you already have in place in regards to virtualization technologies and decide to either stick with it (maybe due to competence) or consider another vendor if they provide business critical features as availability, security or performance. What we already know is that the virtualization area is rapidly evolving and new vendors appear providing new and better ways to virtualize your infrastructure. This rapid development makes it almost impossible to do a strategic choice on how to deliver the virtual desktop. You should be able to adapt to changes and use whatever technology is best and most cost effective at any time.

Profile management is a big problem but is not the only user challenge.

Desktop virtualization vendors often have their own way of dealing with profile issues. They usually are focused on their own technology and dependant on Windows roaming profiles to work. What you need is a solution that is technology agnostic meaning that you can choose whatever delivery mechanism for both the desktop and the application without having to manage everything in silo´s. But there are other things that need to be managed besides the user profile! How about login scripts or group policies? The management of these items is also silo based and challenging, especially in a dynamic virtual environments with frequent changes.

Virtualization

If IT is broken down and managed in these defined parts; hardware, software and service, separated by virtualization techniques, the dynamic enterprise are within reach! A bonus feature that comes with the technology is user based security. The context of the user logging on a desktop (virtual, streamed or physical) will decide how security is handled.

A seamless move from physical to virtual desktops.

This might sound like nirvana, but is actually achievable if the service layer is virtualized. This technique breaks down the complex desktop into simpler pieces that can be managed without dependencies and complex scripting.

To get there you need to gather existing configuration about what your users currently are receiving as services. By services I refer to what is exposed to the users on their desktop. It is important to gather information such as where the users are physically located, what applications they are using, printers and drives being mapped and last but not least - settings stored in their existing profile.

With this collected, managed and 'virtualized', IT is free to change the way services are delivered to the user; physical to virtual, XP to Windows 7 or fat to thin, anytime, back and forth and as often as needed.

Make a small step towards a big goal with workspace virtualization.

The road to Self Service goes via Automation

2010-09-23T16:57:00.000+02:00

Many companies strive to implement Self Service (service orchestration) in order to streamline IT and give a better service to the end-users. This way the IT services can be delivered consistent, secure and automatic. The I and T of IT is put back in order. Information is the responsibility of the organisation and the IT department is responsible for the Technology.

In order to be able to implement any kind of self service system, there has to be task automation in place. Daily routine tasks such as adding an Active Directory account, creating an Exchange mailbox, changing a phone number or installing an application must be automated and delegated back to the organisation. Without automation, no self-service!

The basic concept of a self service solution consists of three elements:

1. Qualification
2. Delivery
3. Return

A user qualifies for a service based on categories such as an identification. There should also be restrictions and dependencies tied to any service. A user allowed to create purchase orders should not be able to approve them i.e. a restriction. In order to have a mailbox you have to have an user account i.e. a dependency.

When a user qualifies for a service the delivery of the service is initiated either automatically or triggered by the user.

And when the user no longer qualifies, the service is returned.

Delivery of a service might also involve manual tasks such as order a new laptop or purchase an additional application license or an approval process, showing a message or asking for input.

Service orchestration is very useful for self service but also for employee onboarding and offboarding. Other areas of use is employee role change, application decommissioning, self paced migration and requesting a service for someone else.

You get better control, lower TCO, increased security and more productive users.

So if you are thinking of self service - make sure you start with automating your daily IT tasks!

Zero Profile Technology

2010-09-06T09:46:00.000+02:00

User Profiles in Microsoft Windows environments causes a lot of headaches. Why? In short, user profiles are device and OS dependent and grow large.

Zero Profile Technology from RES Software takes care of any profile problem by simply copying user specific settings out of the user profile.

The first time a user starts an application Zero Profile Technology will grab the current application settings, copy it outside of the profile, and subsequently only specific changes are managed.

By doing this, a user can move between any computer and OS (Windows of course) and all settings will be preserved. IT will have control of the profile size and content. No more silo management of policy's. Only happy users and drastically simplified management.

Look at this video from RES Software Support to get a glimpse on how it works:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15ftj5SAU58

And here it is explained in more detail:

http://blog.ressoftware.com/index.php/2010/07/22/zero-profiling-explained/

Note that Zero Profile Technology is only a small, but very important, part of RES PowerFuse capabilities.

/Patrik

Migrations to Windows 7 and Virtual Desktops in rapid growth!

2010-08-23T12:13:00.000+02:00

Four out of ten are delivering migration projects on time and on budget

A survey of close to 1000 IT professionals in the Nordics conducted by software company RES Software shows that eight out of ten businesses have decided to roll out Windows 7, and almost half will roll out virtual workspaces by the end of the year. Migrating user profiles is considered the biggest challenge.

The survey shows that almost eight out of ten companies are planning to migrate to Windows 7 (W7), with the same amount having purchased licenses already. 34 percent have already rolled it out, and almost four in ten indicate that they have a few selected users up and running the operating system. 65 percent do not have any tools or procedures to migrate back from W7 on challenges arise.

“According to IDC over half of all businesses will migrate to W7 at the end of the year. The big challenge is that user settings and preferences disappear unless procedures are in place. This leads to large additional charges," said Ole-Kristian Sivertsen at RES Software.

Eight out of ten believe analysis and design of the platform will take up to six months, with the remaining using more time. For application testing, 75 percent believe that this will also take the same amount – up to six months. 40 percent indicated that they will spend more than six months on the actual roll-out. Migrating user profiles, downtime and lost productivity, lack of knowledge of the user environment and potentially disgruntled users are the biggest concerns.

“To deliver the same desktop environment is a necessity for a migration. We want to make it easier, safer and cheaper to manage users' desktop environments. Migrations are not difficult if you have the right tools. The process should take place without the users being affected, "says Sivertsen.

50% have decided to roll out virtual workspaces from Citrix or VMware. 45 percent by the end of the year, another 20 percent set in 2011.

"This confirms what many people know. Virtual workspaces are one of the biggest growth rockets in the market. The results show that customers have realized the many advantages of the concept. It is positively surprising that so many say they should have it in place during the fall, " says Sivertsen.

Nordic findings

The survey was also conducted in the Swedish and Danish market. Number of respondents in these two markets were almost 300 in total. Although the answers to a large extent aligned, there are also some interesting differences:

The Swedes are on top in the decision to roll out W7 (85 percent)Four out of ten Danish companies have rolled out W7, compared with three out of ten Norwegian and Swedish
50 percent of Norwegian companies have taken the decision to roll out virtual workspaces. In Sweden and Denmark four out of ten have made the decision
Four out of ten Danish companies have not decided when the deployment of virtual workspaces to happen (six out of ten will be in place by the end of next year s). Just over half of Swedish companies will have it in place by the end of 2011
Half of the Swedish migration projects are delivered on time and on budget. Similarly, Norway and Denmark were ten percent lower
The Danes set a higher degree of planning for emergency preparedness plans / tools for the transition back from W7 (rollback)
Norwegian companies will use the shortest time on analysis and design of W7, the Swedes the most
Danes calculated shortest time to application and functionality testing (55 percent in under three months)
Half of Danish enterprises will have deployed the W7 to all users within three months. The Swedes will take the best time, probably because they have many special adaptations and tailoring to the user environment
Danish and Norwegian companies believed that the migration of user profiles will provide them with as many challenges. The Swedes were most worried about downtime and lost productivity. Other special concerns across the region were: Many tedious manual processes, dissatisfied users, the migration at the expense of more strategic initiatives and whether users would have the same permissions, the rights and programs as they had before migration
When asked about their thoughts on migrations, most respondents emphasized strongly that it is mission critical. About 15 per cent in each country believed migrations are fun. Between ten and 20 percent thought it was a necessary evil

About the Survey
The web-based survey was conducted from Nordic end-users in July 2010 with nearly a thousand answers. 676 people answered the survey in Norway. Seven out of ten worked in the private sector. More than half had more than 500 IT users in the business. Half were architects or IT consultants. 20 percent were IT or operations manager. In Sweden, 179 people answered the survey. Seven out of ten came from the private sector. 55 percent from businesses with fewer than 1,000 IT users. In Denmark, there was 111 responses. Eight out of ten from the private sector, and seven out of ten had fewer than a thousand users in the IT environment.

About RES Software
RES Software is the market leader in solutions for the management of Microsoft-based user groups. The company operates development in administration of physical and virtual client solutions, and supports all types of customers of all sizes to reduce costs associated with the operation and management of desktop environment. Customers get a better ability to manage complex client and user groups more easily, and simultaneously meet demands from users who need personal and dynamic desktop environment regardless of time and place. RES Software supports both physical and virtual desktop solutions, and our patented technology makes it easier to manage, automate and deliver secure, personalized and innovative user experiences. For more information, follow us on Twitter @ RES Software and visit our website: www.ressoftware.com

Security in a mixed virtual and traditional desktop environment

2010-06-29T11:37:00.000+02:00

How do you manage security in a virtual desktop environment? Mixed with traditional desktops?

Traditional security comes short when you start thinking about delivering the desktop virtually from the data center. Installing antivirus and firewall is not enough.

Why not?

Well, everybody now run their personal desktop from within the data center. The network is shared with mission critical servers. Of course you can segment your network, install gateways etc etc. This will increase complexity, will be difficult to maintain, difficult to document, inflexible and expensive. A much easier way is to protect the sensitive infrastructure from the users. Security should be based on the user session instead of on the device itself, as traditional security does. What we want is context based security!

What will this actually mean to me?

You do not have to create a complex infrastructure if security is tied to the user sessions. After user authentication, the user session will be locked down and external access will be limited. Access to USB drives, CD/DVD (yes even from a virtual desktop) and network can be limited and/or prohibited. No complex scripting adapted to each and every OS/application is required. Security is maintained independently if the user logs on to Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows Server 200x. No need for complex firewall rules or locking down local drives with NTFS. One golden stateless image is possible.

RES PowerFuse solves all your headaches!

The user context (id, role, location, device and time) will continously be evaluated and a limited content will be composed. The composition can consist of access to applications, data, printers and of course the users personal settings. You will get a dynamic User Workspace where applications and resources only are available to the right user at the right time at the correct location. This applies even if other applications are installed - they will not be available to the user if security policys apply. Unauthorized processes will not be able to execute in the user session. RES PowerFuse will allow you to use white listing on application level.

What happens if a user disconnects from the session and move to another location?

What security policys apply in this new location? Is access to all applications and data allowed according to regulations? What if the application where running in the session? Applications will be terminated if the applications are not allowed in the new location - without having to log out and back in again! Security rules are evaluated in real time based on the user´s context and the corresponding content is composed. In this above scenario the physical location of the user is used as a contex evaluator. Not the location of the virtual desktop - which is in the data center.

You will, quite simply, get a very secure zone in the data center wher users intentionally or unintentionally can make a mess.

Contact RES Software if you want to know more about how to secure you virtual desktop infrastructure. This way of securing your infrastructure based on user sessions is also applicable to traditional desktops and central published desktops. One way to rule them all!

Focus on what to deliver to the users instead of how!

Find out more here!

//Patrik

Why Windows 7 does not have to enforce a new desktop strategy

2010-05-11T12:31:00.004+02:00

When I am listening to customers they tell me that when they migrate to Windows 7 they will reassess their desktop strategy - in part or completely.

Before I continue let's just make one thing clear. The choice of a new operating system, like Windows 7, is not a strategy. It is simply a technology choice. A strategy typically spans over period longer than 3-5 years. This is by itself a big challenge. How can you tell what will be the best IT delivery vehicle in 5 or more years?

Why reassess your desktop strategy?

The biggest reason for reassessment, as I see it, is that a migration always is a very big change for IT and even more so for the end-users. The IT-department look at changing the way users use their desktop as it is going to be a big change for them anyway. A new way might be using more laptops, virtual desktops (VDI), maybe thin clients and published desktops?

Most of us have been through an occasional OS migration or reinstallation for that matter. This migration always result in a 'new' desktop and maybe also a new computer. What it did not result in was continuity. All my personal settings where either lost completely or moved to a backup location for me to restore myself. No favorites, no desktop icons, no printers, my background picture gone, application settings lost. The list can be made very long and the user satisfaction and productivity is low. IT is not seen as delivering services but instead always changing things - disruptive.

What are the problems associated with a migration?

Some of the problems are tied to the fact that most personal settings are tightly coupled with the physical computer I as a user log on to. The settings I make as well as the settings IT manages.

On a Windows OS there is a personal profile associated with every individual user as well as scripts to tie resources to the user: such as printers and drives. On top of that Group Policys are also used to control and configure the user desktop. All are tied to the specfic OS. Point solutions.

You can choose from a wide array of custom made tools to help you migrate from Windows XP or Vista to Windows 7. Or why not your Citrix Farm from Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2008. What I hear from my customers is that they work, but not 100%!

So in reality this is not something you can rely a migration on. Not if you want it to be successful, risk free and performed at a low cost. Not without disrupting end-user productivity.

What if you did not have to take into account all those ways of delivering configuration to the user and retaining their settings? Life would be so much easier; both from an IT perspective and from an end-user perspective.

How do you succeed?

By separating the user and its settings from the underlaying infrastructure it does not matter how IT services are delivered to them; OS or application delivery infrastructure. Local, published, streamed, virtual...it does not matter!

The User Workspace (this is what you get when with the separation) is created by constantly evaluating the user Context (ID/role, device, location and time) and your security policys and will compose a dynamic content. The content can consist of access to applications, printers, data and the users personal settings.

So what is in it for you?

With a User Workspace you will never have a high cost and high risk migration project. We all know that after Windows 7 there will be a new OS with a new migration project. They will keep coming. Technology changes like this are unavoidable. High cost. High risk. By transforming your traditional desktop into a User Workspace you minimize the risk by taking control of the existing infrastructure and, step-by-step, perform the transformation. You can make an analysis of real settings in the existing environment such as application usage, drive connections, printer connections, location & devices etc - instead of making qualified guesses. With this information, rules are automatically created to replicate or optimize the delivery. This is called Desktop Transformation. When you have proceeded with Desktop Transformation then you can migrate.

You will have total control of your Windows clients and users. You can change the way the traditional desktop and applications are delivered to the end-user. No need for complex scripting or application packaging. These settings are also separated. You will get one place for all configuration, administration and trouble shooting, totally independant on the underlaying infrastructure.

What will the result be?

The user can log on anywhere and always have access to the right applications, right settings and right configuration. One minute they can work from a laptop running Windows XP, the next move to a stationary running Windows 7, and then move back again. IT can implement virtual desktops and the users can instantly log on to that environment be productive. Some applications being streamed to the current desktop, others published and some locally installed. IT can replace the OS with Windows 7, the users will continue to recieve a non disruptive service and they will be productive and happy. Beside all of this you can create a very secure user environment since security is user based, not device based. When the user is in a non-secure location, do not give access to sensitive data or applications. Some companies would 'kill' for that kind of security enforcement!

Difficult choices made simple!

You do not have to spend countless of hours trying to find the best desktop strategy just because you want or have to move to Windows 7. Today you might be struggling choosing between Citrix XenDesktop or VMware View. Maybe Double-Take? What about Med-V? Application Virtualization? ThinApp? InstallFree? Citrix Streaming? There is no lack of choices! What you should focus on is who or what is best at delivering that kind of technology at that time, without having to think about the fact that users have to access it and retain their settings. Minimize the risk involved in a technology change and at the same time drastically reduce the operational costs. You will get a well managed, secure desktop environment.

I know this might sound a bit too good to be true, but it isn't. This concept is nothing new, but still revolutionary. The solution is fantastic and revolving. Change the way you manage your clients forever.

You can get the best of two worlds. You get a:

Centralized and Standardized heterogenious desktop environment

that at the same time is:

Dynamic, Personal and Technology Agnostic

The strategy you should think about is how to transform you traditional desktop environment to User Workspaces.

Below you will find a short movie explaining some of what I covered in this article.

RES Software User Workspace Management

/Patrik

Stop! Think again!

2010-05-11T08:44:00.000+02:00

Do not let the choice of technology turn into strategy!

When you deliver a desktop to a user the essence of the delivery is the content i.e. the service i.e. the customer need. The delivery vehicle of the service, such as desktop and application, must be a temporary technology choice, simply due to the fact that the evolution pace within this space is rapid. If you make technologies like Windows 7 or a specific VDI vendor your strategy, you will decrease business agility, increase complexity, create point solutions and focus on technology instead of service delivery. You will also be less competitive.

RES Software will make service delivery technology agnostic in a Microsoft Windows environment. This will strongly contribute to decreased complexity, minimized risk when making technology changes, lower TCO and above all increase end user productivity and satisfaction.

So think again, look in the rear mirror and learn from your experiences.

What we without a doubt know will not change - is that things will change!

Read more...

/Patrik