If you ask IT administrators, many will tell you that the way they handle application lifecycle management has become very difficult. The proliferation of new and legacy 
applications is making it more and more complicated to manage, update, deliver and consume applications on the multitude of devices being used today in business. Some of the common problems encountered by IT administrators include:
- Slow and painful application install and maintenance
- Unreliable results
- Complex and outdated processes
- Time spent managing applications and users
- High infrastructure and support costs
So it should come as no surprise that according to an ESG market summary report, sixty percent of organizations are looking to pursue alternative endpoint and application delivery models.[1]
Fortunately, VMware App Volumes is modernizing application lifecycle management by simplifying application packaging, delivery and ongoing management. We saw tremendous adoption of App Volumes in 2015 with customers and partners helping drive our roadmap at a ferocious pace. Offered as part of VMware Horizon® Enterprise and as a standalone solution, customers were able to immediately realize the cost and flexibility benefits of using App Volumes in their workspace.
For example, Grant Venner, head of End-User Computing at Intermediate Capital Group, told us, “I genuinely believe that App Volumes is one of those solutions that has the potential to revolutionize and immediately saw the benefits for our organization.”
Jason Bullock, executive director of IT Global Infrastructure and Support from BDP International said, “Our experience with App Volumes has been very solid. In fact, I didn’t quite believe the demo but we’ve been able to deploy a number of apps in like minutes with this thing so it’s been phenomenal” (see customer video here).
I want to thank you all for this incredible journey and today, I’m pleased to announce the newest version of our solution, VMware App Volumes 3.0 that will be generally available later this quarter.
The VMware Horizon Application Management™ Bundle introduced last year helped optimize virtual desktop and application environments, and reduce costs by bringing together application delivery and management (VMware App Volumes), user environment management (UEM) and monitoring (VMware vRealize Operations) all in one solution. This proved to be a great hit with customers – from large global financial services firms to healthcare providers and multinational manufacturing corporations. With this in mind, we decided to integrate many of the capabilities offered in the bundle as part of our new VMware App Volumes 3.0 offering.
VMware App Volumes 3.0 is a modern approach to application lifecycle management that simplifies the creation, deployment and management of applications. It offers key capabilities around application lifecycle management such as automation, flexible delivery and monitoring, integrated end-user management, and unified administration. Together, they provide radically faster application delivery, unified application and user environment management, while reducing IT costs by up to 70 percent.[2]
So what’s new in VMware App Volumes 3.0?
- AppToggle – A new patent pending capability that enables per user entitlement and installation of applications within a single AppStack for maximum flexibility. This helps IT reduce the number of AppStacks that need to be managed, lowers storage capacity and management costs even further, improves performance, and allows applications to share or have different dependencies in a single AppStack. The AppToggle architectural approach of only installing entitled applications also offers greater security as opposed to simply hiding installed applications, which can easily be exploited.
- AppCapture with AppIsolation – A new capability that easily captures and updates applications to simplify application packaging, delivery and isolation with a command line interface that enables IT to distribute AppStack creation to different teams and merge AppStacks for simplified delivery and management. With support for AppIsolation, AppCapture also integrates with VMware ThinApp to enable IT to deliver native applications and VMware ThinApp applications in one consistent format through AppStacks.
- AppScaling with Multizones – Allows integrated application availability across datacenters so customers no longer need additional software to replicate AppStacks across sites. IT admins can add multiple file shares to host AppStacks and pair them to VMware vCenter™ instances. An import service will then scan the file shares and populate the AppStacks into the data stores of the vCenter instances. This removes the requirement of having a shared data store between vCenter instances to replicate AppStacks.
- Integrated Application, User Management and Monitoring Architecture – A new modern architecture for the VMware App Volumes manager component offers the industry’s only solution that combines application and user environment management with monitoring. With an architecture streamlined for faster provisioning and context-aware user policy, this offers a flexible and reliable application and lifecycle management solution for the digital workspace.
- Unified Administration Console – A single pane of glass across application management, user environment management and monitoring. This next-generation admin view recognizes patterns to create simple, yet powerful workflows for application delivery, user environment management (beta for this release), and desktop and published application environment monitoring. This removes the complexity of managing multiple consoles but still enables customers to use legacy consoles if desired. Out of the box functionality also enables IT admins to address end-user needs quickly and efficiently.
We have introduced a tremendous amount of innovation since App Volumes joined the VMware family in August 2014. In a little over a year, the team has introduced 5 new versions to the solution – each offering greater technology advancements than the one before. With this rapid pace of innovation from the team, the notion that only startups can iterate quickly is rightly dispelled.
Lastly, we are making VMware App Volumes even more accessible. VMware App Volumes 3.0 will be available in three editions.
- Standard – A new edition starting at only $60 per user that includes AppStacks, Writeable Volumes and integrated UEM
- Advanced – Includes scalable enterprise management capabilities such as AppToggle, AppCapture with AppIsolation, and AppScaling for organizations with 1,000 or more seats.
- Enterprise – Includes application monitoring in addition to the capabilities available in the Advanced edition
For more information, I encourage you to visit http://www.vmware.com/go/AV.
@harrylabana
VMware, App Volumes, Horizon, Horizon Application Management, and vCenter are registered trademarks or trademarks of VMware, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and other jurisdictions.
[1] Workplace Delivery: Desktop, Application, and Mobility Platforms for Hybrid End-user Computing Environments, ESG, Mark Bowker and Terri McClure, January 12, 2015
[2] Based on internal VMware testing, August 2014.
