SaaS - Application Management Solution - Futurestate IT

Windows 7 Migration Woes

Futurestate IT — Mon, 13 May 2013 18:53:14 +0000

The folks over at VMware have released some survey data that sheds some light on the more prevalent downsides of Windows XP to 7 migrations. The number of companies that have not migrated yet is not surprising, nor is that what caught my eye. What is interesting is that the level of grief experienced by staff that only used free migration tools is much higher than those who made use of specialized tools that were purchased to help them along. The blog states “…Companies that purchased new tools to help with the migration experienced over 50% fewer challenges than those using free tools from Microsoft”. Also of note: 92% of companies surveyed experienced challenges with their migration, and 49% indicated that user downtime was one of them.

The typical problem areas in Windows migration projects will of course include UAT/training, and attempting to deploy applications that will not work properly in the new environment. The process of UAT is time consuming and diverts resources away from other, more valuable business functions. If you have an application that you can carry over to Windows 7 because either it’s compatible/supported by the vendor, or because you are able to remediate it so that it can be successfully deployed, you will reduce the amount of user acceptance testing that needs to occur on that app, and all but eliminate user training as well.

The impact of failing to adequately prepare for your migration by not using the right tools to help you include putting in extra time on evenings and weekends, and perhaps placing other projects on hold to divert resources to help.

View the survey data: http://blogs.vmware.com/euc/2013/05/beware-of-windows-7-migration-hazards.html

AppRx automates application rationalization, analysis and testing to accelerate Windows 7/8 migrations. Book an AppRx demo or get a free trial today!

Are you aware of your application security vulnerabilities?

Futurestate IT — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 20:06:03 +0000

A few years ago I brought my car in for service at the dealership. While I was there, the service advisor told me that there was an outstanding recall on the car. It was discovered that the lock mechanism was easily defeated using a flathead screwdriver, making the car an easy target for thieves. As the car owner, nobody bothered to let me know that there was a recall on the car until I got to the dealership, but it seemed that the word was out on the street a long time ago. Manufacturers are not obligated to let you know about recalls if the issue does not pertain to a safety issue.

We’ve seen a lot of activity in the news recently about how application security vulnerabilities that suddenly come to light can cause concern among corporate security groups and application owners alike. This issue isn’t confined to Java updates alone, as vulnerabilities are discovered almost as quickly as updates are released in some cases. There are plenty of application vulnerabilities that you are probably not aware of, which may effect the applications that you are running in your environment right now. The intelligence to know when vulnerabilities are detected and when fixes are released is already available to you. Using an alert system that quickly makes you aware of potential application security issues should be a part of your day-to-day operational tasks. That way, at least you are aware of these issues, even if you choose not to do anything about it. After all, knowing is half the battle.

AppRx offers security alerts as part of ongoing portfolio management. If you’re interested in learning more about the security alerting feature book a demo http://futurestateit.com/demo/

Cleaning up

Futurestate IT — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 15:28:31 +0000

When you are thinking about your Windows migration project, you may have identified some dependencies, along with a bunch of nice-to-haves that you would like to have in place as well. This may include a migration to System Center 2012, or a cleanup and upgrade of your AD environment etc. Along with cleaning up your application portfolio through a rationalization effort, these projects will provide you some great benefits now, and in the long term. By rolling out effective tools and using them to their full potential, you will reduce the time you spend on basic day-to-day tasks. Similarly, by reducing the amount of applications that you need to manage, you reduce your workload and costs as well.

I often speak with customers about the need to evaluate their portfolios and decide which applications to migrate and which to discard. A great analogy for this is that a migration should be approached in the same way that you would handle moving house; it’s a great opportunity to get rid of the excess junk that you have been storing. Tools that are not used, or that do not have the desired functionality should be reassessed and possible upgraded or discarded as well.

Futurestate IT Launches AppRx 3.0 at MMS 2013 with a New Application Rationalization and Migration Dashboard

Futurestate IT — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 17:17:16 +0000

Toronto, Canada, April 03, 2013-Futurestate IT today announced the launch of SaaS based AppRX 3.0 dashboard with at glance reports and alerts for application migration, rationalization and portfolio management.

“Businesses on the whole have neglected their application portfolios since Y2K which has lead to application bloat and inflated IT operational cost.” said Alex Topitsch, CEO Futurestate IT. He continued to explain that “AppRx 3.0 provides critical application intelligence that allows enterprises to tackle application bloat and significantly reduce their IT costs for both application migration and ongoing portfolio management.”

According to a survey by Harris Interactive, 82% of organizations polled said that monetary losses due to sprawled, unused, unresponsive or crashed applications cost their business anywhere from $10 thousand – $20 million per year.

AppRx 3.0 enables enterprises to identify redundant, unsupported and unused applications that are candidates for elimination, consolidation and modernization. By rationalizing the applications in their portfolio, enterprises are able to reduce operational costs, accelerate migration to new technology platforms like Windows 7/8, reduce downtime and ensure business productivity.

AppRx 3.0 Dashboard and New Features

SaaS platform – Accelerated insight
SaaS platform requires no hardware/software installation, maintenance or support. Easily integrates with application desktop deployment and inventory management systems.

Application rationalization insight – Reduce the time and cost of migration projects
Trim the scope of applications for migration with AppRx automated normalization and rationalization analysis. Identify application redundancy by version or function.

Migration readiness indicator – Understand work effort at a glance
Real time migration status provides insight on applications that are compatible ‘as is’, upgradable or in need of testing. Test applications for Windows 7/8, Windows Server 2008/2012, and virtualization compatibility.

Customized reporting – Leverage empirical data to drive application migration decisions
Easily configure rationalization and compatibility reports using customizable attributes for each department, user group or application portfolio.

Security alerting – Understand application vulnerabilities and upgrade options
Security reports identify any application vulnerabilities, the severity of the exposure and the upgrade options to mitigate or eliminate the risk.

Compliance risk alerting – make critical business decisions
Risk alerts monitor and ensure ongoing compliance with corporate policy regarding age, support status and security risk as application lifecycle changes occur.

AppRx 3.0 launching at MMS Las Vegas on Monday April 8th through to Thursday April 11, 2013
View AppRx videos
Book an AppRx demo
Get a free AppRx trial

About Futurestate IT
Futurestate IT offers AppRx, the leading SaaS-based Application Rationalization solution for enterprises worldwide to reduce application management cost and mitigates overall portfolio risk. Available via the web, AppRx provides automated rationalization of an organization’s portfolio and identifies applications that should be retired, consolidated or modernized in order to eliminate redundancy and improve portfolio health.

For organizations moving to Windows 7/8, AppRx can dramatically reduce the number of applications in the portfolio; driving down overall migration cost, effort and timelines.

AppRx also enables organizations to monitor their portfolio on an ongoing basis to continuously rationalize applications and reduce operational cost and risk. As a SaaS-based solution, customers can be up and running in minutes and do not require any hardware or software installation, maintenance or support.

Futurestate IT is a Microsoft partner. For more information, visit http://www.futurestateit.com

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Futurestate IT and AppRx are trademarks of Futurestate IT Inc.

Everyone knows Windows XP support ends in a year. So what?

Futurestate IT — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 20:59:16 +0000

Next week you will see a ton of articles and blogs about the demise of Windows XP in April of 2014. As you are already well aware, there is only 1 year left of support for that operating system, and you are probably doing something about it in your organization already. There is no reason to continue to tell you the ramifications, either. Since you know you are going to need to do something or have most likely started, you are probably looking for ways to make the transition to your new platform(s) easier.

One of the ways to simplify your migration is to reduce the scope of apps you need to move by undertaking a rationalization initiative. If you are using a tool like SCCM to manage your inventory and you generate a report of the applications that you have out there, you will be in possession of a very large list of items. A lot of those items will be drivers and patches and other stuff you probably won’t care about, but you will be surprised at the number of real apps that you have in that list, including multiple versions of the same products, and stuff you didn’t know was out there and really shouldn’t be.

Identifying the real information in your portfolio and gathering some intelligence on that data will help you make the best decisions for you portfolio. After rationalization, we have seen portfolio reductions of over 20% quite regularly, which results in a reduction in project time and cost, and less work for you.

Accelerate Windows 7/8 Migration (Video)

Futurestate IT — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 23:05:33 +0000

SaaS based AppRx automates application rationalization, analysis and testing to accelerate Windows 7/8 migrations, reducing time and cost of migration projects.

Learn more

Ongoing Application Rationalization (Video)

Futurestate IT — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 23:01:25 +0000

AppRx, the leading SaaS Application Rationalization and Portfolio Management solution. Available via the web, AppRx provides automated application rationalization, analysis and testing to accelerate migrations to Windows 7/8 and manage ongoing portfolio health. As a SaaS solution, customers can be up and running in a couple hours.

Learn more about application portfolio rationalization:

AppRx – Part 3 – Compatibility Analysis (Video)

Futurestate IT — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 22:53:01 +0000

Welcome to a demonstration of AppRx Application Compatibility Testing in the cloud. This video, the last in a three part series, will demonstrate how the AppRx SaaS solution can dramatically accelerate application testing. No hardware or software installation is required. Just upload and test.

For a demonstration of how AppRx can Cleanse and Rationalize large application inventories or provide empirical analysis to trim portfolios and fast track apps to Windows 7, please see the first two videos in this series.

Let’s begin with the App Compatibility Testing demonstration:
Application compatibility is the last step in the application analysis process. This step occurs after you have rationalized the portfolio and trimmed unused, old redundant applications from the portfolio and also determined which COTS applications are already supported on Windows 7 by the vendors and can be fast-tracked to Windows 7. The remaining applications — those that are unsupported by the vendor, or custom applications need to go through compatibility testing to see if and how they can be remediated for Windows 7 — or virtualized.

AppRx – Part 2 – Currency Analysis (Video)

Futurestate IT — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 22:47:13 +0000

Welcome to a demonstration of AppRx SaaS-based Application Currency Analysis. This video, the second in a three part series, will demonstrate how Application Currency Analysis can help rationalize a portfolio and fast track applications to Windows 7 or 8 — reducing the scope of applications that require deep compatibility testing by 50% or more.

Complimentary reports:

Download Reduce the scope of applications for Windows 7/8 migration

Download Application test strategies for Windows 7 and beyond

AppRx – Part 1 – Cleanse and Rationalize (Video)

Futurestate IT — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 22:41:15 +0000

Welcome to the first video of a 3 part series outlining key solutions that AppRx provides. This video will illustrate how AppRx can cleanse an SCCM or other desktop deployment inventory report, normalize the application data, identify redundancies in the portfolio and provide a comprehensive, centralized repository for application data.

Complimentary reports:

Download Building the business case to tackle application bloat

Download Application rationalization management survey results