When looking at all the different application provisioning methodologies available today, I get the feeling that you need a PHD if you want to keep track of how they work and what they require to give users fast access to dynamic application sets. On one side, new virtualization technologies ensure unprecedented application integrity, compatibility and stability. On the other side, there is a lack of commonly available self-controlled ways to assign these applications to users.

But I believe that this is exactly what matters; users want to have on-demand access to applications, independent of how they are provided or provisioned. In the best of all worlds, the users’ workspace environment would be able to predict which applications a user will need in the next minute. But giving the user a simple way to select and self-assigned required applications through an intuitive interface will also do the job. As a result the right icon is created on the user desktop or the start menu is populated as needed in that very moment.

Most application virtualization vendors are aware of this fact. So they tend to create a vendor-specific solution, allowing users to self-provision applications in their preferred fashion, leveraging only one specific technology. We at Immidio strongly believe that this is not what customers want because it’s an “all or nothing” approach. We think that a solution should be vendor-agnostic and independent of a specific application deployment mechanism. And this is exactly what Immidio AppScriber is about!

Immidio AppScriber allows Windows users to self-assign and run applications with no or only minimal delay. Most importantly, the underlying mechanism is completely platform-agnostic. For Immidio AppScriber it doesn’t make any difference if applications are provided through Microsoft Installer, Microsoft App-V, Microsoft RemoteApp, Citrix XenApp published applications, Citrix XenApp streamed applications or VMware ThinApp. There are no dependencies of a Citrix Receiver infrastructure or application streaming back-end services -only Active Directory is required. Immidio AppScriber makes an end to “vendor exclusiveness”, it allows a great variety of application provisioning solutions and products to be combined seamlessly.

Independent of the application provisioning platforms involved, an AppScriber administrator specifies the application sets users are authorized to access and tracks their usage through real-time reporting. From the user perspective, applications are presented through AppScriber’s configurable web front-end which may easily be integrated into existing corporate portals. The user interface is customizable to reflect the look and feel of the company. Since the list of available applications shows up in a familiar interface, no training is needed for business users.

Immidio AppScriber’s independence of application provisioning and deployment mechanisms is clearly one of its unique selling points. There is no “lock-in” effect to a specific technology. If you want to know more about this, feel free to contact us through info@immidio.com.

A couple of weeks ago, we introduced AppScriber as a brand new Immidio product. Now more and more people I meet when I’m at conferences or community events ask me what it’s good for. In short, Immidio AppScriber is a web application that provides users with the functionality to self-assign Windows applications. It makes it easier for the users to manage their own start menus and their application icons. With Immidio AppScriber the user is in control while staying within the boundaries pre-defined by a system administrator.

But who needs such a product? The answer is simple. Immidio AppScriber is ideal for IT departments that want to reduce costs and labor when providing their users with centrally deployed and managed applications. The product is specifically designed for IT environments with large numbers of users that need flexible access to dynamic application sets, in particular universities, hospitals and all enterprises with contractors or rapidly changing work forces. Immidio AppScriber is perfectly suited for administrators who don’t want to worry about manually assigning the right applications to users.

Technically, Immidio AppScriber allows an end-user to activate and deactivate applications through a secure self-service web front-end, after an administrator made him or her member of the AppScriber user group. As a result, AppScriber helps the users to subscribe and control applications that are relevant to them. The only prerequisite related to the underlying application provisioning platform is that all applications are assigned to individual Active Directory security groups. At this point it is important to note that the solution is completely vendor-agnostic. This means that today’s most relevant Windows application deployment and application virtualization technologies — such as Microsoft Installer, Microsoft App-V, Microsoft RemoteApp, Citrix XenApp published applications or VMware ThinApp — work perfectly well with Immidio AppScriber.

So, if you want to empower your users to get the Windows applications they need on-demand from any place and without intervention by an administrator, give Immidio AppScriber a try.