Enterprises are off and running with Windows 7, App-V, XenApp and optimized desktop projects. The challenge comes in determining what applications to migrate, managing applications, application testing and application compatibility. Next week’s Microsoft World Partner Conference has an amazing track educating Microsoft partners on how to best help enterprises accelerate their move to Windows 7, as well as Internet Explorer 8, App-V and all of the related technologies.

What if Microsoft partners were given the opportunity to partner with App-DNA and, for no cost, access the award winning AppTitude™ application testing and application remediation platform to deliver to Proof of Concepts (POC)? What if it only took three days to assess application remediation issues?

App-DNA has a fantastic program that already exists today, called Launchpad and will provide a crystal clear view of an enterprise’s application estate.  This in turn will help systems integrators and service providers deliver the business case to move more quickly to the optimized desktop.  Partners will find more successful projects by gaining a truer understanding of what the enterprise application estate looks like, and better assessing the level of effort needed to properly give an accurate bid for the project. Customers and partners are more satisfied from a clear view of the project, an accurate price quote and a realistic timeline based on facts rather than “gut feel.”

App-DNA Launchpad is a quick-start application compatibility discovery program that brings together four high-value components:

EstateView™ - provides an instant portfolio readiness report on up to 1000 apps

EffortCalculator™ - details project scope and scale by using real metrics to calculate costs, duration and resource needs

CoreSample™ - assessment reports on 50 apps with full reports on 10 selected MSI apps with a deep ‘drill down’ on over 68,000 data points per app in 11 areas

What it means for Microsoft partner’s customers:

See exactly how ready a customer’s app estate is to migrate

Calculate what the migration proposal will cost and how long it will take

Guide resourcing decisions

Build an informed migration strategy – meet more deadlines

Interested in learning more about App-DNA Launchpad for Microsoft partners?  Drop us a line at info@app-dna.com to set up a time to talk at WPC next week or after the conference.

In migrating your OS, the challenge with applications starts with uncertainty.  Each application represents an unknown.  Multiply the unknown by the number of applications in the organization’s software portfolio and the size of the uncertainty grows, as does the risk.  Even though application compatibility for Windows Vista - and from early test results, Windows 7 - is generally high, determining which applications need remediation and what that remediation might be means assessing every application.  This testing process, when done manually, is very expensive and can take quite a long time.

Fortunately, there are now tools available to automate much of the initial assessment that also provide details for the remediation of the applications.  Deploying a solution that assesses all of the applications in advance of testing and remediation can dramatically reduce the time spent on the project, as well as eliminate much of the risk from the migration as a whole.

It is vital to have a clear view of how many applications are installed and run within the organization.  A variety of tools and technologies exist to provide this vital part of any migration and management activity.  Having a good inventory paves the way to the rationalization process.

The process of managing applications over time inevitably results in duplication.  New versions are acquired without retiring old ones, and new applications replace previous ones, which can eventually lead to a significant growth in the number of actual applications.  The process of rationalization cleans out the redundant applications and removes duplicates from the list to be managed and migrated.  This can save a significant amount of time in the testing and remediation phase as well as potentially reduce the licensing costs to the business.

Time spent in rationalizing the application inventory is well spent.  Decisions about which application version to chose may incorporate licensing considerations, version compatibility, existing user populations and the strategic importance of each application to the business.