Did You Bring App-V Full Infrastructure to the Cloud?
Many early adopters of cloud desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop and AWS AppStream 2.0, previously used the App-V Full Infrastructure on-premises for application management for traditional VDI. I’ve talked to a ton of folks who went to the cloud and found they didn’t want to repackage their existing App-V packages into a new format, as they didn’t want to risk losing the speed of delivery realized by the App-V publishing servers. As a result, they brought Microsoft App-V along for the journey to the cloud.
Instead of replacing it, they chose to recreate the App-V Full Infrastructure in the cloud. Management servers, publishing servers, databases, and file shares were all lifted into virtual machines hosted in AWS or Azure. It wasn’t the most elegant architecture, and it certainly wasn’t the cheapest approach, but it solved a very real problem. App-V delivered something that alternatives at the time struggled to match: fast, dynamic application delivery combined with strong isolation without a need to repackage applications.
The publishing servers played a critical role here. They enabled applications to be provisioned quickly and efficiently, allowing users to access what they needed without lengthy installation processes. That responsiveness became part of the user experience. Thus, that awesome user experience became an organizational expectation.
App-V Full Infrastructure End of Life Passed
Now, those same organizations are facing a turning point.
With the App-V Full Infrastructure reaching end of life on April 14th this year, the question is no longer whether to move away from it, but how to do so without losing the qualities that made it valuable in the first place. The difficulty is that many modern approaches to application delivery introduce friction. Static installs, slower provisioning, low application compatibility and reduced flexibility all represent a step backwards for environments that have grown accustomed to speed and dynamism.
This is where Numecent Cloudpager stands out as a a natural evolution for App-V organizations.
Easily Migrate Off App-V Full Infrastructure with Cloudpager
Automatically Optimize App-V Packages for Modern and Future Windows Endpoints
Cloudpager allows organizations to bring their existing App-V packages forward, avoiding the need for large-scale repackaging efforts. That alone removes a significant barrier to transition, but the real value lies in what happens next. Through automated optimization, Cloudpager enhances those packages in ways that go beyond what App-V could traditionally offer. Dependencies that once required Connection Groups can be handled more intelligently, reducing complexity while improving reliability. Office Add-ins and other plugins no longer require the use of the RunVirtual client-side setting.
At the same time, Cloudpager preserves the fast, dynamic delivery model that organisations have come to rely on. Applications can be provisioned quickly and on demand, maintaining the responsiveness that users expect. This continuity is critical, because any perceived slowdown in application access is immediately noticeable and often unacceptable in modern digital workspaces.
Establish Real-Time Application Usage Reporting
There is also an added layer of visibility that wasn’t readily available before. With real-time application usage reporting, organizations gain insight into how applications are actually being used, enabling better decision-making around optimization, licensing, and lifecycle management. This shifts application delivery from being purely operational to something more strategic.
Implement More Granular Application Controls with Policies
Optimizing App-V packages unlocks Cloudpager Policies, which enable you to restrict the number of running concurrent sessions of applications, limit the use of an application to the number of licenses your organization holds, and more.
Policies can also be used to automatically reclaims software on a certain date or after a period of inactivity. Applications can be enabled to work offline via Policies too, this is similar to selectively mounting an App-V application but made easier through the Cloudpager UI. Trust Policies can also be used to restrict applications to certain Windows Operating System versions or to a group of devices.
Optimizing App-V packages can also improve application compatibility for App-V packages, for example; if you sequence Notepad++ using a default install with the App-V Sequencer, you may notice the right click shell extension does not work.
Cloudpager Provides the Flexibility for Any Organization to Migrate
Cloudpager provides several ways to manage App-V applications such as Workpods where applications are dynamically delivered directly to any Windows desktop, similar to the experience you get with the App-V Publishing Servers.
Cloudpager Storefronts can be used to make the App-V applications available via a self-service storefront where employees can choose what applications to add to their device for themselves.
The App Attach Storefront can be used to publish the applications to App attach in Azure Virtual Desktop where you can use the Azure entitlement process to associate applications with specific AVD host pools or assign to a group of users, you can also use Azure Log Analytics to complement the Cloudpager reporting.
Intune Storefronts can be used to publish the applications as Win32 packages in Intune, as seen in the video below.
Optimizing App-V packages can also improve application compatibility for App-V packages, for example; if you sequence Notepad++ using a default install with the App-V Sequencer, you may notice the right click shell extension does not work.
App-V Full Infrastructure End of Life Has Passed. Now What?
What makes Cloudpager compelling in this context is not just that it replaces the App-V Full Infrastructure, but that it extends the life and value of your existing investments in App-V. By optimizing your App-V packages with Cloudpager you can retain the speed, flexibility, and isolation you’ve come to depend on while removing the infrastructure overhead and compatibility limitations of legacy infrastructure in the cloud.
For organizations that rebuilt App-V in AWS or Azure to preserve performance, the goal now isn’t to compromise. It’s to move forward without losing what made their environment work in the first place. Cloudpager offers a path to do exactly that.
Check out the webinar we hosted with Microsoft on this very topic by filling out the form below.
On-Demand Webinar Recording Request
Microsoft App-V Full Infrastructure reached End of Life on April 14, 2026. For many organizations, this wasn’t just the sunsetting of a tool, it’s a looming disruption to mission-critical workflows and legacy application delivery.
Rory Monaghan (Senior Technologist, Numecent) and Michelle Moya Aceves explore Cloudpager’s fully automated solution to running App-V applications forever across modern and future Windows operating systems and endpoints, as well as modern container solutions moving forward: