Containerize Everything for Comprehensive Application Insights
App Attach in Azure Virtual Desktop has been overhauled to expand support to many types of applications, including Cloudpaging application containers. IT teams now have a modern way to dynamically deliver application containers without constantly rebuilding or maintaining bloated images. For organizations looking to reduce image sprawl, accelerate updates, and simplify application management, App Attach offers clear advantages.
But once App Attach is implemented, a more strategic question quickly follows:
How do you actually measure application usage in a meaningful way?
This is where many organizations discover that deployment modernization and application usage intelligence are not the same thing.
Microsoft provides a strong foundation through Azure Log Analytics, where administrators can surface valuable App Attach telemetry, session activity, and infrastructure-level diagnostics. Yet for many enterprises, that telemetry is only part of the story. Understanding whether an application package mounted successfully is useful and together with Cloudpager Reports, Administrators can determine how long an application was used, or how software consumption compares across physical and virtual environments further enriching that valuable data.
The First Layer: What Azure Log Analytics Can Tell You About App Attach
When properly configured with the right diagnostic settings, Azure Log Analytics becomes a powerful source of App Attach operational data. IT administrators can use Log Analytics and Kusto Query Language (KQL) to surface events related to package assignments, mount activity, user sessions, and host interactions.
This provides a valuable baseline. Teams can identify whether App Attach packages are being assigned correctly, whether registration or mount failures are occurring, which session hosts are serving applications, and when peak delivery activity is happening.
For troubleshooting, operational oversight, and environment health, this data is highly useful. It can help determine whether App Attach is functioning properly and whether users are successfully receiving applications within AVD sessions.
For example, Administrators can query Log Analytics to filter application usage based off the applications that run as Cloudpaging application containers.
Administrators can determine how many applications launched from RemoteApp in a certain time period are delivered via App Attach vs those using locally installed applications – this could be useful for tracking the progress of adopting App Attach as a standard.
Of course, Administrators could also query based a specific user to determine what RemoteApp applications utilizing App Attach they consumed in a set period. All of this can be important for Administrators to determine.
Administrators can also dig into the overall operations in their Azure environment and filter based on certain events, such as App Attach related actions.
And of course, Log Analytics can help inform support and troubleshooting activities by providing insights into why a certain desktop or RemoteApp session may have encountered a problem. Often times the support desk may categorize a ticket as an application issue, when the issue was related to a problem with their AVD session which can be caused by environmental conditions outside of the control of AVD or Admins such as connectivity problems.
The Visibility Gap: What About the Apps Not Delivered with App Attach?
There can be some limits to App Attach in respect to application reporting. Particularly the fact that hybrid enterprises utilize applications outside of AVD and would like an overall picture of their entire application usage but also without broader application intelligence, organizations may struggle to distinguish between assigned applications and actively consumed applications. A package may appear widely distributed while actual engagement remains minimal. This creates blind spots for licensing optimization, software rationalization, and broader digital workspace planning.
Expanding the Story with Cloudpager Reporting
Cloudpager extends the reporting conversation beyond delivery events by focusing on application usage itself.
Rather than limiting visibility to AVD or App Attach infrastructure, Cloudpager can aggregate usage intelligence across the broader endpoint ecosystem, including physical machines, persistent virtual desktops, and hybrid devices.
This creates a far more complete picture of software consumption. In the above picture is a screenshot of a report filtered by a specific application where we can see it was utilized in a RemoteApp host, a Cloud PC and even a Windows 365 Flex PC.
In the report below, we can see the report is filtered by a single RemoteApp session host. You will also notice Cloudpager Reports provide details such as total duration time which can help when gatekeeping the user acceptance testing process to make sure an application has been thoroughly tested before rolling to production but can also be useful for many scenarios.
Importantly, instead of simply asking whether an application package was delivered, IT can begin analyzing how long applications were actively used, where that usage occurred, and which users or departments are driving consumption across their entire enterprise in an intuitive way.
This shift is important.
For example, a business-critical application may appear heavily deployed through App Attach, but Cloudpager reporting may reveal that most meaningful usage actually occurs on physical endpoints. Alternatively, a software package assigned to thousands of users may only generate active engagement from a small subset, immediately highlighting opportunities for cost reduction or license reassessment.
A Practical Example
Consider an enterprise finance application delivered via App Attach to thousands of AVD sessions.
Log Analytics may confirm that deployment is healthy. Packages are mounted successfully, sessions launch properly, and there are no widespread infrastructure issues.
But Cloudpager may reveal a more nuanced reality.
Perhaps only a fraction of assigned users actively engage with the application. Maybe average daily usage is significantly lower than expected. Or perhaps most active usage occurs on physical endpoints rather than virtual desktops.
This level of insight changes the conversation from deployment success to business relevance. If the organization’s goal is to get more usage of the applications in Azure rather than on physical endpoints, this insight could lead Administrators to data which may show a bottleneck stifling those attempts.
Maybe, it’s a case that the application performs better on employee’s physical endpoints because they like to utilize OS integrations like file type associations and shell extensions. With enriched data, instead of simply proving that IT delivered software, the organization can now move to determine whether it delivered the right software to the right users in the right way.
Why This Matters for the Future of EUC
As endpoint environments become increasingly hybrid, the line between physical and virtual application delivery continues to blur. Reporting strategies that remain siloed within AVD or App Attach alone risk missing the broader operational reality.
Modern IT leaders need more than deployment data.
They need actionable intelligence that connects delivery, usage, cost, and user behavior across the full digital estate.
By utilizing Azure Log Analytics for App Attach telemetry and enriching that data with Cloudpager’s broader reporting capabilities, organizations can evolve from reactive troubleshooting to proactive application strategy.
The result is not just better dashboards, it is better business decisions.
Final Thoughts
App Attach modernizes application delivery, but delivery alone is only half the equation.
To fully understand software value, organizations must move beyond package mounts and infrastructure events into true usage intelligence.
Azure Log Analytics provides the critical operational layer. Cloudpager extends that into enterprise-wide visibility, combining application duration, machine coverage, physical endpoint data, and advanced filtering into a more complete reporting framework.
Together, they allow IT teams to answer a far more important question than “Was the application delivered?”
They can finally answer:
Was the application actually used, where, for how long, and was it worth it?
See Cloudpager’s App Usage Data Capabilites in Real Time
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