Provide self-service application access for all Windows software anywhere, anytime.
When it comes to truly modernizing application management, flexibility is key. With increasingly distributed and diverse workforces, organizations will always have a need for self-service application access, even if just for niche use cases. In my personal experience, when people went to work from home en masse in 2020, the majority preferred to access the few applications they used every day via a web portal with the applications presenting seamlessly on their client devices.
There are multiple use cases where self-service storefronts make the most sense. The most pressing is when IT wants to publish applications to users outside the corporate network on authorized devices.
Another use case is when you manage VDI but have specialized software that works best on physical endpoints. In this scenario, you may want to provide end users with on-demand access to the appropriate client software on their physical endpoints.
Limitations of Some Application Storefronts
Some storefronts can be limited in various ways. For example, traditional application front-end storefronts that install applications on-demand from your organization’s software distribution tool may require a VPN to install them from corporate-owned storage. Moreover, most tools – even some of the modern cloud hosted tools – perform full installs of applications on endpoints, yielding relatively high failure rates and slow deployment launch times.
If your storefront installs package types like MSI and EXE, you have likely experienced failures due to erroneous application packages, prerequisites missing on devices, out-of-sync devices due to latency or intermittent connectivity issues, or VPN problems. The applications being deployed may require elevated privileges or service accounts for install which are not ideal for off-network devices and there is a considerable management overhead caused by the complexity of dealing with these types of packages.
Other Storefronts that serve up applications to run in published sessions hosted in the cloud or via on-premises data centers can be expensive to support due to the need to scale the number of virtual machines to support user load. They also don’t suit every use case, such as applications that must run on physical endpoints, such as Snagit, Camtasia, some monitoring software, client redirection software, and more.
Cloudpager Provides One Storefront for All Applications
Cloudpager Storefronts are designed to overcome the obstacles posed by other application storefronts. Built upon decades of research, with our technology’s unparalleled high level of compatibility, you can publish any application you wish to end users in a self-service manner.
Integration to Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) makes it easy to orchestrate application assignments and user authentication using a modern identity provider (IdP). Cloudpager Storefronts can also provide applications to employees on non-domain joined machines leveraging the platform’s new NimbusID feature. This enables BYOD scenarios and deployments to devices that are not joined or associated with an Entra ID tenant.
Cloudpager Storefronts allow users to launch their applications and run them on their physical endpoints or virtual desktops directly reducing admin overhead by removing the need to maintain servers in the data center and handle capacity management. Users can launch applications via the storefront on any Windows desktop making it perfect when you manage cloud hosted desktops, virtual desktops hosted in a private data center or even physical endpoints.
Cloudpager supports multiple different container types including Cloudpaging containers, MSIX containers and even App-V, providing continuity for your existing application estate and a path forward to modernizing your application management now and into the future.
Containers empower IT to dynamically deliver applications to users’ devices without full installations, reducing the risk of breaking systems and causing user downtime. Containers eliminate the challenges that MSI and EXE cause on both corporate devices and employees’ personal devices that I mentioned previously in this article.
Cloudpager is a cloud-native product, meaning no troublesome VPN is required and Cloudpager delivers applications at speed.
Conclusion
Cloudpager is uniquely positioned to provide a storefront that suits the needs of today’s shifting workstyles. Our cloud-hosted Storefront is perfect for any scenario for managing and delivering applications for self-service on any Windows desktop, whether hosted in the cloud, in a private data center, or a physical endpoint.
Unlike other storefront products, Cloudpager Storefronts deliver and run containers on end user desktops rather than into a session host. This eliminates the costs and overhead of managing session hosts in a private data center or in the cloud. Cloudpaging containers’ high level of compatibility enables you to dynamically deliver more applications than ever before.
See Cloudpager Storefronts Live
Want to see how end users can launch large-scale applications, such as AutoCAD and Inkscape, from Cloudpager Storefronts in a matter of seconds? Request a demonstration with our Technical Solutions team here: