Application virtualization for centralized control

Virtualization is about the delivery of experience without reliance on physical resources. A flight simulator, for example, delivers the experience of flight to trainee pilots without the need for them to physically fly a plane. Application virtualization provides the experience of a desktop application to users without the need for it to physically sit on their PC, laptop, PDA or other personal device.

In reality the applications sit on a central server - and only a virtual interface is sent over the network i.e. Key strokes and mouse clicks are sent to servers, while screen updates are sent to client devices.

The technology benefits of application virtualization are three fold. Firstly because the application and associated data are managed and maintained centrally, access to that data can be easily monitored and protected from theft or other attack.

Secondly, the risk that applications may be adversely affected by the idiosyncrasies of individual end user devices, networks or locations is vastly reduced. The end user experience can be standardized without the need to standardize the end user device.

Finally, because they only need to be physically implemented once, centralized applications are easier to scale. Bringing new users on line takes just minutes or hours rather than the weeks or months it might otherwise take.

These benefits drive IT efficiencies, but the real benefits are felt at a business level.

Centralized control

Regulations such as Basel II or Sarbanes Oxley make company business leaders accountable for mission critical business processes and the reporting and tracking of data. With 90 per cent of those processes captured in software, business leaders will welcome an opportunity to centralize control through application virtualization.

Another business benefit of virtualization is that it dramatically reduces the risks with associated with outsourcing. If applications are centralized companies can distribute work to third parties but retain control over their precious data and intellectual property (IP). Access can be monitored remotely, further increasing data security. And, if an outsourcer does not work out, companies are not tied to them by hefty upfront IT investments. Suppliers can be switched 'on demand' and virtual applications quickly redeployed.

One of the biggest drivers for virtualization is business continuity. With the threat of terrorism and epidemic, contingency planning is at the forefront of most business leader's mind, organizations are considering how their companies might continue to function if their employees cannot get to workplace. By replicating centralized applications on a back-up server, companies are able to provide every employee with a desktop experience identical to the one they usually use in the office, no matter what computers they are sitting at and wherever they may be. In the event of a disaster or disruption, the workforce can be productive again very quickly from any locations.

Virtualization also gives businesses the freedom to grow flexibly. Opening a branch office can imply a step change in operating costs where placing even one or two people into a new location requires a new IT infrastructure to be created to support them. Delivering applications virtually to a new branch office allows the company to test the waters for a new location incurring no more IT costs than it would had the new employees been based in the lead office. Furthermore, these remote workstations can be managed, upgraded and controlled from the central server, ensuring standardization of business-critical applications and reducing the total cost of ownership as new regional locations are developed.

Similar IT management benefits can be seen from virtualization for mobile working. Here the IT manager can keep tight reins on software running on mobile devices, which can often escape scrutiny as users personalize their devices outside of the corporate environment. For distance workers, the ability to upgrade and update applications centrally can dramatically reduce time wasted making home calls to carry out routine support.

Furthermore, back at the head office, the location-based teams have access to information that has been uploaded in real time from the road. The key to getting actual real-time data is making sure that everyone's information is going straight into the central database. Otherwise, a sales support team, even though they are logged on to the central server, aren't going to be able to see information from a sale made earlier that day from someone outside the office.

Users can also expect a more predictable and consistent experience from their technology. Users whose mobile devices run applications locally on their hard drives must face the fact that bugs and errors in the apps could go unchecked for months. Over time, this can lead to a drop in performance. By contrast, users who access their business applications virtually know that these applications have been regularly monitored, upgraded and managed at the server.

With so much information going to mobile devices, virtualization also plays a key role in securing this data. Unlike devices that process applications themselves, devices accessing virtual applications do not actually hold data - this remains on the server. This offers two notable security benefits. Firstly, the data can be secured centrally, always keeping it behind the corporate firewall. And, secondly, should the device be lost or stolen, it doesn't matter whose hands it falls into as there is no actual data on it.

Devil is in the detail

With a fair understanding of what virtualization is and how it works, we can look to the future and examine what it can deliver. I believe that virtualization will lead to the automation of IT management. In other words, IT managers will no longer proactively install applications at the desk top for users or configure the users' personal devices to meet their needs. Neither will they need to allocate servers to specific applications. Rather, resources consumed by an application will be provided on demand according to pre-agreed policies. By setting out these policies to match service level agreements developed with stakeholder groups, they can guarantee that the SLAs are always met.

But like all things, the devil is in the detail. In order to achieve a state of automated IT management, you need to have established a reliable operating layer on which the virtual applications can sit.

This needs to include accurate system health monitoring. With the right tools and automation, IT managers are better equipped to actively avert or minimize perceived interruptions to virtualized applications. Without them, IT managers could be constantly fire fighting user queries and system errors.

It is also crucial to include autonomic load management. At the end of the day, application provisioning is all about delivering the optimum end-user experience and user feedback can often be the deciding factor in naming a project a success or failure. Protecting users from hang time or slow applications is the simplest route to success.

Autonomic means 'beyond conscious thought' and, in human beings, usually refers to the processes that we undergo without thinking about them, such as breathing, sweating or making our hearts beat. Autonomic load management takes control of the load balancing at a level outside of user control, ensuring that critical functions are always given the capacity that they need and that 'power users' of resource-hungry applications don't compete with others.

With these foundations for automated IT management in place, businesses can deliver virtual applications knowing that they will have all the benefits of centralized management and control whilst still guaranteeing the end-user experience.

The benefits that can be derived from virtual sing applications for IT managers are clear; secure centralized control and simple management and deployment of applications. There are comparable benefits for end users too; a consistently high experience of securely accessing your applications and data from wherever you are.

The author is Area Vice President, Citrix Systems, India Subcontinent.