Quest Software Meets Escalating Demand for User-Centric Approach to Managing Virtual Offices

The demise of the traditional, fixed computer desktop has created radical change across the enterprise, forcing business leaders and IT to relinquish some control over which devices, applications and platforms employees use for work.  The proliferation of personal devices in use by much of today’s workforce redefines the user workspace as a dynamic, cross-platform virtual office encompassing all devices, locations and form factors. Organizations must proactively manage these environments and empower users without adversely impacting employee productivity, security or administrative overhead. Quest Software is uniquely positioned to address these challenges with the most comprehensive, user-focused approach to workspace management.

 

Tweet This: First comprehensive solution for managing the dynamic #user workspace introduced by @Quest (bit.ly)

 

News Facts:

• Today, Quest unveils its user-centric approach to workspace management that leverages the company’s proven expertise and industry-leading capabilities in desktop virtualization, application migration and physical desktop management to deliver the most comprehensive solution on the market.

 

• Unlike previous approaches to workspace management, which have combined multiple desktop and device management point products that only solve portions of the problem, Quest now delivers integrated solutions across the three most critical areas of management:

 

• Comprehensive device support—manage, inventory and secure a wide range of PCs, Macs and mobile devices while effectively delivering virtual desktops and applications to every device,  leveraging consolidated dashboards and support models to cover the entire end user IT environment

 

• Application delivery – manage a cost-effective application estate for continued productivity across the user environment by addressing the continuous cycle of OS and browser changes, with application readiness for Windows 7 and virtualization, software asset management, packaging and inventory

 

• One user identity across all platforms – centralize management of all aspects of user identity including security privileges, single sign-on and consolidation of user-specific access into one portal across physical, virtual and cloud environments

 

• Quest’s unique range of technology assets provides the most comprehensive approach to the top three challenges facing IT today: Windows 7 migration, adoption of new devices and consumerization, and balancing corporate security with user freedom.

 

• According to Forrester Research, half of all global info workers (52 percent)are using three or more devices for work, 60percent of devices reported by info workers are used for both work and personal purposes, while one-third of the devices used are non-Microsoft, and one-quarter are mobile.¹

 

Quest Elevates Management of Physical, Virtual and Cloud-Based User Workspaces:

• Quest’s comprehensive yet adaptive management of dynamic user workspaces extends across enterprise users’ many devices, while providing the support they require to address endless cycles of change in OS, browsers and applications. Additionally, Quest’s complete identity and access management portfolio ensures that all critical aspects of the modern user workspace are addressed, including the user’s identity, profile and preferences, as well as privileges and access policies.

 

• Quest’s Workspace Management solution consists of a set of tools that work together to elevate the management of today’s user workspaces, encompassing:
  • Desktop Virtualization, which centrally, securely and cost-effectively delivers virtual desktops and applications to all types of users. Easily integrates all major devices (smartphones, tablets) and works with all major operating systems
    • Recently announced vWorkspace™ 7.5 breaks down the cost barriers to desktop virtualization deployments for both Enterprise and SMB, affording up to 33 percent savings in virtual desktop CapEx per user,  and with direct integration with free Microsoft Hyper-V Server
• Application Readiness, which  addresses application compatibility issues to reduce installation and configuration time and effort
  • Quest ChangeBASE™ helps to perform timely and complete migrations to Windows 7 and 8, and Microsoft Office 2010 while reducing the time and effort of ongoing management; Quest ChangeBASE Professional offers the functionality  of the Standard version plus the ability to prepare applications targeted for virtual desktop and application environments; Quest ChangeBASE Browser Compatibility automates compatibility testing of web applications and web sites for Internet Explorer 8 and 9
• User Environment Management, featuring Desktop Authority®, which deploys, configures, protects, enhances, and supports the user environment in Windows desktops throughout their lifecycle. Includes advanced security such as secure patch deployment, malware detection and removal, and USB port security, as well as help desk capabilities to ensure the user is effectively and securely managed across each traditional desktop

 

• Privilege Authority® 2.7 is now available, addressing user privilege management challenges faced by large organizations, and more effectively managing provisioning rules by eliminating “local administrator” desktops without reducing productivity or increasing help desk calls.

 

• Network scanner support for desktop virtualization environments, which offers cost-effective, easy, universal  access to scanner peripherals

 

• VDI Assessment, which helps determine whether the environment is ready for desktop virtualization – and which technologies would be most appropriate and able to deliver maximized value – before deployment
• Device management for iPad, iPhone and Mac, which helps get the most from  a Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) investment by managing all Mac desktops and iPad/iPhone devices from inside the SCCM console
• Quest One Identity Solutions, which easily and effectively maintains user access and privileges, as well as comprehensive administration of all enterprise user accounts. Includes Webthority, which securely accesses critical web resources while protecting systems from direct exposure, and Defender®, which initiates two-factor and multifactor authentication on an Active Directory-centric platform to any system, application or resource

 

Supporting Quotes:

• Shayne Higdon, senior vice president and general manager, User Workspace Management and Performance Monitoring, Quest Software

“2012 marks the death of the traditional desktop.  Every organization needs to analyze its environment and ask itself if the IT department is ready for this change. Simply managing  devices is too limiting, and managing just the applications or desktops only addresses part of the problem. To compete today, companies must be able to manage the entire user workspace, and this requires a comprehensive set of capabilities that allow a blend of user freedom and corporate control that keeps organizations secure and users productive.”

• Kyle Bauer, CFO, Cuyuna Regional Medical Center

“We strive to be the gold standard in rural healthcare, which means that we must deliver the same levels of excellence as our urban counterparts but with fewer resources. To that end, we’ve worked closely with Deerwood Technologies to become one of the most technically advanced critical-access hospitals in the Midwest. We are proud to provide innovations that give our clinicians immediate access to electronic medical records. Solutions like Quest Desktop Authority not only enable us to increase productivity, improve power management and reduce costs, they lower our administrative overhead so we can redeploy vital resources where they belong—at the patient’s bedside.”

• Jason Przymus, vice president of business development, Deerwood Technologies

“With Quest’s User Workspace Management solution, we can reach a much broader customer base, which also empowers us to cross-sell new and unique solutions to those customers. As a result, our Quest partnership has truly spring-boarded the growth of our software and services divisions exponentially. Furthermore, products like Quest Desktop Authority, which help our customers centrally manage their user environments in a compliant manner, typically pay for themselves in less than a year in terms of administrative savings, operational efficiencies and reduced risk. That’s why today, more than 90 percent of our healthcare customers use Desktop Authority and are ideally suited for many of the other solutions in Quest’s new User Workspace Management portfolio.”