The Yin and Yang of Virtual Desktop Workloads

Posted on February 24, 2015 by Grace Krokidas

YinYang The philosophy of Yin and Yang is about perceived or apparently opposite forces, which are actually interconnected and complementary. This duality can be found in nature, in medicine … well … just about everywhere. In fact, it’s even present in in the ongoing management and operations surrounding virtual desktop workloads.

On the one hand, you have the IT infrastructure and architecture. I’m talking about the servers and storage as well as the image and application strategy. On the other hand, you have the user. This organizational force drives business—and can be the bane of an IT professional’s existence. Continue reading →

App Layering and the Big Security Risk

Posted on February 19, 2015 by Jason E. Smith

Application Layering solutions offer a streamlined approach to application delivery. In its truest form you can enable users to install applications that are decoupled from the base image and you can distribute an Application(s) as seamless layers to a group of users.

Deploying Application Layering without User Environment Management can leave a huge security gap in your desktop environment

The native approach that the latest application layering techniques leverage equate to a high level of compatibility. There is just one big problem with Application Layering, a gaping security hole.

When you grant users the right to install applications you need to elevate those same users to Admin or use a User Rights solution to selectively elevate rights in a secure manner. The need also arises if an Standard User needs local Admin rights to run an application – whether installed by a user or for a department by an administrator. Continue reading →

VMware “Discovers” Workspace Environment Management (WEM)

Posted on February 4, 2015 by Jason E. Smith

By now, many of you have probably heard that VMware is planning to add User Management features to Horizon with their planned acquisition of Immidio. Many will look to the leaders in the UEM market for their reaction. Not to be too cliché but VMware’s “WEM” (Workspace Environment Management) positioning validates the Liquidware Labs User Environment Management, Application Delivery with Layering, and User Experience solution set that we’ve been delivering for years. Continue reading →