Effortless Application Deployment: Harness the Potential of Liquidware FlexApp One and Nerdio

Posted on June 30, 2023 by James O'Regan

In the most recent episode of Liquidware Chats, I spoke to Neil McLoughlin, UK and Ireland Field CTO, about the integration between Nerdio and FlexApp One and how it simplifies your application development.

In this blog post, I will go into the details of this integration and the value it delivers to our joint customers.

So what does Nerdio do?

Nerdio is a comprehensive cloud computing solution that specializes in virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and IT infrastructure as a service (IaaS). Nerdio simplifies the complexities of cloud management by offering a unified platform for deploying, managing, and scaling IT environments in the cloud. It empowers businesses to leverage the power of Microsoft Azure while reducing the associated costs and complexities. Nerdio’s automation capabilities automate the deployment and management of virtual desktops, servers, and data storage, ensuring a hassle-free cloud experience.

Nerdio’s main solution is Nerdio Manager and it comes in two options – Enterprise and MSP. In terms of the integration with FlexApp One, we will focus on the Enterprise version.

Nerdio Manager for Enterprise empowers IT professionals to deploy and manage Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365 in a simple, secure, and efficient manner. The solution offers various built-in scaling engines, enhanced image and application management capabilities, a ton of automation, simple-to-follow wizards, the concept of Scripted Actions, and much more.

FlexAppOne

FlexApp One is designed to simplify and streamline application delivery in virtual desktop environments – in this case AVD and Windows 365. FlexApp One is a self-contained (one file) FlexApp package — one app/one file. FlexApps run as native, not isolated, giving FlexApp a very high compatibility rate. The power of FlexApp One is it can be attached to any Windows OS and run as if natively installed, also it can be deployed from any cloud share, including Microsoft Azure. FlexApp One applications can also be accessed offline.

Integration with Nerdio

In terms of integration, Nerdio has a feature called Scripted Actions – these are PowerShell scripts that run either in the context of a Windows VM or an Azure Automation Account. Scripted Actions can be used to extend and customize the functionality of Nerdio Manager. Within the library are a series of FlexApp One scripts that come from the Liquidware FlexApp One repository. Using the scripted actions to deploy FlexApp One you have 3 options:

Hot Add FlexApp One while the user is in session

Hot adding FlexApp One means that you have the ability to deploy the app without logging into the console of the virtual machine or interrupting the user.

Layering FlexApp One during host pool VM deployment

With this, you can configure FlexApps to be hot-added during the deployment of your host pool.

Bake in FlexApp One to the Windows base image

In this option, you can configure the FlexApps to be part of your base image build.

Conclusion

As you can see, our integration with Nerdio Manager is extremely powerful and you have the flexibility to choose the deployment scenario that suits your environment.

The combined solution delivers various benefits including:

Streamlined Application Deployment: The integration enables seamless deployment of applications using FlexApp One’s application layering technology within Nerdio Enterprise Manager. This reduces deployment time and effort while ensuring a consistent user experience.
Efficient Application Updates: FlexApp One’s ability to layer applications allows for efficient updates and patches, minimizing downtime and disruption to end-users. This feature, combined with Nerdio’s robust management capabilities, ensures that applications are up-to-date and secure.
Simplified Management: The integration simplifies application and infrastructure management by providing a unified interface through Nerdio’s centralized management console. Administrators can easily manage application layers, virtual desktops, and servers from a single pane of glass, enhancing efficiency and reducing complexity.
Scalability and Cost Optimization: Nerdio’s auto-scaling capabilities, combined with FlexApp One’s lightweight application delivery, enable businesses to scale their infrastructure and applications according to demand. This scalability eliminates the need for overprovisioning, and optimizes costs while ensuring high performance.
Enhanced User Experience: By seamlessly integrating FlexApp One and Nerdio, end-users can enjoy a consistent and responsive application experience, regardless of their location or device. The integration ensures that applications are delivered efficiently, resulting in improved productivity and user satisfaction.

To learn more check out this video on our YouTube Channel

Enhancing User Experience with Display Protocol Support: CommandCTRL’s Innovative Integration with Dizzion Frame

Posted on June 15, 2023 by Jason Mattox

Following a momentous announcement from the Frame team on their collaboration with Dizzion, we at Liquidware have been diligently developing innovative technologies to further enhance our support for Frame. The intersection of Frame’s solid technology with its dedicated team members is genuinely invigorating, and we are thrilled about the potential growth avenues this integration can explore.

In light of this development, we focused on two significant upgrades to bolster Frame’s integration into our help desk remediation solution, CommandCTRL™.

Firstly, we’ve introduced a mapping process that aligns the user’s authentication Universal Principal Name (UPN) to the Frame control plane, integrating this directly into our system. This innovation solves a pervasive problem encountered by many users utilizing non-domain joined Frame. Under regular circumstances, once users sign into the Windows session, the operating system, being non-domain joined, would default to a generic username such as ‘Frame’. Consequently, products that interact with Windows and its sessions would be overwhelmed by a sea of users called ‘Frame’ — a scenario that severely impedes the efficient execution of help desk tasks.

By overlaying the authenticated UPN on the system, we’ve created a method where you can search and filter by the user’s unique UPN. This system effectively cuts through the multitude of ‘Frame’ usernames, ensuring a precise and quick identification process for each user. This feature will prove particularly useful when troubleshooting a user’s issues.

Secondly, we’ve extended our support to include Frame’s remote display protocol within CommandCTRL. This addition augments our existing vast range of display protocol support that already includes RDP, PCoIP, Blast, and HDX. The incorporation of Frame support means that help desk administrators can now access fundamental protocol metrics that directly impact the user experience. This includes real-time, every 3-second updates on latency, bandwidth, and frames per second. These metrics are also available in our history mode, which provides a 10-second sample going back 30 days.

Another exciting feature within our remote display protocol support is ‘metric mirroring’. If you have the CommandCTRL agent installed on both the physical endpoint and in the hosted desktop, we will mirror the display protocol on the physical endpoint’s dashboard. This unique feature enables the comparison of end-user WiFi metrics side by side with the display protocol, eliminating the need to have both machines open side by side in browser tabs. This enhancement significantly improves the user experience when using CommandCTRL.

We’re eager to announce that the remote display protocol will be included in our next beta release, scheduled for about a month from now. Subsequently, it will become a permanent feature as part of the General Availability (GA) launch we plan to carry out in Q3.

At Liquidware, we remain committed to innovating and developing digital workspace management solutions that provide seamless experiences and superior support for our users. Stay tuned for more updates!

Unleashing the power of Stratusphere UX

Posted on June 13, 2023 by James O'Regan

Introduction

Stratusphere™ UX, an advanced user experience monitoring and diagnostics solution, offers a wide array of capabilities that can transform the way enterprises manage their IT environments.
In an exciting upcoming webinar on 20th June, product marketing manager James O’Regan and Stratusphere UX subject matter expert Chris Walker will delve into the top five impactful enterprise use cases that unleash the true power of Stratusphere UX. Whether you’re looking to optimize efficiency, reduce costs, enhance security, or extend the lifecycle of your PCs, this webinar is a can’t-miss event.

Understanding the Full Capabilities of Stratusphere UX

Many organizations may not be fully aware of the extensive capabilities that Stratusphere UX brings to the table. This webinar aims to bridge that knowledge gap and explore the potential of Stratusphere UX across various use cases. James and Chris will provide in-depth insights and practical examples to help you leverage the full potential of this powerful product.

Optimizing Stratusphere UX License Costs

Managing software license costs is a crucial aspect of IT budgeting. Stratusphere UX offers features and functionalities that enable organizations to effectively optimize their license costs. In this webinar, our experts will discuss best practices and strategies to maximize the value of your Stratusphere UX licenses while ensuring optimal performance.

Integrating Stratusphere UX with ServiceNow

Seamless integration with existing IT service management systems is essential for streamlining operations. By integrating Stratusphere UX with ServiceNow, enterprises can leverage the rich data and insights provided by Stratusphere UX to enhance incident management, problem resolution, and overall service delivery.

Extending the PC Lifecycle

Proactively managing and extending the lifespan of PCs can significantly reduce hardware replacement costs. Stratusphere UX equips organizations with the necessary visibility and analytics to identify and address performance issues, bottlenecks, and resource utilization inefficiencies. Another benefit of Stratusphere UX is its ability to help organizations reduce e-waste. By providing valuable information about user behaviour and application usage, Stratusphere UX can help organizations identify areas where they can streamline their IT environment, reduce the number of devices they need, and extend the lifespan of their existing hardware.

Assessing Applications for a migration strategy

Part of any application strategy can be where to start, with Stratusphere UX you can determine and assess the applications installed against what is actually used. With this data, you can determine what applications are necessary for migration. This assessment can save time, effort and licensing costs. Once you have determined the applications for migration, Stratusphere UX can also assess the complexity of the applications to assist in determining the best image strategy.

Enhancing Security Posture

Maintaining a robust security posture is paramount in today’s threat landscape. Stratusphere UX provides valuable visibility into user behavior, application usage, network connectivity, and more. By analyzing this data, enterprises can identify potential security risks, proactively address vulnerabilities, and enforce compliance.

Live Demonstration of the Cutting-Edge User Interface

To conclude the webinar on an exhilarating note, James and Chris will treat attendees to a live demonstration of the new, cutting-edge, user interface (UI) for Stratusphere UX. Experience first-hand how the intuitive UI enhances usability and simplifies the management of your IT environment.

Conclusion

If you’re looking to expand your usage of Stratusphere UX or simply want to discover its full potential, the upcoming webinar is an event you can’t afford to miss.
Join James and Chris as they explore the top five impactful enterprise use cases for unleashing the power of Stratusphere UX!