Using LANDesk Software

If you'll remember, I spoke with Coby Gurr and Dan Cook of LANDesk back in may. If you're interested, the post was titled Application Virtualization from LANDesk - No secret agents need apply. I enjoyed the discussion and learned quite a bit.

In their words:

LANDesk's virtualization approach eliminates potential conflicts between applications on nearly any Windows OS. For example, IT administrators can simultaneously run Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Explorer 7 on the same machine as a pilot for the new version before a company-wide rollout.

Since that time, I've had an opportunity to try out their product using a virtualized application on several machines running different versions of Windows that had different versions of the virtualized application installed. Sure enough, I didn't see a single conflict.

I could imagine a number of uses for this technology including.

• A sales rep could be provided with a USB thumb drive that contained the company's presentations and order taking system. The sales rep would then be able to use just about any old PC that was available to present the company's products. It would be much easier to lug a USB thumb drive around than a laptop.
• A company could deploy a virtualized application using a staff-run installation process. The staff could be instructed to visit an internal Web site, sign in and then download software to their own system. This would most certainly reduce the costs of deploying software. Since the application is encapsulated, it could not interfere or harm other applications that were installed.

If you get the chance to try out this tool, I think you'll be impressed with the simplicity this approach offers.

Have you or your organization used LANDesk's technology? If so, please tell me how you're using it and what benefits your organization has received.