We hope that any questions you may have are answered below, but if you do have any further queries please just contact us and we'll be happy to explain our services in greater detail.
"Virtual Application Packaging" is the term given for the preparation or packaging of an application for delivery via any virtualisation product. The packaging process turns a standard Windows application into a centrally managed, on demand service - without actually altering the files and components of the application itself.
The vast majority of applications can be virtualised and most of these can be packaged offsite. More often than not an application can be prepared in any location, and you can be sure that our packaging machines are configured and optimized to give you the best possible results.
VAF offer an established application packaging process, including clearly defined roles and responsibilities, tool set integration, workflow coordination, packaging policies and best practice procedures.
The benefits of this to your organisation can be summarised as follows:
Virtual App Factory will send an Environmental Questionnaire and the Application Checklist for completion. Upon receipt of this and the application media, the packaging process will begin. Upon completion the following will be supplied
An "application" is an installation according to the discovery document provided and a "configuration" is the creation of an extra OSD (or shortcut) for the application. An application may consist of several components, client plus middleware for example, but as long as it is one install routine, we will class this as one application. If by way of example Virtual App Factory (VAF) were to sequence Microsoft Office, even though this consists of Word, Excel etc, this would be one application as no additional configuration is required and all of the OSD's are produced by the sequencing process. However, if an application requires Virtual App Factory to create additional OSD (shortcuts) which are not produced by the standard installation, then each OSD will be an additional configuration which will be charged accordingly.
VAF will keep you up to date to the progress of the packaging process by means of email updates and an online progress report. Details of which will be established during the initial engagement process.
You will be assigned a dedicated account manager with whom all requirements should be communicated. The account manager's role will be to ensure all issues and requirements are dealt with in the most effective manner to ensure the packaging process is as successful as possible.
VAF will appoint a technical contact with whom you can coordinate the entire packaging process. This will be sufficient in most cases however with larger engagements it may be appropriate for VAF to provide an "on site" resource to coordinate between both parties. Should this be required VAF will discuss the best way of achieving this upon project initialisation.
VAF will document the complete virtual application packaging process and detail any additional scripts and configuration required for the virtualised application to work.
VAF will be happy to help resolve any problems that arise when using the virtualised application during the warranty period. If there are any issues outside of this period we will look to support you as best as we can - where this is a minor change to the virtualised application package this will be done free of charge. Where there are significant alterations to the package due to missing or incorrect application discovery a repackaging charge will apply. In the case where all information is correct and major work is required to get the application working VAF will engage with you to reach an amicable decision.
VAF has a customer portal that has been specifically designed to allow a customer to follow the progress of each of their packages. In addition VAF will provide both direct email and phone details to allow communication to your account manager. When dealing with different time-zones it will be important to establish the best times to contact each party directly. This will be established during the project initialisation process.
VAF will ensure as far as possible that our technical contact is available during your working hours to ensure that should you need to communicate any further information directly, you will be able to do this.
VAF has extensive experience of preparing and packaging applications for virtual environments. All of our consultants have vast experience working in both offsite and onsite roles and have been working in these areas for many years.
VAF has extensive experience of virtualising apps for both laptop/offline and Citrix/Terminal Services environments and designing Enterprise level solutions. Some of our customer references can be viewed here .
VAF and add3 can help you plan, deploy and support the following technologies:
Please visit www.add3.co.uk for further information.
No, but there are not many that can't be.
For applications that cannot be packaged entirely offsite, Virtual App Factory offer comprehensive onsite consultancy services, or if granted access, our packaging experts will connect remotely and package the application in your environment.
There are some types applications which may not be suitable for virtualisation and VAF would be happy to advise the best course of action in these situations.
Applications that fall into this category can include:
We will discuss your project requirements with you at the project initiation and agree the SLA with you at this time.
A packaging machine is a specially prepared and configured Windows machine which allows applications to be "packaged" for delivery via the application virtualisation product. The preparation of the packaging machine is essential to the successful deployment of your applications. We will ask you to complete a questionnaire about the client machines that your virtualised applications will be delivered to, be this a standard XP or Vista desktop or a Citrix / Terminal Server. Based on this we will prepare your own bespoke packaging machine on which all of your applications will be prepared.
VAF currently use the following technologies to create virtual applications. If required we can advise you as to the most appropriate technology for your requirements; we are vendor independent and do not sell any products or licenses and therefore have no incentive to recommend anything but the best solution for your needs. We also endeavour to be completely up to date with the rapid advancements in the field of application virtualisation and are constantly adapting our skills and toolsets accordingly.
VAF will be able to advise on this by using a combination of the application discovery document and our own application white list and technical knowledge / toolset to determine whether an application can be virtualised.
In order to allow VAF to package your application(s) we will need the following :
There are several ways that this can be achieved. This can range from secure delivery of a CD / DVD to uploading all required content via our secure drop box - www.virtualappfactory.com/dropbox
VAF offer a subscription based service that will allow you to accommodate applications that may require regular updates. Further information will be made available during the project initialisation. Where there is a requirement for a "one off" update, VAF will be happy to carry out this work. A discounted price will be available where this is an update to an application previously packaged by ourselves. Applications that are new will be charged as new packages.
It is important that your organisation has sufficient in house skills to be able to administer the environment in which virtualised applications are to be hosted. Where this is not the case it may be appropriate to discuss the option of an off-site administration/managed service, or to engage our onsite consultancy service offered by add3 (www.add3.co.uk). We would be happy to discuss the best way that we can help you deliver our services to you.
Some applications need to be packaged within the environment they will run in. In these situations there are three options available. The first is for your organisation to provide remote access to a suitable packaging machine for our consultants to work on. The second is for VAF to build a backend environment to mirror your production environment. Where these options are not possible, it may be appropriate to engage our partner organisation add3 for onsite consultancy. We would be very happy to discuss the most appropriate way of working with you.
VAF will ensure as far as possible that the application packages produced will be fully functional within your environment. Our application and environment discovery process should in most cases ensure that this is the case. Where there are integration issues between the package and your environment VAF will work closely with you to determine the reasons why. In the unlikely event that there are problems with the packages, VAF will ask for remote access to the environment or suggest engaging our onsite consultancy services (www.add3.co.uk).