Upcoming Webcasts for ChangeBASE

I thought that it might be helpful to post some of the upcoming webcasts from Quest and ChangeBASE for the next week or so. There are some great presenters and if you are migrating to Windows 7 or have to manage virtual machines and environments, then these sessions should be pretty valuable.

Here is a list for the next week;

Webcast: How to Provision 100 Virtual Machines in Under 10 Minutes

Tuesday, August 28, 2012   2-3 pm ET, Speaker: Steven Hunt

 

Webcast: How to Automate Application Readiness for Migrations to Windows 7

Wednesday, August 29, 2-3pm ET, Speaker: Mike Russell

Webcast: Providing a Productive & Secure User Environment with Desktop Authority

Thursday, August 29, 2-3pm ET, Speaker: Bob Crosley

New Webcast Archive

Check out the Quest Webinar archive here and catch-up on what has been happening (and been recorded) over the last few months at Quest

Here is a sample of what you can find in this webinar treasure trove.

How to Overcome the Top 5 Challenges of Scanning into Virtual Desktop Environments

Quest Workspace RemoteScan provides extensive desktop scanner and image acquisition connectivity for more than 20,000 customers worldwide -- with more than one billion documents scanned to date.  Watch our desktop scanning technology experts and learn how RemoteScan can help you overcome these common challenges:  

• Scanning that doesn’t work natively in Terminal Server environments
• The network performance drag due to size of transferred images
• Learning curves required for using multiple scanner interfaces
• Lack of support for every imaging device technology, including TWAIN, WIA and ISIS  
• Cumbersome server reboots during installation of scanning tools

You can also find out more about the ChangeBASE products and people by joining the Quest Communities. Here is a sample of how one of our consultants helped out with modifying MSI Installer packages with ChangeBASE

To read more, check out our recent coverage in CIO magazine and ComputerWorld on how ChangeBASE help reduced application compatibility issues for John Lewis

http://www.computerworlduk.com/news/applications/3374418/john-lewis-saves-weeks-in-software-testing-for-windows-7-migration/

http://www.cio.co.uk/news/3374407/john-lewis-saves-weeks-in-software-testing-for-windows-7-migration/ 

Save 40% on ChangeBASE!

Webcast: How to Automate Application Readiness for Migrations to Windows 7 Date and Time: August 29, 2012 at 2:00 p.m. ET / 11:00 a.m. PT Presenter: Mike Russell, Quest Workspace® ChangeBASE™ Software Consultant Register for the webcast All attendees are eligible for a 40% ChangeBASE discount!

Application compatibility is the single biggest inhibitor to a successful enterprise Windows 7 migration. In this webcast, we’ll show you an automated process for packaging, testing and fixing potential compatibility issues to save you time, while reducing cost and risk. You'll see a live demo of our innovative ChangeBASE solution and how it’s possible to prepare applications for new Microsoft platform versions in minutes. And just for attending, you’ll immediately be eligible for a 40% discount on ChangeBASE products through September 25, 2012. Register now »

BYOD Survey: Edge devices are not secure

More on the BYOD (Bring your own device) theme.

I read a survey late last week that indicated that most BYOD devices (i.e. your smartphone) that are used in the enterprise, do not have passwords.

Some of the key findings of the report included;

• 84 percent of individuals stated they use the same smartphone for personal and work usage.
• 47 percent reported they have no pass-code on their mobile phone.
• 36 percent reuse the same password.
• 51 percent of respondents stated their companies do not have the ability to remotely wipe data from mobile devices if they are locked or lost.

In addition, the report quotes the following results;

Despite the growing awareness, 60 percent of respondents are still writing down passwords on a piece of paper. There is progress, however, as 24 percent reported using a password management system, 11 percent are saving an encrypted document on their desktop and 7 percent have a document saved on their desktop. Nearly half of all respondents - 49 percent - stated their IT departments have not discussed mobile/cybersecurity with them.

Here is a quick infographics to help tell the story: 

You can read the summary here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120814005332/en/BYOD-Survey-47-Percent-Users-Lack-Password

Or, you can submit your email address and details and get the whole report here:  http://www.coalfire.com/Resources/Perspectives/Registration-BYOD-Survey-Results

Migrating to Windows 7 with Ease (i.e. Quest)

A quick plug for the next Quest webinar ... 

I wonder what they are going to do to answer the question about Windows 7 application compatibility??

Microsoft and Quest Webcast: Tools for Migrating to Windows 7 with Ease
Friday 17th August  at 10:30 a.m. BST

Gartner’s telling you to do a Windows 7 migration. Your users are screaming for it. And Windows XP support is slipping away fast. Trouble is, you’ve got all those applications and different types of use cases to deliver on Windows 7. In this webcast, experts from Microsoft and Quest will explain what other customers have done so you can see how to do it too - with less risk, time and effort than you might think.  Equipped with this information, you can be the hero – and be ahead of the game for Windows 8.

Discover how you can:

• Utilise MDOP to ease challenging migrations
• Discover which applications you have and are which ones are used in your environment
• Prioritize applications to be re-licensed, replaced, and tested, with “red, amber, green” rankings for suitability.
• Avoid manual assessments and remediation, troublesome deployments and post-migrationsupport issues
• Utilise Hyper-V for hosting Windows 7 virtual machines
• Identify applications that can be virtualized within seconds and ensure they meet packaging standards
• Deliver stubborn unfixable apps using desktop virtualisation – but keep control 

Register here »

Mobile Application Management: Application Compatibility for the Edge

Though the focus of this blog has been on application compatibility and for the past little while Windows 7 and IE9 have been pretty common topics for postings. I came across an interesting post from Jack Madden over at Brian Madden's blog site.

Jack writes that one of the primary challenges of enterprise application management programs is how to address the edge problem: meaning smart phones and tablets.  As an old hand at managing applications in the enterprise, there was a familiar cycle or rhythm to managing applications; 

• Develop
• Test
• Deploy
• Update 
• Retire (kill)

There are quite a few sub-components to each of these stages and the cycle was iterative and repetitive.  When it comes to applications deployed to edge devices (phones and tablets). The story is a little weaker. Phones and tablets are a recent (and reluctant) members to the enterprise application management club and though there are technology vendors out there (and Quest will be mentioned - don't worry), managing mobile application is still a nascent industry.

Jack walks us through the difference between MAM (Mobile application Management) which deals with objects at an application level. Whereas, MDM operates at a device level. MAM helps with the initial deployment of an enterprise application and potentially application updates, but to completely (securely) remove the application from a device with some measure of confidence, you need to engage MDM and operate at the device level.

Now that I am learning about Quest's offering in this space, it looks like we offer QMX extensions for Apple which you can read about here: http://www.quest.com/management-xtensions-configuration-manager-apple-edition/

Quest's QMX Extensions for Apple have the following features: 

• Support enhanced management capabilities to simplify operation with corporate applications and data.
• The QMX extension for iOS incorporates in-demand capabilities, including more detailed control and management features to inventory, report on and distribute applications and updates to these devices as well as keep the organization secure with selective lock and wipe capabilities in the event of a lost device.
• With the QMX extension for Mac, administrators can use standardization and network readiness in Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager to deploy corporate images to one or more Mac laptops and PowerBooks. This lets IT quickly resurrect a device that an end-user had completely destroyed.

Ben Hector, network engineer 2, Drake University says, "

“At Drake University, we’ve seen the rapid adoption of Mac OS and iOS devices over the past two years, but we were unable to track and monitor them properly. We deployed Quest Management Extensions (QMX), which directly integrates with our management system to pull in data on both hardware and software into one database. The deployment of QMX was a no-brainer—it allows our university management to address compliance and budget concerns while letting our IT organization simplify device management across disparate platforms and hardware.”

You can read more about Quest and their mobile management offerings here: http://community-downloads.quest.com/management-extensions/Video/iOS_v2/index.html

References:

Part 1: Let’s take a look at in-house iOS apps, part 2 of 2: Managing the apps

Part 2: Let’s take a look at in-house iOS apps, part 1 of 2: the iOS Developer Enterprise Program