You can't migrate to cloud successfully unless you know where you are starting from - and that starting point will already include cloud and web-based applications you do not yet know about.
That was the message from Centrix Software as it announced version 5.1 of its application tracking and management tool WorkSpace, which adds support for hosted services and streamed or virtualised applications.
"We found that organisations looking at how to transform to cloud or virtualised [apps] needed to know a whole lot more about their current environment,” explained Paul Burke, Centrix's director of product management.
“A lot thought they had that information already because they had asset management, but that only counts 'things,' not usage – and the cloud is usage-priced,"
He said with the cloud enabling business units to buy services without going through IT, the IT department loses sight of what is actually going on.
"Users also tend to share web IDs, so we measure the individual IDs used. That enables IT to engage with the business and address the liability issues," added Burke.
He also claimed rather than limiting the agility which comes from how the cloud frees up business units' access to IT services, Centrix WorkSpace could enhance it. For example, by tracking the organisation's usage, IT could help to ensure the most appropriate and cost-effective services were used.
Burke offered the example of Centrix client Centrica, which he said had saved £10 million across some 33,000 desktops. He noted that even on desktop software, usage data can save you money if your licensing contract allows you to trim back your licence numbers to what is actually in use.
As well as the monitoring and metering tool WorkSpace iQ, Centrix also updated WorkSpace Universal, which Burke described as an application resource portal, giving a user access to all their apps in one place. He claimed Universal now provided single sign-on to a user's apps, plus self-service subscription to applications, whether legacy, cloud-based, or virtualised via tools such as Citrix XenDesktop or Microsoft App-V.
A perpetual licence for WorkSpace iQ was around £30, while Universal was £35. The tools can also be bought on a monthly subscription. Universal is browser-based so should run on any client, but iQ requires a desktop agent and only operates on Windows.
