MTM adds visionapp to its best practices

We just announced the expansion of our strategic partnership with MTM Technologies, Inc., the largest Citrix solution advisor in North America. MTM is now incorporating visionapp Server Management 2008 (vSM 2008) into its Access Practice as the leading tool and methodology for building stable, reliable, and easy-to-maintain server farms. MTM is also announcing a free one-day virtualization assessment during March to determine how best to reduce operating expenses in customers’ environments.

“The customers using visionapp software tools report a 30% savings in their IT operating expenses,” said Chuck Fritz, President and CEO of visionapp North America. “We’re pleased that MTM—the largest Citrix reseller in North America—is using our tools to bring the same kinds of savings to their Citrix customers.”

MTM offers a free 1-day virtualization assessment

Jed Ayres, MTM’s senior vice president of partner management and marketing, said, “We strongly believe that visionapp products will address some of the biggest concerns of our Citrix customers. Lowering operating expenses and increasing productivity are two of the biggest driving factors for companies in today’s economy, and have always been goals of MTM’s industry-leading Access Practice. Together, MTM and visionapp can provide an end-to-end solution to help companies deliver on the leadership and the vision they need to succeed in these challenging economic times.” Ayres added that the March promotion of the one-day assessment would help companies best determine how to lower their operating expenses. The assessment will be free until March 31, 2009.

Putting The Cloud in simpler terms

I’ve heard a lot of people over the last few weeks ask what The Cloud is. Many organizations say they’re all about The Cloud; analysts say that The Cloud is the Next Big Thing. Suddenly, so many companies are suddenly on The Cloud that it’s ridiculous.

Sure, it's pretty, but what exactly is The Cloud?

So what is The Cloud, and what does it mean for the average business? The technical folks at visionapp may cringe at the oversimplification, but as I see it, The Cloud is basically when a task the user performs is performed over the Internet instead of a local computer. Implementing the task can be started on one’s workstation using a client (Skype is an example of this) or a web-based interface (such as everybody’s favorite SaaS example, Salesforce). The computations, though, are not done on that user’s workstation or in the user’s company’s server room; from the user’s perspective, it’s done “over the Internet.”

In reality, of course, the processing is done (most often) on the software vendor’s own servers in the vendor’s data center. This makes a lot of sense when the task that you want to do requires a large investment on your part. For instance, part of Salesforce’s success is that the in-house resources needed for a CRM system are huge, and it’s much easier to pay $50 a month per user and start today than $10,000 or more to start a CRM project that may not be ready for a few months.

visionapp is actually doing a lot of this today, especially in Europe, with technology based on its visionapp Workspace Management platform. One of the largest telecommunications companies in the world are hosting business applications over The Cloud using visionapp technology. And the telecommunication company’s customers are seeing a much lower initial investment, lower requirements for their own workstations, and lower maintenance costs — adding up to a lower cost of ownership and lower operating expenses.

Best practices for managing Citrix

visionapp is hosting two webinars later this month on the best practices for managing Citrix Provisioning Server and Citrix XenApp 5 (formerly Presentation Server/MetaFrame).

We have an approach to system management which goes beyond a methodology. Our chief technologist Rick Dehlinger calls it an “infrastructure factory,” and the approach, while a bit different from how many IT departments manage their Citrix farms today, can save an enormous amount of time and money. And of course in this economy, there’s never been so much to do with so few resources.

Check out our webinars and sign up today!

20% off vRD till December 31!

On January 19, 2009, you can download and purchase the new 2009 version of visionapp Remote Desktop at www.vRD2009.com. Featuring support for a number of additional connection protocols such as Citrix ICA, VNC, SSH, Telnet, and HTTP/S, vRD 2009 allows administrators to manage Citrix, UNIX/Linux, and Macintosh systems! In addition, vRD’s new extended database mode, comprehensive authorization concept, and improved display options make vRD 2009 an even more valuable tool for administrative users.

Order vRD 2008 before the end of the year and get a 20% discount—PLUS a free upgrade to vRD 2009! vRD 2009 also features a new licensing model, adjusted to today’s markets. The graduated prices for individual licenses start at $88.00 per administrator. We also offer a country license starting at $2,190 and a global license starting at $3,590. All prices exclude taxes (where appropriate) and include a one-year upgrade and support package. (If you purchased support for vRD 2008, we’ll convert you to a global license, or a country license on request.)

Contact me if you have any questions — or go to the vRD online shop.