Omnissa App Volumes Breaks Barriers, Extending Unified Application Delivery to Physical PCs

San Francisco, CA – Omnissa, the company that emerged from the spin-off of VMware's end-user computing division, has announced a significant expansion of its App Volumes solution to support physical PCs. This strategic move marks a pivotal moment for the company, extending its powerful application delivery and lifecycle management capabilities beyond virtualized environments to the vast market of physical desktops and laptops. The enhancement promises to provide a unified approach for IT administrators to manage and deploy Windows applications across their entire estate, whether virtual or physical, from a single, centralized platform.

The decision to embrace physical endpoints is a direct response to the evolving needs of the modern enterprise and a clear strategy to capture a larger segment of the PC market, of which virtual desktops account for a relatively small fraction. With this expansion, Omnissa is poised to compete more directly with established endpoint management solutions, including Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager.

Seamless Application Delivery and a Native User Experience

At the core of this new capability is Omnissa's innovative application packaging technology. App Volumes works by encapsulating applications and all their necessary files into a virtual hard disk (VHD). For physical devices, Omnissa has introduced the ability to use MSI-wrapped VHD packages. This allows for the seamless delivery of applications to Windows endpoints through existing device management tools like Workspace ONE UEM, Microsoft Intune, or Microsoft Configuration Manager.

An App Volumes agent installed on the endpoint facilitates the mounting of these VHDs, making the applications appear and function as if they were natively installed. This "on-demand" delivery model means that applications are only attached when a user launches them, ensuring a clean base operating system and minimizing potential conflicts. For the end-user, the experience is designed to be seamless, with no discernible difference between an App-Volumes-delivered application and one that is locally installed.

Streamlined Application Lifecycle Management

A key advantage of the App Volumes platform is its comprehensive application lifecycle management. IT teams can package an application once and deploy it across a multitude of virtual and physical devices. This "capture once, deploy anywhere" methodology significantly reduces the time and effort traditionally associated with application packaging and deployment.

The app capture process is straightforward, typically involving a "clean" packaging machine where the application is installed while the App Volumes tool records the changes. Omnissa also provides a command-line program to automate this capture process, further enhancing efficiency for administrators.

Once packaged, administrators have granular control over the application's lifecycle. This includes managing different versions, assigning specific versions to different users or groups, and retiring outdated applications. Updates can be rolled out quickly by simply updating the package and marking it as the current version, with the changes being reflected for users at their next login.

Enhanced Security and Reduced Costs

By delivering applications on-demand, Omnissa App Volumes inherently enhances security. The attack surface of the endpoint is reduced as applications are not permanently installed on the local operating system. This just-in-time delivery model ensures that potentially vulnerable applications are only present when actively in use.

From a cost perspective, the centralized management and one-to-many provisioning model offered by App Volumes can lead to significant savings. By separating applications from the underlying OS image, IT teams can reduce image sprawl and the associated management overhead. This streamlined approach also leads to faster application deployment, with Omnissa claiming customers can deploy apps 90% faster on average and reduce time spent on application management by 76%.

The Road Ahead

The expansion of App Volumes to physical PCs is a clear indication of Omnissa's ambition to be a leader in the unified endpoint management space. While full lifecycle management capabilities for physical devices, including version control and retirement, are expected to be fully rolled out later in the year, the initial offering already presents a compelling proposition for enterprises struggling with the complexity of managing a diverse application portfolio across a hybrid device landscape. As Omnissa continues to innovate and expand its partnerships, the industry will be watching closely to see the impact of this strategic move on the broader application and device management market.