Meet AppScan — the newest member of the Access IT Automation product family!
AppScan is a light-weight compatibility testing module that gives end users, such as packagers or application owners, insight into whether or not their app is suitable for AppV or AppVolumes based on simple criteria. Simply upload the MSI in question to find out if the application has boot time services, no shortcuts and meets other criteria that would impact its suitability.
{{cta(’34aad239-fcd9-458f-8706-6d0331ee2dff’)}}
AppScan Isn’t Yet Another App Compatibility Tool
Like most enterprises, you’ve already got compatibility products, such as AppDNA (owned by Citrix), ChangeBASE (owned by Dell), or Qompat. While they can add a tremendous value in their own right, they are usually very complex (and therefore costly) because they have loads of logic built into huge algorithms that test for a million different scenarios.
But full-blown application compatibility testing for every single app isn’t as mission critical anymore. Consider the differences between upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7, which was a massive deal because Windows 7 was a 64 bit operating system. Therefore going from going from 32 bit to 64 bit OS is a large leap. Going from Windows 7 to Windows 10 isn’t such a gigantic move anymore — at least where app compatibility is concerned.
Microsoft has made huge strides when it comes to application compatibility of their OS. In fact, Microsoft has shown charts in webinars and conferences where they estimate that the number of applications that do not require full compatibility testing increased from 79% to 98-99%.
Now, I don’t know about you, but most enterprises I talk to won’t just migrate and not test 99% of their applications. While you probably won’t test every single app, you will have a closer look at most.
Testing For Virtualization Suitability
As organizations are upgrading their operating systems to Windows-as-a-Service, embracing cloud computing and other emerging technologies to create a more agile, more up-to-date and secure IT environment, they are also looking into virtualizing their application estates as much as possible.
That’s where AppScan comes in. It can give you fast, 30,000 feet level insight into your application estate to ensure that nothing major breaks, and should something break, it’s more management by exception versus having to manage everything.
The scan provides the most value to organizations moving from a physical platform to a virtual environment, such as stateless VDI or just general state-full VDI. Because it allows application owners to identify whether or not their physical apps could work in a virtual state, they can become an enabler of change.
While the tool currently supports suitability testing for AppV or AppVolumes, future product roadmaps include the support of other technologies, such as ThinApp and Numecent.
How Can You Use AppScan?
In contrast to other compatibility tools, AppScan runs very quickly and hardly requires any configuration.
It can either be hosted online as a web service running on Azure or be implemented as an on-premise application — as part of Access Capture or as a stand-alone product. If you are using AppScan in conjunction with Access Capture, you would first upload or create an MSI in the Discovery Phase and then the Access AppScan tool would test if this app is a good candidate for AppV, or AppVolumes.
At the moment, the free web version of AppScan is limited to three uploads per company email domain. Simply head over to our free trial page, enter your corporate email address, and upload your zipped MSI or MSTs and external files. We will email the results to you shortly.
