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David Cristini
Microsoft
Technology Solutions Professional
Case Studies in Application Case Studies in Application ManagementManagement
Why are we here?
Why Application Management?Why Application Management?
Applications introduced into your environment, by default, have the following characteristics:
Inconsistent, proprietary, closed legacy formats
Built for a single-user interactive install
Not customized for your environment
Not thoroughly tested for your environment
Do not reflect your organizational standards
Do not support Windows 2000/XP architecture
Provide no means for mass targeted deployments
Why software delivery tools?Why software delivery tools?
Plan, test, deploy, and analyze– Enables the complete lifecycle of application deployment
from planning through verification– Provides complete inventory and usage tracking to be
able to plan for such a rollout
Reliably and easily – Deploys successfully and reliably to locked down
Windows environments– Enables rich targeting – Reduces overall costs
Right place at the right time.– Delivers all of these applications to highly distributed and
complex enterprise environments
Customer Data Point: Customer Data Point: A Powerful CombinationA Powerful Combination
AMS/SMS solution was very flexible when it came to the Bank’s needs– 60,000 users– 750,000 groups– Moved replication to their own
customized DFS process
Application Management - TodayApplication Management - Today
Setup.exe
snAPPShot file
SMS 1.0 file
WinINSTALL
Internal Applications
Manual Process
Home Brew System
ESD Solutions
Other 3rd-party tools
FTP
“Sneaker net”
Self-serve
Win 95a
Win NT 3.51
Win 98 SE
Win XP
Win 95b
Win NT 4 SP6
Win 2000 SP 4
Win Me
Inconsistent, Proprietary, & Closed Legacy Formats
Tedious Manual Verification of Application Conflicts and Application Compatibility
No Tools Available to Automate Conflict Testing
Disparate Application Packages Require Add-on Modules and Adapters to Integrate
Multiple Operating Systems
No Lockdown in Legacy Operating Systems
Multiple Conflict Tests
Current & Legacy Platforms
Mobile Users
External Applications
ISV Applications CentralizedConflict
Database
Enterprise-Wide Management Solution
Win 2000/XP
Common Industry Standard
Open & Editable Format
Self-Repairing
Standardized set of packaging and validation rules
Conflicts Identified & Removed
Shared Files Isolated
Integrated Management and Deployment System
Automatic Deployment Package Generation
Reliable Software Push
Uniform Operating System
Role-Based Application Deployment
Locked Down PCs
Lowest TCO
Internal Applications Robust Enterprise-Wide Application Library and
Conflict Database
Legacy Applications
MSI
Application Management – where we’d like to beApplication Management – where we’d like to be
Customer Data Point: Deploying in a Customer Data Point: Deploying in a distributed environmentdistributed environment
You never really understand your own infrastructure, in someone else’s region– Infrastructure is always the same, but business
process is different in every region.
AMS bolting on to SMS was beneficial, because at the end of the workflow process they were just distributing an SMS package
Common Customer Scenarios
The reality of The reality of todaytoday
What administrators tell us they deal with– Vendor installations seem to be getting worse, more complex
• Not uncommon to spend a week trying to figure out package
– Find themselves doing the same actions time and time again• Repetitive actions on every package
– General lack of understanding about the installation contents • No way to gauge impact to environment
– Fight constant balancing act of quality testing versus end user demands• No time to test but always time to fix failed deployment
– Very little understanding from senior management regarding packaging• “Why can’t you just install the thing”?
What do administrators What do administrators REALLYREALLY want? want?
– Exercise complete control over the installation package• Truly deploy a package that meets all internal install standards
– Common elements across packages automatically applied• Standards applied across each and every package
– Detailed application impact analysis performed• How will adding this new application affect my production environment
– Understand what shared components exist across the enterprise• If I change this DLL, what applications are affected
– Shorten testing cycles while improving quality• Test more of the application while knowing less about it
– Document efforts to show value to organization• Help educate management about the impact they have
And if they And if they DON’TDON’T get what they want?... get what they want?...
– Applications fail to coexist– Applications compete for different version of
the same resource– Unstable systems– Critical LOB applications stop working– Productivity Lost– IT credibility is damaged– Support costs escalate
Some ideas to get started
Packaging GoalsPackaging Goals
Improve the Reliability of Applications
Decrease Costly Deployment Failures
Reduce Software Rollout Times Standardize the Application
Preparation Process Increase Employee Productivity
Benefits of standardizationBenefits of standardization
Windows Installer (MSI)– A standard installation system to support the installation of all
packages and software on Windows systems
Advantages– Almost all vendors have begun to move their own installations to
this format– Easy to use tools such as AdminStudio to repackage installations
into this format– Staff only needs to be familiar with a single installation format
MSI features– Self healing– Standardization of file versioning rules– Standard customization approaches to installations
Simplifying software packagingSimplifying software packaging
Use a clean system for packaging– Only base OS and service packs– Leverage virtual environments
Packaging environment closely mirror production– Reduction in number of base images
Utilize a template– Reduces repetitive tasks – Enforces corporate standards– Embeds required standards into package
Utilize global exclusions– Reduces the time spent removing unwanted, unnecessary
data
Common Customization RequestsCommon Customization Requests
Resource modification – Files, registry entries, shortcuts
– Configure ODBC
– Environment variables
Apply company standards – Add/Remove program behavior
– Implement templates
Custom Actions – Extend the functionality of the installation
– Launch an executable during the installation
How to handle customization requestsHow to handle customization requests
Use Transforms for existing MSI packages– Simplified Windows Installer database with
extension .MST– Modifies the MSI “as it is being installed”– Requires command line options or EXE-Style
launcher– Nearly all aspects of the install can be modified
Never “repackage” vendor authored MSI
Package TestingPackage Testing
Tester may not know the application Testing instructions are typically incomplete
– What instructions were provided up front to packager Application too complex Time is always a factor
– Never time to completely test but always time to react to problems
UAT– Some say single biggest challenge to complete testing
– No control of user availability
– Often times unwilling to “sign-off” on completed application
Customer Data Point – End Result Customer Data Point – End Result
The net benefit was AMS + SMS was far more efficient and cost effective, and a huge enabler (doing more with less)
Having a workflow meant right information at right time– Gating step a to step b made sure
all information was present)
Divide and Conquer
Customer Data Point: Segregation of Customer Data Point: Segregation of ResponsibilityResponsibility
Easy to outsource parts of the process– Packaging to MSI– Quality Control– UAT in a read only area– Handoff back to internal teams for
distribution
AMS – Managing People and ProcessAMS – Managing People and Process
Putting metrics in place
SLA – Report SummarySLA – Report Summary
Software delivery progressSoftware delivery progress
Detailed software delivery statusDetailed software delivery status
Looking forward
What’s next? – A Customer ViewWhat’s next? – A Customer View
“Entitlement” – IT needs to be able to look at lifecycle of application
• What’s the best way to determine if a user needs an application?
– When a user falls out of entitlement, what is the next step?
• How do we manage the removal process – uninstall? Reimage? Group Policy?
– Software asset management – how to track usage? • Can I turn it off for a week, if they don’t complain, do I leave
it off? • IT needs to think about managing software as an
investment, and the most efficient way to do that.– Often more of a political battle than a technical one…how
can technology ease the process?
SummarySummary
Applications have changed over the years to become much more standardized
Software deployment tools will only be as successful as your packages
You can significantly reduce TCO by implementing some basic workflow management and tools to support software packaging & deployment and leveraging the OS for lockdown. Additionally, there is a lot of Microsoft guidance with MOF in this area for ITIL.
