User Workspace Management

Expert Review: A different approach to application delivery

Johan Zwiekhorst in Computable Magazine, August 11th 2008

(reproduced and translated with permission of Computable)

Scense 5.0

Good software doesn’t have to originate from the United States. The Netherlands also deliver good software. Scense for instance, a Dutch based company, offers a different approach to application distribution and session control for Windows clients. In a company where employees use so called “fat clients’’ (usually Windows XP) a well structured central workspace management solution should be in place. The biggest challenge for an administrator is to ensure that all Windows pc’s are up to date, well protected and configured with the right software. To make things even worse, not all users use the same software, resulting in different desktop configurations and additional challenges regarding desktop management.

One way to deal with this situation is to use desktops with just the software and configuration installed that is really needed. As long as these desktops are stable, they don’t need regular updates. Afterwards a central management system decides which applications are available to which users. These applications are delivered and locally activated at the moment they are needed (or after log on).

In this situation, the administrator will be able to freely decide which software is centrally available, how this software will be installed and which parameters or features should be used. This way, the administrator has the same control he would have using an application server based on Microsoft Terminal Server or Citrix. The applications don’t run on the central server however (which has to be extremely powerful), but on the (less costly) client pc from the end users. This is in short the philosophy behind Scense.

Competition

One of Scense’s competitors is RES PowerFuse. (which we tested previously). Both solutions bring applications to the end user, but each has a different approach.

Scense operates from the already present Windows–desktop on which sessions are possible with centrally managed and with distributed applications. RES PowerFuse wants to give every user a strictly managed and reproducible working space, regardless of the used computer and of the fact if there is an application server in use or not. RES creates it’s own desktop with everything determined in detail and predefined. Predefined applications will automatically be part of the desktop environment.

Centrally

With Scense, every user session can be managed and controlled centrally and remotely, even when the user session is still running. The applications needed within a user session are also managed centrally. Scense will automatically handle all dependencies. It also automatically resolves conflicts between applications and dependencies (such as system libraries).

The management tool is called Scense Explorer. The administrator is provided with an overview of the applications, the  scripts, management tools and more. The management interface is adjustable to personal taste. Scense simplifies management by dividing everything into two categories: system management and session control. System management is everything related to the Scense environment itself. That includes the choice of the database server, the site configuration, the licence configuration, management of the system journal, authorized administrators and the repository. In the
repository you store everything that belongs to each other, for example: one with all the Service Packs and updates of Windows XP.

Session control will be used by you on a daily basis. It manages the configuration of all the applications, the users, the messages to specific or all users and all computers. The user interface of Scense Explorer resembles Windows Explorer, resulting in a faster adoption by the administrator. An administrator can request detailed logs of everything. Unfortunately with failed actions, the logs do not clearly state what action was exactly
performed and what went wrong.

Dynamic Events

On the end users machine a client is running which communicates with the Scense server. The client is visible by a pictogram (which can be hidden) in the Windows system tray. After log on or during the launch of an application the client informs the user. The information provided by the client is detailed and also includes recommendations.  It will for instance show how many system resources are in use.  The system also notifies the user when predetermined standards or averages are exceeded. The intention is to motivate end users to keep their desktop clean and compact. Also in this case, the administrator decides what will be shown and what not.

An application shortcut on the desktop is not a link to the program file of the application but to the Scense client. After clicking the shortcut, the client gets the request to retrieve and load the application. While retrieving and locally installing the application, a process notification is shown to the end user in the bottom right part of the screen. By the way: retrieving an application is a reasonable fast process.

During the composition of such user sessions, the administrator can apply scripts. These scripts will take into account all kinds of dynamic events which could occur during a session. Because of that, these scripts can be specifically adjusted for a certain user or a certain computer.

User Centric

Scense software is very user based, but the administrator can also configure features that apply to computers and do not relate to specific end users. An example is anti-malware software. Administrators need that software to run on every Windows PC, regardless of the user working on it. A user specific setting could offer some users the possibility to configure or maybe even temporary deactivate  this security software, while all other users are blocked from doing anything with it.

Scense claims that the information provided by the client to the end users, reduces the amount of helpdesk calls to a large extent. If an application refuses to start, the client offers the end user information about why this is happening. If the problem is a central problem (for example, the application has accidentally been deleted on the server), the client will immediately notify the next user who requests this application. This message will state that the application is temporary unavailable. An administrator can also include a message to the end users that states how long it will take before the application is available again.

Scense supports application delivery with Windows installer, Wise, Altiris Virtual Layers and Thinstall. When the administrator adds an application to the system, Scense starts the installation process of the application to gather information about registry modifications and file locations. This information is stored in the database. As soon as an end user starts such an application for the first time, the Scense client will know which registry modifications to apply. The client also knows which files to remove from the server and install locally, to enable a fast launch of the application.

Conclusion

Scense delivers a wide variety of applications to the end user and takes care of the management of user sessions. End users keep their own Windows desktop with all related privileges. Scense only interferes in case of centrally distributed applications. A lot is possible by using scripts and parameters. The approach is different from the approach of RES Powerfuse which we tested before and also originates from The Netherlands.

Product info

• Product: Scense 5.0
• Scense B.V.
• Rotterdam, The Netherlands,
• tel. +31 10 4090999
• www.scense.com
• List price (ex VAT) 60 Euro/user including first year maintenance and support. After first year, 12 Euro per user per year M&S.

System requirements:

• Client software: Windows 2000 or higher.
• Management interface: Windows 2000 or higher.
• Scense server: Windows 2000.
• Database: MS SQL 2000 or higher or Oracle 8i or higher.
• Active Directory required.

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