App Portal

The Web, smartphones, iPads® and other innovations have changed the way people interact with technology. Consumers can download a tune, a book or a game to a personal device with a few clicks of a mouse. They want the same convenience, ease and speed when it comes to submitting software requests at work. They're tired of filling out paperwork and waiting days, or maybe weeks, for IT to deliver the applications they need to be productive.

Now, with Flexera Software App Portal, you can empower users with on-demand software provisioning through an enterprise app store. Line of business employees request applications from an easy-to-understand catalog using a Web browser, and App Portal executes the fulfillment process end to end, automating software approvals, enforcing proper licensing, and handing off the application to Microsoft® System Center Configuration Manager for delivery to the user's device. The solution maintains a detailed audit trail and keeps the requester informed of the status.

Tight integration with Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager means you can leverage the software deployment capability of System Center 2007 and 2012 to deliver software to users. App Portal also taps into the wealth of data maintained by Configuration Manager to enhance software request and software asset management. Support for the 2012 Configuration Manager application model helps ensure delivery of each application in the most appropriate way.

Bottom line: With App Portal, you can offer users all the advantages of a self-service app store while maintaining complete control of the request, approval and fulfillment process.

Increase User Satisfaction and Productivity with Self Service

• Provide a consumer-oriented shopping experience through your enterprise app store.
• Simplify shopping by displaying a single catalog item for each application instead of showing multiple format versions such as MSI, App-V or mobile app.
• Cut application delivery time from days to hours — even minutes for applications that don't require approvals.
• Automate approval/fulfillment, eliminating hours of staff time that was formerly spent manually responding to one-off requests.
• Support a software leasing model in which users request an application for a specified time period and the application is reclaimed when the lease expires.

Maintain Full Control of Software Request Processes

• Leverage templates to add software, hardware and security group provisioning to the online catalog.
• Specify application attributes, such as approvals required and immediate versus scheduled deployment.
• Take advantage of Configuration Manager to deliver applications to users quickly and efficiently.
• Leverage Configuraton Manager data to manage software requests and software assets more efficiently.
• Benefit from the 2012 Configuration Manager application model, which defines policies and relationship rules to evaluate user identity, application dependencies, device type, and network connection, to deliver each application in the most appropriate way.
• Take advantage of the App Portal user-centric deployment model to intelligently deploy applications to the proper device based on type and configuration.
• Determine which applications a user is entitled to access based on Group, Organizational Unit and other attributes defined in Active Directory.
• Specify the type of approvals required for each application based on such factors such as application cost and user role.
• Designate deputy approvers in case a primary approver is not available.
• Incorporate mini-interviews into checkout to collect pertinent information about each software request.

Enhance Software Asset Management Processes to Increase ROI

• Tap into application cost, total license count, the number of in-use licenses and other data to optimize the use of the software currently in place.
• Receive immediate notifications when the supply of unused licenses for an application needs to be replenished.
• Reclaim unused software licenses and recycle them to avoid costly overbuying.
• Report on software requests, approvals, installations and purchases to measure success and make sound decisions regarding software licensing and usage across the enterprise.

Best practices for software self service center around these three key areas: user self service, software request management and software asset management.

Empowering Users/Empowering IT

Savvy IT organizations are aligning their services with the expectations and needs of their customers — the business people who rely on computing systems to do their jobs. Finding a faster, easier way to deliver desktop applications is one of the ways IT is achieving this alignment. Creating an online app store with Flexera Software App Portal addresses the user need for rapid access. It meets user expectations for a familiar, consumer-like experience in accessing IT services in the workplace. The benefits in terms of higher end-user productivity and enhanced customer satisfaction are compelling. But the benefits don't end there. Fulfilling one-time application requests through App Portal eliminates hundreds of hours of IT staff time spent preparing applications for delivery. That time can be better spent on strategic initiatives. In addition, App Portal gives IT visibility into software assets and enables the staff to avoid overspending on licenses. Furthermore, with App Portal, IT maintains the control necessary to ensure compliance with licensing agreements, corporate policy and regulatory requirements.

App Portal is a key component of Flexera Software's application readiness solutions.