SmartDeploy, a leading provider of modern endpoint management solutions, announced new capabilities that provide the centralized management benefits of virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) to IT while still providing the best possible experience for end users. SmartDeploy's new application deployment functionality with an integrated application library is the final piece of the puzzle needed to decouple monolithic PC images into separate driver layers, operating system layers, application layers and user data layers that can all be deployed, upgraded and managed independently from each other.

This new layered image construct, completed with the addition of an application layer, significantly simplifies administration, as IT manages just one golden image of an operating system and application instead of managing thousands of individual endpoints. However, unlike VDI, end users take advantage of all the local power of an endpoint, including high-end processors and on-board graphics processing, and can work even when they are not connected to any network. 

SmartDeploy now also provides the ability for customers to deploy operating system images, applications and drivers from Box, Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive and Google Drive. This new functionality lets customers take advantage of storage they might already have with these cloud providers. But the key benefit is complete flexibility: end users do not have to be connected to a corporate network on a wired internet connection for IT to manage their endpoint. With SmartDeploy, end users can be connected through wireless or wired internet connections, on or off a corporate network. 

"Supporting 6,000 users across 62 locations with an IT team of seven can be expensive and time consuming if you don't have the right supporting tools in place. SmartDeploy's ability to separate the driver layer from the base operating system layer gives us the ability to perform functions like updating Windows, migrating to a new Windows version or repairing Windows for our distributed users from our one centralized IT site," said Dustin Miller, IT Support at Watermark Retirement Communities. "SmartDeploy's new cloud deployment capability enables us to now leverage Google Drive to store and deploy our Windows images and application packages, freeing up our site-to-site network bandwidth as well as supporting users who can be anywhere." 

"The ability to dynamically assemble and centrally manage a PC image has numerous benefits for businesses that strive to keep the end user environment up to date and secure," said Mark Bowker, Senior Analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group. "SmartDeploy adds the additional benefit of adapting to existing cloud consumption models by leveraging cloud services and the advantages they are already delivering to the IT organization."

Until now, there has been a struggle between endpoint management simplicity and end user experience. While expensive to deploy, VDI provides single-image management of a centralized golden image of an operating system and each application. The challenge with VDI is that images run on a server in a datacenter instead of on the user's endpoint, which reduces performance and productivity while leading to user frustration. Legacy endpoint management solutions do not have the same user performance and productivity issues as VDI because the operating system and applications run locally on the computer. However, the complexity of these solutions significantly increases the time to manage endpoints, preventing IT productivity in areas more strategic to the organization. 

SmartDeploy now provides the best of both worlds. Endpoint management is simplified with centralized, single-image management of Windows and applications regardless of where users are located or how they are connected. End users can take advantage of all the power of their endpoint even if they are in an airplane with no internet access or using applications that require high-end graphics processing. 

"With endpoints located in places varying from offices to construction trailers needing updating, reimaging and Windows 10 upgrades, SmartDeploy has been absolutely vital to our IT department," said Alex Sanchez, IT Coordinator at WELBRO Building Corporation. "The addition of application deployment using an application layer and the ability to use Microsoft OneDrive to deploy our Windows golden image, applications and drivers now enables me to manage all of these endpoints from my desk, which saves me travel time and WELBRO travel costs." 

SmartDeploy's unique layering technology of maintaining separate driver, operating system, application and user data layers enables true centralized, single-image management. This lets IT maintain a single golden Windows base image for the entire fleet of PCs, regardless of manufacturer or model. Whether using single-image management for Windows migration, Windows updates, computer imaging, PC refresh or even PC break-fix, the ability to reimage the operating system layer without worrying about the underlying drivers or affecting the installed applications is faster and simpler than managing thousands of Windows images independently.

"I consistently hear from customers and prospects alike that they want a simple and fast solution that combines the functionality of progressive solutions like SCCM, centralized solutions like VDI and legacy imaging solutions like Ghost," said Aaron Suzuki, CEO of SmartDeploy. "The architecture of our new application deployment functionality enables SmartDeploy to separate the application layer from the other logical layers, which provides our customers with a single solution that gives them the best of progressive, centralized and legacy imaging solutions with none of the downsides. SmartDeploy's ability to deliver images from the cloud extends these capabilities to any PC, regardless of location or how that PC is connected to the internet."