AppZero for ISVs

AppZero's approach to server-side application virtualization can revolutionize the economics of an Independent Software Vendor's (ISV's) business model in three specific areas:

• ISVs can slash the time and costs associated with release engineering

• ISVs can dramatically cut the effort needed to deliver customer-facing functions such as pre-sales proof of concept engagements and post-sales implementation services

• Incremental revenue

AppZero; offers ISVs extreme simplicity in application provisioning and deployment.

AppZero attacks application complexity: the root of all evil for ISVs

AppZero attacks application complexity at its source: the co-dependencies between application and infrastructure that are forged upon installation and configuration.

AppZero does for server-side application virtualization what hypervisors do for server machine virtualization; AppZero virtual application appliances (VAA) separate an application from its underlying OS.  Containing zero operating system (zeOS), the VAA requires only a compatible OS on the target machine to run, and it makes no change to that OS.

Because a VAA contains only an application with its properties and files, it breaks the dependencies on any underlying hardware and OS environments.  This attribute makes it possible for ISVs to eliminate up to 80% of the lifecycle costs associated with delivery of their applications. (For a more detailed exploration of this assertion, see AppZero slashes ISV release engineering below.)

Instant proof-of-concepts and simplified implementations

Proof of concept (POC) work is the price of admission for ISVs in the competitive reality of sales.  But this high-stakes roll of the dice consumes so much time from the most valuable/skilled talent pool that it strains the ISV resources - with no guarantee of a happy ending.

AppZero takes this challenge head-on; by packaging their solution in a VAA, ISVs can do any of the sometimes ugly configuration and installation work behind the scenes, sending a simple, elegant file that arrives ready to run.  VAAs let ISVs put proof-of-concept in a bottle for instant deployment and use with no compromise to POC quality.

When it comes to post-sales implementations, AppZero again cuts time and builds quality.  Instead of performing complex installation and configuration operations on each server in a deployment, ISVs can install just once into a VAA.  The VAA can then be distributed across all servers to all locations - on-premise, hosted, or in the cloud.

Incremental revenue for ISVs

AppZero impacts ISV revenue in two ways:

• Customers are frequently hesitant to update an application that is up and running.  "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."  That hesitancy stalls revenue for ISVs.  AppZero's isolation of applications from the underlying environment means that customers can confidently take advantage of ISV upgrades and enhancements with no fear of complication.

• ISVs can extend their market reach by easily packaging their applications as services in VAAs.  Companies increasingly appreciate the ability to mix on-premise and SaaS offerings from their vendors.  VAAs require only a compatible OS in order to execute, whether that OS is running in a virtual environment, on a physical server, or in the cloud.  AppZero makes it practical for ISVs to implement a SaaS model.

AppZero slashes ISV release engineering time and costs

A typical ISV application architecture today is Web/AppServer/Database.  This class of application can be created using any number of environments in any number of combinations: For example, IIS/ASP.NET/SQL Server and Apache/Java/MySQL. Within each architecture, at each layer - Web server, App server, and database - only specific versions of each actually support an application.

Most ISVs find themselves in a position of having to support several versions of their front-end application combined with several versions of the App server layer on top of multiple database engine versions.  For instance, an application may be Oracle based, but there are Weblogix, Websphere, and Java App servers behind different versions of IIS or Apache.

Orchestrating the delivery and maintenance of these environments is a huge drain on ISV resources.

AppZero addresses this complexity by decomposing these architectures into logical building blocks. Each version of a Web server can be packaged as its own VAA.  The same applies for each flavor and version of App server and database engine, along with the patch levels of each component.  ISV applications then reuse these components by simply pointing to their VAA.

For example:  If an application running as a top tier VAA requires a certain version of Oracle, its VAA includes a pointer to that Oracle VAA.  The Oracle VAA is file available on network storage.  When an update to Oracle is made, only the single Oracle VAA is updated.  Then, whenever an application uses Oracle, it seamlessly picks up the updated VAA.  Each VAA operates in isolation from other applications and VAAs.

This decomposition and isolation greatly reduces the development test matrix for ISVs by cutting the volume of combinations that must be supported.  Taking this approach, one client reported eliminating 80% of the lifecycle management costs associated with delivery of applications.

If you would like to discuss how AppZero can help your organization, please feel free to contact us at: info@appzero.com. You may also be interested in our white paper: ISVs, "This One's for You": Instant POCs, simplified implementations, and a cloud friendly slide to the SaaS model.