What advantages does AppZero bring to an ISV over a VA/VM?
The virtual appliance (VA) – which is an application installed into and distributed with a VM – is very common in the Linux world today. It is not common in the Windows world because of restrictions Microsoft has on distributing its OS.
Compare and contrasting AppZero VAAs with the VM-based VA, you get the following similarities: Both allow for fast provisioning, simplified test and development, and reduced life cycle cost. There the similarities end.
The VM is not for Windows. The AppZero VAA accommodates Windows apps today. The VM-based VA only works on virtual machines, the VAA is at home on physical and virtual machines without any changes. When an ISV uses the VM approach, they take on ownership of maintaining, not only their own application, but the OS as well – an arrangement not all customers will appreciate. Because the VAA separates out the app from the OS, the ISV is responsible only for their own application – the customer’s IT takes care of the OS.
The difference in size between an AppZero VAA and a VM is huge – gigabytes that translate into days of difference in time. And, last of all – the VAA is immediately ready for any cloud without alteration. This fact is of particular interest if someone is concerned about lock-in or if someone wants to move to a managed cloud provider.
For software vendors, the VAA has impact and applicability across the sales cycle. We start with the ISV sale rep out looking for the pot of gold. Doing a demo on his portable device – or the SEs, the VAA can be copied and run immediately to the customer environment – on premises or in the cloud for a PoC. No installation – they are instantly running and working at the customer’s issues. Any work that gets done on the PoC can be moved over effortlessly into a trial, which in turn can transition into a departmental go live implementation. Time, money, and effort are saved along the way – impressing the customer, and giving the ISV resources more time to actually work with the customer rather than spending a day or so configuring the PoC environment.
Increased revenue: Win more PoCs; Accelerate sales cycle/time to revenue
Decreased costs : Lower cost of sales; Decrease cost of acquiring customer
Maximize resource and process effectiveness: Support your application, not the underlying OS; Reduce the number of application/ technical environment combinations you have to test and maintain; Run your app in any provider’s cloud – no change or lock-in
Non-intrusive: No change to technology of choice; No disruption to established business processes
