Centrix offers cloud app visibility with WorkSpace 5.1

Centrix Software has updated its WorkSpace suite to reflect the rapidly changing IT landscape for organisations, adding the ability to track cloud application use and provide subscription-based access to applications through its unified user portal.

Available from this week, Centrix WorkSpace 5.1 provides key updates to its WorkSpace iQ tool for monitoring and reporting on resource use, and WorkSpace Universal, which unifies access to applications, virtual desktops and other resources into a single portal.

These are designed to help organisations seeking to transform their IT delivery to a more service-oriented model, according to the firm.

The headline feature of WorkSpace iQ is the ability to collect data on web-based applications that users may be working with, said Centrix director of products Paul Burke.

"We hear time and again from customers that businesses are buying into web-based applications, often bypassing their IT department in the process, and the IT guys are concerned about the ability to check that their licensing matches actual usage," he said.

WorkSpace iQ 5.1 gives "complete visibility of any application in the browser" for every user in Active Directory, and the applications they are using and when, enabling IT departments to perform due diligence on licences, according to Burke.

Also new is the ability to break down applications into those used in a connected and disconnected mode, to help inform whether a move to virtual desktops is feasible. If many users run Microsoft Word locally on their laptop while offline, for example, an organisation may have to rethink.

Another key feature is tracking applications that have been virtualised and streamed using an App-V container, which otherwise obfuscates visibility of what users are actually running, according to Burke.

WorkSpace iQ 5.1 also gives a detailed audit and report of Microsoft Office application use, so that firms can see how many instances of Standard edition they need to license versus Professional, for example.

On the WorkSpace Universal side, the 5.1 update provides subscription-based access to resources, letting administrators assign credits that users can spend when self-provisioning applications via the Universal portal to ensure they do not sign up for things they do not require.

"If users exceed their credit, you can deny them access to further applications until they unsubscribe from something, or go through an approval process for an increased credit limit," explained Burke.

The end result is similar to Citrix's Dazzle enterprise app store, but Burke claimed that WorkSpace Universal works for any application, whether local, web-based or virtualised.

"It's Dazzle for everyone, not just Citrix application users," he commented.

WorkSpace Universal 5.1 also adds support for SecurID token authentication, and a start-up wizard that walks users through configuring their territory and other settings when they first log in.

Centrix WorkSpace is available under perpetual or subscription licensing.

WorkSpace iQ costs £30 and WorkSpace Universal £35 per user under perpetual licensing, with volume discounts.

Subscription pricing is £2.25 per user per month for WorkSpace iQ, and £2.65 per user per month for WorkSpace Universal.