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Flexera Software Intros Software Licensing App Portal

By Anshu Shrivastava, TMCnet Contributor

Provider of application usage management solutions Flexera Software has unveiled its App Portal, saying that it’s a self-service enterprise app store recently acquired as part of the company’s acquisition of SCCM Expert in February 2012.

“With this release, Flexera Software is demonstrating its leadership position enabling user-centric computing by investing in App Portal and its tight alignment with critical enabling technologies,” said Jonathan Hughes (News - Alert), senior information systems analyst at Varian Medical Systems.

Hughes said that App Portal’s ability to allow help desk staff to deploy software on behalf of users without granting access to Configuration Manager, itself, is a feature indispensable to his company’s operations.

App Portal is part of Flexera Software’s Application Readiness solution. The enhanced App Portal has been integrated with System Center 2012 Configuration Manager, specifically its application management and user centric deployment capabilities.

“App Portal now supports Configuration Manager 2012 and is making the most of its capabilities to empower users to quickly access and download the approved enterprise applications they need to do their jobs,” said Sergio Klarreich, director of Business Development for System Center Partner Ecosystem at Microsoft (News - Alert).

The latest enhancements enable App Portal to support Microsoft System Center 2012 Configuration Manager’s new application model, allowing users to only see a single catalogue item for an application within the App Portal for download.

“System Center 2012 Configuration Manager takes a user-centric approach to ensure applications are delivered to users when, where and how they need them, regardless of the platform or device they are using,” Klarreich said.

Moreover, App Portal will now automatically install dependent or related applications. Plus, through support of the new application model, App Portal is expected to reduce IT overhead and administration by automatically populating titles, descriptions, keywords and application categories.

“Microsoft’s new application model significantly advances user-centric computing by placing the user, and not the device, at the center of the universe,” said John Juris, director of product management at Flexera Software, adding that App Portal leverages the powerful new capabilities by extending those benefits to the enterprise app store, delivering a better self-service experience while still ensuring IT control.

Last month, Serco, an international service company, selected Flexera Software’s FlexNet Publisher as the embedded software licensing solution for its ANSWERS Software Codes.