IndependenceIT Unveils Cloud Workspace Suite 5.0 Featuring Automated Cross Platform SDDC Deployments/Management

March 29, 2016 Off By David
Grazed from IndependenceIT

IndependenceIT, a workspace automation software platform that allows IT departments, service providers and ISVs to easily deliver workspaces, applications and data from any cloud infrastructure, today announced Cloud Workspace Suite 5.0. Highlights of the latest generation software include automated cross platform software defined data center deployments and management; orchestration and workflow automation for third-party Workspace-as-a-Service (WaaS) platforms; support for Azure Active Directory-as-a-Service across public/private/hybrid clouds, and hyper-scalable application services for the delivery of application workloads.

Technology buyers continue to gravitate toward WaaS solutions to increase business agility and lower costs. However, many challenges still remain with the majority of solutions on the market. Most of the available products are not built for cloud infrastructure, making it difficult or impossible to operate in cross-platform environments. As a result, large capital investments must be made by IT service providers on infrastructure to support distributed deployments. Because the majority of options are extremely complex, there is a steep learning curve that reduces time to deployment and revenue for WaaS providers. Additionally, the fragmented management of infrastructure, hypervisor, OS, application, master image, Active Directory, and end-user environments add extra layers of complexity and risk.

Cloud Workspace Suite 5.0 is a powerful new solution that addresses these challenges and goes much further to support IT service providers at all levels with specific enhancements designed for cross platform software defined data center deployment and management, software defined networking, WaaS and application workload delivery for a vast range of deployment scenarios. The new software has been given a complete user interface / user experience (UI/UX) re-write. In addition to the UI/UX refresh, the updated interface also provides a new layout, enhanced workflows and functionality, new menu structure and iconography, all of which produces an enhanced, faster experience.

Cloud Workspace Suite 5.0 Enhancements Include:

  • Software Defined Data Center (SDDC) Automated Deployment – Deploy Cloud Workspace Suite across one or more virtualization platforms or cloud infrastructures, including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Openstack, VMware vSphere / vCloud Director, Microsoft Hyper-V and Citrix XenServer. IndependenceIT’s patented global control plane allows cross-platform manageability with functionality and oversight over each Workspace as a Service (WaaS) layer;
  • Azure Active Directory-as-a-Service or private cloud Integration / management – A foundational building block of multi-node and multi-vendor distributed SDDCs;
  • Introduction of Cloud Workspace Suite App Services – Hyper-scalable application services to any number of organizations, divisions or users globally. This is an advanced capability for service providers and independent software vendors (ISV) looking to deploy, manage and support application workloads in the most efficient model whether public, private, or hybrid cloud deployments all managed from Cloud Workspace Suite’s global control plane;
  • Resource Scheduling – Customer-specific resource scheduling and dynamic service reduction/shut down based on service level agreements (SLAs);
  • Live Server Scaling – Automatic, intelligent scaling of server resources up or down as workloads vary, and
  • Complete User Interface / User Experience Upgrade – Enhancements include simplified menu structure and an increased number of task-based workflows for administrators, including the creation of software-defined data centers.

“Version 5.0 allows us to use Azure Active Directory-as-a-Service to expand the boundaries of the software defined data center with a logical overlay for central management of multiple instances of Cloud Workspace Suite across one or more public/private/hybrid cloud platforms,” said Billy Forte, CEO, CloudTitan. “This will greatly simplify the management of distributed deployments and afford compliant installations across international borders where regional data must be hosted in localities under restrictive mandates.”

“Independence IT’s release of Cloud Workspace Suite 5.0 will ratchet up the competition for control plane tools that automate the deployment of virtual desktops and applications,” said David Laing, Research Manager, IT Service Management and Client Virtualization Software, IDC. “IndependenceIT has taken a solid approach by providing the ability to layer deployments above third-party workspace solutions from Citrix, Microsoft, and others. One of the goals of the 5.0 release was an order of magnitude reduction in management time by increasing the orchestration, automation and workflow advantages that IT service providers and ISVs are seeking. These types of control plane tool improvements can have a direct impact on the bottom lines of these suppliers because they allow better response times and improved margins.”

IndependenceIT also announced today that it was awarded United States Patent number 9,262,200 for its method and system for “provisioning a virtual resource in a mixed-use virtualized environment.” The innovation differentiates system management functionality of Cloud Workspace Suite by leveraging a global control plane to centrally manage the local control plane to orchestrate software defined data centers and more. It also provides a unique, customizable approach to managing private server collections for each logical unit in a multi-tenant data center for “on the fly” additions or subtractions of virtual machine instances without concern over resource availability.

“We have raised the bar with cutting edge technology, features and unmatched levels of automation in version 5.0. The enhancements position us well in a rapidly expanding market with positive long term opportunities,” said Seth Bostock, CEO, IndependenceIT. “Our patented technology and robust API interoperate with all major cloud providers and every hypervisor on the market. Additionally, it allows our partners, including service providers and ISVs, to benefit from fully automating their solution of choice.”

Availability and Pricing
Cloud Workspace Suite 5.0 starts at $7.50 per user per month. Pricing scales down with volume.