Microsoft



Microsoft Desktop Optimization PackCustomer Solution Case Study00Virtualization Helps BMW Simplify and Speed Application Packaging, Deployment OverviewCountry or Region: GermanyIndustry: Automotive and industrial manufacturingCustomer ProfileBMW Group is a premier motor vehicle manufacturer, employing business, IT, and manufacturing staff in 250 locations worldwide. Its 2009 revenues exceeded U.S.$68 billion.Business SituationThe time, manual effort, and costs required to test, package, and deploy the more than 1,000 software applications used at BMW Group needed to be reduced.SolutionMicrosoft Application Virtualization made it possible to virtualize applications, eliminating the need for outsourced packaging experts and installation technicians.BenefitsReduces application deployment time by 50 percent, packages updates 90 percent fasterOffers zero-touch desktop with 20 percent more packaged applicationsSaves money, minimizes trainingSupports application compatibility“Our App-V experience has been very positive.… Packaging, testing, and delivering applications is so much faster; and, by enabling zero-touch deployment, App-V helps us realize significant monetary savings.”Dr. Martin Rudolph, Product Manager, Office Applications, BMW GroupBMW Group is a global automobile manufacturer with 24 production sites in 13 countries. More than 1,000 software applications are used to run the business. Deploying these applications was time-consuming and expensive, even though the packaging and manual installation of software was outsourced. Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) made it possible to speed application deployment by 50 percent—from four weeks down to 10 days—and for application updates to be sequenced in just 15 minutes by BMW staff. Intuitive, automated sequencing minimizes errors and training requirements. By enabling zero-touch deployment, App-V will help save money. The company’s rollout of the Windows 7 operating system is simplified by using App-V to increase packaging rates and Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization to run older applications.SituationBased in Munich, Germany, BMW Group has manufactured automobiles and motorcycles since 1916. The company realized revenues of €50.68 billion (U.S.$68.2 billion) in 2009 and is recognized as the world’s leading premium auto manufacturer. Packaging and deploying more than 1,000 software applications for BMW employees in 250 global locations was extremely time-consuming and costly. To help save money, most of the application packaging was outsourced to firms in India. Synchronizing the efforts of the BMW Germany IT team, which managed the process, with the efforts of the outsourced team performing the packaging was not simple. Although the outsourced team generally took about three days to configure a package, communication delays due to time zone differences could easily add another two or three days to the process.5403852023745Packaging and deploying more than 1,000 applications for BMW employees in 250 global locations was extremely time-consuming and costly.00Packaging and deploying more than 1,000 applications for BMW employees in 250 global locations was extremely time-consuming and costly.Once an application was packaged, extensive testing was required to make sure that the application did not conflict with other applications that were installed on workers’ desktop computers. Depending on the availability of IT staff, initial testing could take up to three days. Then, if problems were identified, such as conflicts with previously installed software, the application went back to the offshore teams for repackaging. It wasn’t unusual to go through the packaging and compatibility testing cycle two or three times for a single application. When applications were ready for delivery, BMW used Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2 to deploy them. The whole process, from application request through delivery, often took up to four weeks.Because the process was lengthy and consumed many resources, applications had to meet a minimum-user threshold in order to qualify for packaging and testing. About 40 percent of the company’s applications did not meet the criteria. For these applications, there were two deployment options: pay a partner to send local support technicians to install the software on employees’ computers, or have the employees apply for administrator rights so that they could install the applications themselves. Installing just one application locally required about two and a half hours of a technician’s time, including travel to and from the site. The actual installation took about 30 minutes.Providing employees with administrator rights was not without challenges, either. Employees who were granted administrator rights could inadvertently expose their computers to software vulnerabilities when downloading applications, or they might install software that conflicts with other applications. In both cases, the computer would have to be reinstalled—by BMW IT staff or by a partner who would have to be paid. This process would take about two hours, resulting in downtime for the employee and further increasing costs. After analyzing the cost of installing and supporting software on each desktop, it became clear that a new approach was needed to eliminate all the desk-side visits and manual labor. The goal was to implement a zero-touch solution so that partners and IT staff wouldn’t have to be involved in application installations. To achieve this, the number of applications that were packaged needed to be significantly increased—eliminating the minimum-user threshold—so that they could be centrally delivered. But BMW could not use its existing configuration and testing methodologies for these additional applications due to the time and expense involved. An approach that would pro5403852023745The goal was to implement a zero-touch solution so that partners and IT staff wouldn’t have to be involved in application installations.00The goal was to implement a zero-touch solution so that partners and IT staff wouldn’t have to be involved in application installations.vide an easier, faster way to package applications and enable internal IT staff to configure software, rather than paying an outside resource, was desirable, as was a way to decrease the amount of application-to-application compatibility testing required so that staff could handle the workload. Moreover, an increase in packaging would facilitate a planned upgrade from the Windows XP operating system to the Windows 7 Enterprise operating system. This upgrade was expected to aid employees by providing new capabilities such as Federated Search to help find applications easily; improved memory and power management; and features such as BitLocker drive encryption and DirectAccess, which would help ensure more reliable, security-enhanced computers and efficient remote access. By packaging more applications and storing them in a central repository, IT staff could make the process of locating and then testing applications for compatibility with Windows 7 much easier. Any applications that were found to be incompatible with Windows 7 would require a solution that would enable them to run on the operating system.SolutionIt was believed that application virtualization technology could help solve the packaging and application conflict problems and enable implementation of a zero-touch deployment solution. In December 2008, BMW evaluated Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) and VMware ThinApp. After a three-month proof-of-concept with each product, it was determined that the company’s needs could be best met with App-V, which is part of the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack, an add-on subscription for Microsoft Software Assurance customers. “Microsoft Application Virtualization integrates well with System Center Configuration Manager. The combination is great for a large company like ours. It offers the easiest, most cost-effective, reliable approach for managing and deploying virtual and physical applications to users in widely dispersed locations,” says Werner Schiekofer, Manager Workplace Infrastructure at BMW Group. In addition, using the App-V streaming functionality can enable faster deployment of applications with frequent release cycles and help to simplify management of single-licensed applications by allowing users to be moved from one Active Directory group to another when they no longer require particular applications.Deploying App-V and Sequencing ApplicationsIn March 2009, the App-V pilot project began, which included sequencing applications, testing deployment of the App-V client, and training personnel on how to use the product. System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2 was used to roll out the App-V client to 80,000 workstations. (The product used by BMW has since been upgraded to System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R3.) In September 2009, with the rollout completed, sequencing of applications for production use began. The App-V implementation went live in November 2009 with 20 applications, including Microsoft Office Visio 2007 drawing and diagramming software and Microsoft Office Project Standard 2007. The initial deployment delivered virtual applications to 500 employees.In July 2010, after approximately 180 applications were successfully packaged, the Technology Adoption Program for App-V helped BMW take advantage of enhancements to the App-V 5403852023745The enhanced App-V Sequencer promised to enable an easier, faster, and more predictable application packaging process.00The enhanced App-V Sequencer promised to enable an easier, faster, and more predictable application packaging process.Sequencer. The Sequencer is the tool within App-V that packages an application to run in a virtual environment. A wizard walks users through the steps needed to create the virtual application. The enhanced App-V Sequencer promised to enable an easier, faster, and more predictable application packaging process. For instance, the App-V Package Accelerators make it possible to capture and retain all sequencing steps in a file that can be reused at a later date to simplify application updates. As of January 2011, about 50 applications had been packaged with the enhanced Sequencer, bringing the total to approximately 230 virtualized applications, including many internally and partner-developed line-of-business software programs. The company’s application strategy has evolved, and virtualization is at the forefront. Applications requested by employees are now targeted for virtualization as the primary packaging and delivery method. Thanks to the enhanced Sequencer, it is easier to determine whether an application can be successfully virtualized. The Sequencer provides actionable diagnostic messages that alert the BMW IT staff to potential issues before they become problems. Whereas in the past, ineligibility might not have been discovered until several hours into the sequencing process, now sequencing compatibility checks are automatically initiated—saving valuable IT staff time.Several hundred remaining applications are targeted to be sequenced by the second quarter of 2013. The company’s plans include virtualization of the Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 suite, which will run alongside a locally installed version of Microsoft Office 2007 for testing purposes. This will enable the new functionality to be evaluated before Office 2010 is deployed in production. Extending App-V to Virtual Desktop and Terminal Services EnvironmentsIn addition to using App-V to deliver applications to physical desktop computers, App-V is playing a key role in the company’s terminal server and virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) environments. In October 2010, Microsoft Application Virtualization for Terminal Services was implemented to run applications that need to be deployed in unmanaged environments, such as those used by outsourced partners in India or China. By enabling an application to be packaged once and run in both desktop computer and terminal server infrastructures, App-V makes it easy to support both environments, saving four to 18 hours in repackaging and testing time. App-V for Terminal Services runs with the company’s existing Citrix Terminal Server 2003 and the Windows Server 2003 R2 operating system. The terminal server environment is expected to be migrated to Microsoft Remote Desktop Services and Windows Server 2008 R2 in December 2011.App-V will be incorporated into a new VDI environment that is slated to kick off in July 2011 with the help of Login Consultants, a member of the Microsoft Partner Network that established the sequencing process used at BMW. The VDI implementation will include virtual clients that have stateless images comprising only the operating system and core infrastructure applications. Smaller images are desired because they require less storage on VDI server computers and, therefore, are more cost-effective to maintain. App-V makes it possible to use lean stateless images by enabling all other user-specific applications to be streamed to authorized employees on-demand. Establishing Application Delivery MatrixTo help the BMW IT staff determ5403852023745“Microsoft Application Virtualization integrates well with System Center Configuration Manager.… It offers the easiest, most cost-effective, reliable approach for managing and deploying virtual and physical applications to users in widely dispersed locations.”Werner Schiekofer, Manager Workplace Infrastructure, BMW Group00“Microsoft Application Virtualization integrates well with System Center Configuration Manager.… It offers the easiest, most cost-effective, reliable approach for managing and deploying virtual and physical applications to users in widely dispersed locations.”Werner Schiekofer, Manager Workplace Infrastructure, BMW Groupine the most appropriate application delivery methodology for various user scenarios, a decision matrix is being created. Scheduled for completion by April 2011, the matrix will include factors such as the number of workers using an application, whether the application needs to be available online or offline, and whether it requires high availability. Depending on the answer, the application will be delivered via VDI, terminal services, streamed directly to desktop computers, or made available through an internally developed, self-service web portal, which houses virtual and physical applications. In the latter case, when an employee selects an application, the portal automatically communicates with System Center Configuration Manager to assign and deliver the virtual application to the employee’s computer. All new computer builds, including machines that are being upgraded to Windows 7 Enterprise, have the App-V client installed. Windows 7 had been rolled out to about 5,000 computers by January 2011 and will be deployed to the remaining 90,000 desktop computers by the end of 2013. As part of that deployment, about 6,000 of the company’s client computers running the 64-bit version of Windows XP will be moved to the 64-bit version of Windows 7. App-V will enable virtualized 32-bit applications to run without in-depth validation on all of the 64-bit client computers. The Windows 7 deployment will be supported not only by App-V, but also by Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V)—which, like App-V, is part of the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack. MED-V will be used to run applications that are not yet available for Windows 7 in a virtual Windows XP environment on desktops running Windows 7. By the end of 2011, System Center Configuration Manager will be used to deploy MED-V to as many as 3,000 computers. BenefitsBy using Microsoft Application Virtualization, BMW Group reduced the time required to package, test, and deploy new and updated applications. Now, 20 percent more applications can be packaged, and System Center Configuration Manager can be used to centrally deliver more software—without adding new infrastructure—saving money that was previously spent on packaging and installations. Moreover, the amount of training required for BMW application managers has been minimized. Microsoft virtualization technologies also facilitate the deployment of Windows 7.“Our App-V experience has been very positive. We find App-V streaming to be better than the comparable ThinApp capability. Packaging, testing, and delivering applications is so much faster; and, by enabling zero-touch deployment, App-V helps us realize significant monetary savings,” says Dr. Martin Rudolph, Product Manager, Office Applications at BMW Group. “Because packaging with App-V is easy, the process was moved from an outsourced provider to BMW application managers, which speeds new application packaging time by 90 percent. And, using the enhanced Sequencer reduces the time needed for packaging application updates by an additional 90 percent.”Reduces Application Deployment Time by 50 Percent, Packages Updates 90 Percent FasterWith App-V, the application deployment process has been simplified and accelerated—from four work weeks to just 10 business days for new applications, including everything from request and packaging5403852023745“In order to deploy Windows 7 enterprisewide, all of our applications, including those designed for Windows XP, need to be able to run on the new operating system. Using App-V and MED-V makes this possible.”Dr. Martin Rudolph, Product Manager, Office Applications, BMW Group00“In order to deploy Windows 7 enterprisewide, all of our applications, including those designed for Windows XP, need to be able to run on the new operating system. Using App-V and MED-V makes this possible.”Dr. Martin Rudolph, Product Manager, Office Applications, BMW Group through testing and delivery. It takes less than half a day to sequence a new application, compared to the full week that was required in the past to get a packaged application from BMW partners.Updating applications is even faster and easier. By using the App-V Package Accelerators to access settings captured during the original sequencing, many steps are eliminated. Instead of taking about three hours, which is typical for first-time sequencing with App-V, it takes just 15 minutes to sequence an average updated application. This also results in a more predictable packaging outcome; errors are less likely when there is minimal manual intervention. The amount of compatibility testing required has also been significantly reduced because the virtualized applications do not conflict with each other or with locally installed applications. Testing now takes less than a day, instead of three to six days. Installing images is also faster. App-V makes it possible to use a small desktop image comprising the operating system and select infrastructure applications, while other user-specific applications are streamed on-demand. As a result, the time needed for image installation—on physical desktops, virtual desktops, and terminal servers—is reduced by 33 percent, from 90 minutes to 60 minutes. Offers Zero-Touch Desktop with 20 Percent More Packaged ApplicationsBecause application packaging and testing require much less time and fewer resources, applications that in the past did not meet the company’s minimum 400-user threshold can now be packaged. When an application is packaged and tested, it is added to the application repository. An employee who selects the application in the self-service portal will receive the software within 30 minutes—with no need for BMW IT staff or an external support technician to visit the desktop computer or to grant administrator rights that could compromise computer stability. By using App-V to package about 200 more applications now—and ultimately most of the more than 1,000 applications BMW uses—zero-touch deployment can be achieved. Saves Money, Minimizes Training Reducing the need for outsourced packaging experts and support technicians saves BMW money. For instance, when zero-touch is fully enabled, no third party will be needed to locally install software that previously could not be packaged or centrally distributed. Improvements to the App-V Sequencer save time. Although App-V helped make packaging much easier so that it could be handled by BMW application managers, sequencing training was needed. Because most applications are updated infrequently—twice a year, on average—application owners would likely need a refresher class before embarking on another sequencing project. However, by introducing a more intuitive and streamlined sequencing process, App-V eliminates the need for additional training, saving BMW IT staff the two to three hours that each training refresher would require. Supports Application CompatibilityApp-V and MED-V are helping BMW to ease the rollout of Windows 7 and to continue supporting existing applications. With App-V, virtualized 64-bit applications can run on Windows 7. Furthermore, by making it possible to quickly package—and centralize—a higher number of applications without having to hire additional contractors, App-V facilitates the testing of applications for compatibility with Windows 7 and helps make it possible to meet the Windows 7 upgrade schedule that BMW has set. Using MED-V during the operating system migration phase addresses issues with older applications that are not compatible with Windows 7. With MED-V, older applications can be accessed from the Windows 7 Start menu in a way that is seamless to users, appearing and operating as if they were running natively on Windows 7. “In order to deploy Windows 7 enterprisewide, all of our applications, including those designed for Windows XP, need to be able to run on the new operating system. Using App-V and MED-V makes this possible,” Rudolph says.28575007048500Software and ServicesMicrosoft Desktop Optimization PackMicrosoft Application Virtualization Microsoft Enterprise Desktop VirtualizationMicrosoft Application Virtualization for Terminal ServicesMicrosoft Server Product PortfolioWindows Server 2003 R2Windows Server 2008 R2Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R3Windows 7 EnterpriseWindows XPPartnersLogin Consultants00Software and ServicesMicrosoft Desktop Optimization PackMicrosoft Application Virtualization Microsoft Enterprise Desktop VirtualizationMicrosoft Application Virtualization for Terminal ServicesMicrosoft Server Product PortfolioWindows Server 2003 R2Windows Server 2008 R2Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R3Windows 7 EnterpriseWindows XPPartnersLogin Consultants5645158255000This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.Document published March 201100This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.Document published March 20115403852056765For More InformationFor more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information Centre at (877) 568-2495. Customers in the United States and Canada who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to: For more information about Login Consultants services, call (49) 7243 766934 10 or visit the website at: For more information about BMW Group products and services, call (49) 89 180 2 324252 or visit the website at: 00For More InformationFor more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information Centre at (877) 568-2495. Customers in the United States and Canada who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to: For more information about Login Consultants services, call (49) 7243 766934 10 or visit the website at: For more information about BMW Group products and services, call (49) 89 180 2 324252 or visit the website at: Microsoft Desktop OptimizationMicrosoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) for Software Assurance makes it easy for an organization to administer its applications, offering tools for virtualizing and inventorying software installations, for managing Group Policy settings, and for system repair and data recovery. For more information about MDOP, go to: mdop ................
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