KACE Virtual Kontainers

On September 10, 2008 KACE™, the leading systems management appliance company, announced the acquisition of Computers in Motion. Through the acquisition of Computers in Motion (CIM), KACE will offer application virtualization as part of its KBOX™ management appliances to simplify deployment of applications and eliminate the conflicts that oftentimes exist among them.

Read more about the Computers in Motion acquisition in the recently released EMA Impact Report: KACE Acquisition Adds Application Virtualization to the KBOX.

Below are some answers to frequently asked questions about the forthcoming KACE Virtual Kontainers offering:

What is application virtualization?

Application virtualization is an umbrella term that describes software technologies that improve portability, manageability and compatibility of applications by encapsulating them from the underlying operating system on which they are executed. A fully virtualized application is not installed in the traditional sense, although it is still executed as if it is. The application is fooled at runtime into believing that it is directly interfacing with the original operating system and all the resources managed by it, when in reality it is not. Application virtualization differs from operating system virtualization in that in the latter case, the whole operating system is virtualized rather than only specific applications.

What are some benefits of application virtualization?

A key concept of application virtualization is that virtualized applications operate independent of the operating system and one another. This means regression testing need not be performed to ensure conflicts do not exist. Commonly referred to as “DLL Hell” many applications share files and resources and different applications may require different versions, updating the system accordingly. The result is that the installation of one program breaks another. By isolating applications in a virtual container, such problems become a thing of the past. This concept of isolation presents a number of benefits, including the ability to:

  • Easily perform software distribution and installation
  • Isolate applications from each other
  • Reduce regression testing time
  • Allow multiple versions of apps to run simultaneously
  • Allow for easy rollback to prior versions
  • Allow for easy repair of user changes to settings

How do KACE Virtual Kontainers differ from that of other application virtualization solutions?

While the underlying technology is largely the same between the various applications virtualization products on the market, KACE solutions are built with security and manageability in mind.  While there is plenty of benefit provided with application virtualization already, there are additional opportunities for increasing security as well as manageability, and KACE products are created with this in mind.
KACE Virtual Kontainers will differentiate themselves by extending the technology of Application Virtualization to address other systems administration pain points. Specifically:

  • Secure Browsing - Virtual Browser Kontainers will offer a safe Internet browsing environment where malware and viruses can be safely contained and discarded within a virtual instance
  • Data Management - Virtual Data Kontainers will provide security and portability with version control, backups and cross-platform syncing

KACE also intends to do some innovative things in the area of Virtual Kontainer management, and while this is an area of focus for most competitors right now—secure browsing and Data management are not. This will focus will provide KACE with additional key market differentiators.

Why did KACE acquire Computers in Motion?

Founded in 2001, Computers in Motion is focused on making applications easy to distribute and secure through application virtualization technologies. Key offerings include Avispa and SafeContainers for IE, which employs application virtualization technology to separate and secure applications (and the changes to the computer they generate) from the operating system.
Software distribution continues to be a top purchasing requirement for systems management solutions. However, even with tools such as the KBOX, software distribution continues to also be considered one of the most challenging of systems management tasks. Application virtualization technology is widely seen as a very compelling solution to many of the issues that make software distribution complex.   However, while application virtualization provides benefits such as eliminating application conflicts, simplifying deployment and reducing the need for regression testing, it has not been exploited to address other areas to which it is well suited such as application security and data management.  KACE believes application virtualization can be extended to these other desktop management areas to deliver a whole new set of benefits.  The Computers in Motion acquisition provides the technology underpinnings and development expertise necessary to develop a next generation application virtualization solution to address both application security (Virtual Browser Kontainers) to support safe browsing and Virtual Data Kontainers for managing, securing and syncing user files.

How are application virtualization and the KACE system management appliance synergistic?

Application virtualization makes application management easier. There are many benefits including:

  • Sandboxed security so that applications can run without modifying the underlying operating system and hence more securely
  • The ability to address many application and OS compatibility concerns
  • The ability to run multiple versions of the same software simultaneously
  • The  elimination of the need for traditional installation (keeping the base OS free from changes)

While beneficial to any organization, when combined with the KACE systems management appliance,  the KBOX, further benefits from application virtualization can be realized, including the following capabilities:

  • Simple deployment
  • Intelligent updating and synchronization
  • Licensing and execution control
  • Application management for authentication and execution visibility