AppsAnywhere vs. RedShelf vs. VMware ThinApp (discontinued)

I have been monitoring the use of this app for the past year now and it has been incredibly useful in providing my team with easy access to the applications they need. It is well suited to organizations with a large variety of applications and users that need to access them from multiple devices. It has been very easy to deploy, manage and maintain, and I love the fact that users can easily find what they need without having to navigate complex menus. (search can still be abit better). Still a really good pick :)

Incentivized

RedShelf has been great in a higher ed environment to help connect students to textbook and publisher materials. It has helped make the process of purchasing/accessing those materials so much easier for students. I am at an institution now where we don't have RedShelf, and the faculty and students are regularly frustrated with this process, so I'll be looking to get us a license here soon. RedShelf is particularly useful if instructors are using various different types of materials from different publishers. However, if an institution was only using Cengage Unlimited for example (that is a service where students will just pay for access to that site and all the books/materials for all of their courses would be accessible on there), that would be a time where I would think RedShelf wouldn't provide you with as much benefit. That being said, we may be using RedShelf in a very specific manner, and it may be able to provide us more ability/features that we haven't taken full advantage of.

Incentivized

VMware ThinApp is really great for simple packaging projects, standalone apps, or older apps that needs specific runtimes or environment which are not available on target operating systems. Integration with VMware Horizon is simple, and deployment is easy by using shares for storing captured apps, or MSI packages for deploying by group strategies.

Incentivized

• Shows end users a full list of every application that is actually available to them
• Install a specialist application on any Windows machine on our network
• launch the application for use

Incentivized

• Provides access with or without internet connection to read your books.
• You can access the application from your mobile device, tablets, or desktop computers.
• Streamlines the distribution of e-books, e-textbooks, and other digital content.

Incentivized

• Virtualizes applications for easy deployment
• Allows you to run two versions of the same software at the same time.
• Outstanding customer support

Incentivized

• They should improve with the reconnection time after internet connection lost.
• They should improve with customer support team and quick reply.
• They should work on mobile devices and operating system also.
• When we launch AppsAnywhere it's take too much time to launch.

Incentivized

• Waiting for a course management tool to streamline the process. It's in the works and a tall order since all clients approach the process differently.
• A little bit of a stumble with a recent software rollout for day one access roll out, but at least it was intuitive to work through

Incentivized

• VMware seems to have abandoned the product (no functionality evolutions, only security patches).
• VMware ThinApp is really difficult to buy standalone, it comes packaged with other products.

Incentivized

Almost everyone you tell to use it to access a specialist application can find the software they need and install it. However, surprisingly many have difficulties finding AppsAnywhere under the start menu or on the task bar - it is not a icon or name they recognise, and they really want to lunch the target specialist software (Zbrush or whatever). Once you find it, many people ignore the search function which is probably the fastest method, and browse the long list alphabetically, because the standard filters do not help much. Favouriting is rarely used as it is too burdensome and not an issue for users when they are looking for the applicationt hey need.

Incentivized

The AppsAnywhere team is very quick in setting up things and also having everything in a single place. The bundle of the apps can be easily configured as the documentation is also very straightforward while setting up things and also having the team to work accordingly customize as per the needs

Incentivized

I don't believe I'd used many products that are similar to RedShelf.

Incentivized

The only application that I have ever used that does exactly what VMware ThinApp does is Cameyo, and VMware is light years ahead of them in terms of usability. VMWare is the industry standard for application virtualization, and they do this by making a powerful product that is remarkably simple to use and top it off with A1 customer support.

Incentivized

• It has been incredibly easy to use, saving us time and money while also streamlining workflow processes.
• We where able to quickly launch new applications, allowing us to keep up with users needs.
• The reporting tools have also been very helpful in tracking usage and understanding how our users interact with our applications.

Incentivized

• It is a great provider of affordable digital learning materials that help improve teaching and learning through technology.

Incentivized

• VMware ThinApp allowed us to maintain older apps, avoiding refactoring costs.
• ThinApp used with VMware Horizon is great to separate desktop and app management, allowing to fine-tune desktop delivery to end users.

Incentivized