London –19 November 2012 – AppSense, the people-centric computing company, today announced that it has been selected by Microsoft as the sole Microsoft Desktop Enablement Partner for User Personalization Solutions in the UK. Under the agreement, AppSense will work with Microsoft’s customers to optimize their desktop environments, with a focus on the user, to enable the migration or deployment of Windows 7, and beyond, faster and more efficiently than ever before.


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The Microsoft Desktop Enablement Partner programme is the first of its kind. Microsoft will actively endorse proven and trusted third party software vendors, such as AppSense, to help guide its customer base through the Windows 7 migration process and beyond. To do this, Microsoft will work closely with customers and will provide recommendation of vendors to aid/optimize the migration.

As the sole User Personalization Partner, Microsoft will work exclusively with AppSense and together engage with customers to address the challenges related to the migration of users from one Windows operating system to another. The AppSense User Virtualization Platform (UVP) will enable Microsoft customers to detach users and applications from the operating system environment so that any migration can be completed without any disruption in a mass, or staged deployment. The AppSense UVP technology also reduces login times, enables improved user rights control, replaces legacy login scripts with scalable, centrally managed and easily supported options and helps IT departments to migrate key settings between different versions of Microsoft Office.

In addition to simplifying windows migration with zero disruption to users, the AppSense UVP in combination with other AppSense solutions such as AppSense DataNow offers broader support for enterprise consumerization and can be used to support the growing enterprise mobile workforce. Microsoft customers that engage AppSense will therefore also benefit from the company’s experience in the areas of delivering effective BYOX and flexible working solutions.

“Deploying a new desktop operating system can seem like a daunting task and we often find that one of the key obstacles to migration is the impact that it will have on user experience and security. AppSense support this as one of our Desktop Enablement Partners,” said David Rodger, Windows Client Commercial Lead at Microsoft UK. “AppSense’s people-centric approach to IT services, in combination with its innovative and proven technology, enables our customers to separate users from the operating system and manage them independently across all of our Microsoft platforms, both physical, and virtual. This further enables IT departments to move their IT estate to Windows 7 or 8. We believe our customers will benefit greatly from working with our Desktop Enablement Partners, especially as many are looking to move to the latest version of Windows in the coming months.”

“Being selected as Microsoft’s User Personalization Solution Partner for Desktop Enablement in the UK is a testament to the successful work we’re doing in the area of user virtualization. It’s also an indication that the IT industry as a whole is starting to realize the importance of providing a people-centric and consistent user experience to its end users, regardless of their location, device or operating system they are using” said Nick Lowe, VP of Sales for EMEA at AppSense. “We are delighted in continuing to be working so closely with Microsoft and its customers and believe that we’ll be able to help many organizations overcome the challenges they face with regards to user disruption during migration.”

To have been considered eligible for the Desktop Enablement Program partners have to hold the Microsoft Devices and Deployment Competency, and influence a measured number of deployed seats. In addition to helping customers more efficiently adopt new Microsoft desktops, AppSense also enables customers to accelerate their adoption of other Microsoft solutions such as the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP), Microsoft App-V, Microsoft Windows Server, and Microsoft System Center.