Microsoft Describes New Desktop Analytics App Compatibility Service -- Redmondmag.com

Microsoft Describes New Desktop Analytics App Compatibility Service

By Kurt Mackie
09/06/2018

Microsoft announced a new Desktop Analytics service on Thursday, although it's apparently not available yet.

Microsoft conceives of Desktop Analytics as a tool for ensuring application compatibility, particularly when upgrading Windows 10 and Office 365 ProPlus. It's a service hosted by Microsoft that lets organizations "create an inventory of apps running in the organization, assess app compatibility with the latest feature updates of Windows 10 and Office 365 ProPlus, and create pilot groups" for testing, according to a Thursday announcement by Jared Spataro, Microsoft's corporate vice president for Office and Windows marketing.

Desktop Analytics also works with System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM), Microsoft's client management and deployment tool. SCCM is used with the Desktop Analytics service to create the pilot groups for application testing.

In essence, Desktop Analytics is an expansion of Windows Analytics, Spataro explained. Windows Analytics, part of the Operations Management Suite, is yet another Microsoft-hosted service that was originally designed for cloud services management tasks. Later, Microsoft added PC client-monitoring capabilities to it.

Spataro didn't provide any details about when Desktop Analytics will be available or its possible costs. He said that more would be said at the Microsoft Ignite event happening later this month.

In addition to Desktop Analytics, Spataro announced Desktop App Assure, which will be available as a preview on October 1. This service will be offered through the Microsoft FastTrack program, a conglomeration of partners that offer advice to organizations. Desktop App Assure also is designed to address application compatibility issues that could emerge when migrating to Office 365 and Windows 10.

In addition to these two new services, Spataro described enhancements to Windows and Office servicing. The servicing enhancements are designed to help organizations better cope with Windows 10 upgrade cycles.

About the Author

Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media's Converge360 group.

Featured

Choosing the Right SSID for Your Network

Attracting attention, whether through a default or funny Wi-Fi name, could lead to a security issue.
Microsoft Outlines Latest Security Efforts at Ignite

In the wake of last year's CrowdStrike incident, Microsoft has worked to publicly rehabilitate its security image through new initiatives and public commitments to improve. That push continued this week at Ignite, where Microsoft announced a handful of new security tools and updates.
Nadella on Copilot: 'Major Platform Shifts Are in the Air'

As should be no surprise, Copilot took center stage during Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's keynote speech to open Microsoft Ignite 2024.
Azure AI Foundry Revealed at Microsoft Ignite

Microsoft is consolidating its Azure generative AI tools into a unified platform named Azure AI Foundry.
Microsoft Bolsters Fabric at Ignite

While Fabric has improved in the year since its release, there are still some glaring issues with the platform.