Software Deployment

You may want to kick me in the side of the head for this answer but look into Software virtualization offerings from Altris and Softricity. I've been doing virtualization in production environments for about a year now and I have packaged around 200 applications myself in that time. I think is is the way to go to get around software conflicts for sure. Imagine deploying Oracle 7, 8, 9, and 10 and not caring if they all end up running on the same box.

Which one do you think is a good one Altris and Softricity ?

I heavily use Softricity but it is more expensive. I would say Softricity has better virtualization but is it worth the price is something you would have to do with your own evaluation. I have played with the Altiris solution but since I have not done a full blown implementation it is hard for me to say how good the virtualization really is. I know with Softgrid that I can have all sorts of crazy software co-exist because I have been a part of some large scale implementations. Typically with Softgrid I can get a company down to two Citrix silos because one will be pure Softgrid and the other containing programs that require drivers or cannot sequence. You can use drivers with Softgrid but the driver has to be installed onto the operating system and then the virtualized application would run. For the most part I have not run into an unsequencable app if it does not use drivers. Usually you can find the issue and sort it out but if you can't figure it out Softricity is really interested in finding these special applications so that they can update their software to make it work.

I wish I could find an Altiris guru to learn the limitations of their product better because I am not the type of person to pick a technology and only use it exclusively because I believe there are many factors that come into play when choosing a technology. Altiris seems like a good desktop candidate but if you are doing a Citrix consolidation I would have more faith in Softricity's technology since the virtualization engine is more mature. The Active Upgrade in Softgrid 4.0 also looks to be a big plus because if your upgrade to an application has issues you can roll the upgrade back in seconds and still retain the user application customizations. I would still test the rollback in a dev environment first but the big thing is you don't have to architect a rollback on the desktop or leave people offline until you can find a patch to get you out of the hole you are in. There are little pluses in virtualization that can be lifesavers when it comes to application availability. If you have the time and resources try to pilot both technologies if you are unsure and wiegh out the pros and cons of either technology.

I use Application Isolation from Wise package studio itself however I did tried Altris's new tool but I think both of them do the same...I will try Softricity. As far as my knowledge is concerened I am quite satisfied with Altris.

I worked on some inhouse tool with my previous client they used to use it.. but i wanted to know if there any tool which are available in the market for isolating registry & files

I would say that Wise/Altris are best in the industry however would suggest u to go thru soft... and altris reviews because every tool has its own limitations although I havent tried soft... so really can't figure out the differences/limitations between the two...