VMware to Roll Out Revamped Workspace One, Replacing Monolithic Architecture

VMware is revamping Workspace One, its SaaS-based end-user computing (EUC) service, to a cloud-native microservices architecture. Look for the new architecture to start rolling out in the second half of this year.

The new Workspace One will have the same user experience, but VMware is overhauling the underlying infrastructure. The shift to a cloud-native architecture aims to make it easier to update it and launch new capabilities more rapidly. VMware claims the new architecture will also give up to 10-times application and profile delivery improvement.

Perhaps most notably, VMware is addressing the fact that the current architecture is monolithic.

VMware’s Renu Upadhyay

“Every service is intertwined with another service, so when you make a change to one, even in a SaaS environment, you have to validate everything, which defeats the purpose,” said VMware VP of end-user computing product Renu Upadhyay.

VMware Workspace One product director Naveen Pitchandi explained in a blog that his team has refactored the current monolithic architecture to a cloud-native platform composed of microservices.

“The architecture is designed to handle large volumes of traffic and users, ensuring that IT can deliver apps and services at a high performance — quickly and efficiently,” Pitchandi noted.

The new service-based architecture enables VMware engineers to build and deploy changes to self-contained modular services more easily, Pitchandi added.

VMware’s Naveen Pitchandi

“This new architecture will also allow us to decouple specific functions to be updated in a modular fashion for same-day support,” he said.

Also, the new Workspace One architecture will support distributed system management, enable low-code serverless functions, and enforce device compliance policies.

Pitchandi added: “This new architecture will also be an underpinning for newer innovations — including Microsoft Windows Updates and multi-user functions, Linux Management, Google’s AMAPI and Apple’s Declarative Management.”

Freestyle Orchestrator Added to Workspace One Intelligence

VMware is expanding Freestyle Orchestrator, a low-code workflow orchestration platform the company introduced last year. Freestyle Orchestrator has a drag-and-drop interface that VMware said administrators can use to map out and automate complex workflow processes.

“As we continue our journey to autonomous workspaces that we announced a few months ago at VMware Explore, simplifying, unifying and unlocking automation capabilities across Workspace One continues to be a top priority for us,” product line managers Shane Hetrick and Maya Shrian explained in a blog.

VMware is adding Freestyle Orchestrator to Workspace One Intelligence, the company’s app analytics and automation tool. Also, VMware said it plans to unify workflow automations across Workspace One into one orchestration platform in the future.

App Volumes and Apps on Demand

VMware claims it wants to “disrupt the app publishing market” with the recent release of Apps on Demand. The company added that feature to App Volumes.

VMware’s Jeff McGrath

“The combination of App Volumes’ separation of operating system (OS) and application layers to simplify image management, plus the new on-demand app delivery of Apps on Demand, can have significant benefits for published app administrators in reducing app management time and farm infrastructure requirements,” Jeff McGrath, VMware end-user computing senior director of product marketing explained.

Furthermore, McGrath said, App Volumes enables an abstraction layer that separates the application from the host OS.

“The application runs in its own virtual container, which can be attached to the OS in real-time. It doesn’t have to be installed to the OS of the app publishing host,” he said.