Softgrid and Project Server

This post comes from first hand experience. Our environment does not allow for much software personalization and no custom software installation. In order to ease the desk side visits, we opted for Softgrid as our means of rolling out the PWA active X controls and the Project Pro client. Softgrid functions as a virtual software utility. It installs a copy of the windows client (package) locally on your machine, and runs it in an isolated fashion when you launch it.

First the upsides:

• We only had to roll out the softgrid package and not the individual software.
• I, as a sole administrator, am able to add users to the software packages through editing an Exchange DL. Very rapid and pretty slick.
• Offline/laptop works very well under normal conditions.

Now the downsides:
While it has met our core requirement of ease of administration and transportability between systems, we have had some downsides.

• If a program changes, there can be a confusing user experience with the removal of the old package. the workaround is easy, eliminate the packages and resynch. However, this can be extremely slow when travelling based on the package size.
• A package is isolated. This means that should you require interoperability with other apps, this is unavailable. For example, try creating a new calendar for your project server. In this scenario, the client will try to spawn a browser and could fail if it is not included in context of the package.
• Multiple packages may need to be updated simultaneously. For example... You may wish to update the Project Pro client software at the same time as the End user active X controls. Coordinating the timing of this can be important.
• Resetting your app pool, resets any local preferences (such as the project server connection data in the Project Pro 2007 client)

Overall Softgrid has eased the pain of administration, but be aware of these current limitations when selecting your roll out strategy.