Simplify Multiple Platform Software Installations with InstallAnywhere 2009

fact sheet Vendor: Flexera Software (www.flexerasoftware.com) Vendor's Information: About InstallAnywhere 2009 About Flexera Software

In this multi-platform, heterogeneous computing world, chances are you're supporting different operating systems for the applications you're writing. Whether it is Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, AIX, Solaris, HP-UX, AIX, i5/OS or others, each operating system has unique requirements to install an application. Scripting and testing an installation for each of these operating systems is not only a time-consuming task which can delay deployment for your application, it may also require resources you don't have within your organization. It would be much easier if you were able to create a single project file from which you could generate reliable setups for each of platforms you support, knowing that the resultant installs were already tested and proven for your target platform. That's what you get with InstallAnywhere 2009 from Flexera Software.

IBM's Autonomic Computing Research Group has indicated that "28 percent of application failures are directly linked to installation and configuration errors." Making your user work to install your software is not the way to make a good first impression with them. And it's likely that the more work the user has to do to install your application, the more likely it is that the user will make a mistake leading to a support incident, higher cost, lost productivity and an overall poor impression of your product.

InstallAnywhere vs. Home-grown Installation Methods
While many software developers might view the idea of software installation as just another programming project ("install is just another piece of software, right?"), the truth is that for most software developers, software installation is not within their domain of expertise. This is usually reflected in the home-grown methods developers create for their products, bundling software into a tarball or zip file with multiple pages of PDFs to walk the user through a setup. Compound this with any project where you support multiple operating systems and you can quickly become bogged down in creating different installation routines with different documented procedures that are both costly to maintain and provide varying install experiences for your users.

Contrast this against using a product such as InstallAnywhere, a Java-based install development tool which allows you to author high-quality installations for multiple operating systems using a single installation project. According to Chirag Shah, Senior Consultant, Professional Services Group, Flexera Software, "InstallAnywhere is not limited to in-built platform support. For UNIX or Java platforms, you can create an installer based on InstallAnywhere and deploy your software on those operating systems as well."

Some of the features which make InstallAnywhere your choice for multi-platform installations include:

• One Project—All Platforms
• InstallAnywhere allows you to easily build installers for every platform you need to support in one project.


• Intuitive, Easy to Learn and Use
• InstallAnywhere has an intuitive and well-designed IDE making it easy for you to build installations quickly and efficiently.


• Multilingual Support for a Global Market
• InstallAnywhere supports many languages (31), simplifying installer localization.


• Run installers in three different user-interface modes
• InstallAnywhere allows you to run installations in silent, console or in a fully graphical (Java SWING/GUI) mode.

InstallAnywhere can also handle any platform specific details, such as if your application needs to be installed in a system-specific location or has to leverage a platform specific executable. It also supports component-based installations that help to speed installation development as well as create re-usable components that can be integrated with new projects. And by allowing execution of SQL scripts within the installer, multiple database servers are supported and you don't need to call external SQL scripts while performing your installation.

InstallAnywhere 2009 Enhanced for Both Developers and End Users
The latest version of InstallAnywhere has been significantly enhanced to increase developer productivity with such features as a Project Automation API, Product Registry API, Check Platform Rule, Action Groups and Java Virtual Machine support to name a few. The installer can also be customized for look and feel with enhanced localization features, better support for user inputs during installation and custom panel controls. End users will also see benefits from InstallAnywhere 2009 with support for an uninstaller, better user accessibility with support for screen readers and optimized payloads which better serve the unique connectivity and install requirements for each user.

Installation software is a necessary component to your application and one that can consume a lot of developer time with little payback to the organization. Investing in a professional installer will not only save you money in the long run, it will also help make the right first impression with your users, regardless of the platform they're running your application on. If you have to support multiple platforms with your application the smart choice is to start with InstallAnywhere 2009.

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