November 08, 2018

Introducing VMware Workspace ONE Intelligent Hub

The VMware Workspace ONE® Intelligent Hub app is officially here! Announcements about new products and their releases are always exciting. However, all the fanfare can make it hard to determine the release’s impact. That’s why today’s post contextualizes the Hub release, and provides a bit more technical detail about how this new app works. Keep reading to learn what the Workspace One Intelligent Hub means for you.

The VMware Workspace ONE® Intelligent Hub app is officially here! Announcements about new products and their releases are always exciting. However, all the fanfare can make it hard to determine the release’s impact. That’s why today’s post contextualizes the Hub release, and provides a bit more technical detail about how this new app works. Keep reading to learn what the Workspace One Intelligent Hub means for you.

What is Workspace ONE Intelligent Hub?

Simply put, the VMware Workspace ONE Intelligent Hub app is an updated and enhanced version of the AirWatch Agent app. If you are at all familiar with the AirWatch Agent, it may help to think of the Hub as a rebranded Agent that has the capability to be so much more.

Transforming the Agent into the Hub solves two problems for Workspace ONE admins. First, it simplifies the portfolio of available enrollment apps. Second, the Workspace ONE Intelligent Hub expands the enrollment app’s potential.

Simplified Portfolio, Expanded Potential

Prior to the introduction of the Hub, VMware supported multiple enrollment applications. This created a bit of confusion as admins didn’t automatically know which app to use in which context. Now, the Hub eliminates that confusion – acting as a full-scale replacement for all the previous options.

In addition to serving as the enrollment app, the Hub helps you transition to the full digital workspace. To begin the transition, configure Hub Services which allow you to tailor branding and improve user app engagement. Then, complete full integration with cloud-hosted VMware Identity Manager to continue building the digital workspace. This integration enables a robust feature set that includes a Unified App catalog, notifications, and people search.

Since a picture is worth 1,000 words, I’m going to let a diagram do the talking for me. The following diagram shows the compounding feature-set that you get on the journey to the full digital workspace.

Keep in mind, the diagram above shows one, scaling, solution - not three separate solutions. This means, an implementation of Hub Services with full VMware Identity Manager integration, also includes every Hub and Hub Services feature.

What does fully integrated with VMware Identity Manager mean?

Throughout this post, I’ve been tossing the phrase “fully integrated” around. You’d be right to wonder what exactly that means. Full integration means you’ve completed the following configurations:
•    Directory Integration
•    Authentication
•    Access Policies
•    Conditional Access
•    Auto-Discovery
•    MFA

It’s also helpful to remember the three points on the digital workspace journey each correspond to a distinct use case. The following diagram shows how your use case dictates which tier you need to scale to.

Understanding the Digital Workspace Journey

So far, so good, right? However, one obvious question remains unanswered. How do you get from point A, the Intelligent Hub, to point C, the full digital workspace? It’s easy. Simply navigate to the hub configuration page - accessible from the Workspace ONE UEM console, and begin adding Hub Services.

 

Delivering Features Galore

When you’re ready to add Hub Services to the Workspace ONE Intelligent Hub, the amount of features that you’re able to deliver deliver depends on how fully you’ve integrated VMware Identity Manager with Workspace ONE UEM.

To get the most robust feature set, you must fully integrate Workspace ONE UEM and VMware Identity Manager. However, some Hub Services will work even if you haven’t completed integration. As long as you have a VMware Identity Manager license, you can configure the following Hub Services for the Intelligent Hub app:

  • Home Tab – Create a customizable link for users to access.
  • Mobile App Catalog – Curate and drive end-user adoption withapp promotions, new apps, custom app categories, and more.
  • Custom Branding – Configure a custom look and feel for the Intelligent Hub with easy-to-understand branding settings.

Again, the basic idea here is that the more you integrate VMware Identity Manager with Workspace ONE UEM, the more Hub Services you can add. The more Hub Services you add, the more cool features you can deliver! Fully integrating VMware Identity Manager, allows you to enable the following features for the Intelligent Hub app:

  • Integrated People – Enable end users to lookup anyone in their organization, see their organization chart and send messages in one click via native mail or Workspace ONE– Boxer.
  • New App Notifications – Alert end users when they receive a new app entitlement – and send custom notifications using Workspace ONE APIs.
  • App Ratings and Feedback – Allow end users to share likes or dislikes and to provide direct feedback to line-of-business app owners via feedback links.

Co-Authors and Contributors

Robert Terakedis, senior technical marketing manager for VMware EUC mobile marketing, contributed this post's technical content.

 

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