Hi Pauline,
PowerClient automates the install and updates of your client/server app from a Web server using a client agent. The client agent is what is available as an .MSI so that your IT Admin can pre-install for all the users. Alternatively, the user can install it by themselves (no Admin rights required) the first time they try to run your app.
I recommend you go through this brief feature tour to better understand how PowerClient works, and the benefits it provides: https://www.appeon.com/products/power-client
Maybe my view is so simple, but I think every PowerBuilder customer should either use PowerClient or PowerServer. I don't think it makes sense to manage app deployment yourself, especially there are things we can do that customers themselves cannot do, such as incrementally updating the app at an individual object level, encrypting the PBD files, checking the app integrity before allowing execution, etc.
Just to clarify about the difference between PowerClient and PowerServer, in a nutshell you use PowerClient if you want your app to remain client/server and use PowerServer if you want cloud-native architecture deployed over WAN/Internet. PowerServer has additional security benefits over PowerClient because it is cloud-native architecture (e.g. no SQL on the client side, no direct access to DB, token security, etc.).
Best regards,
Armeen
