Yesterday, Citrix announced the new Citrix Ready Open Desktop Virtualization program. Today, I would like to provide you with more details. The program is designed to ensure that organizations deploying virtual desktops have confidence that their deployments will deliver a true, high definition (HDX), multi-device experience for the end users as well as satisfy the security and management requirements of the IT organization

As you probably saw from our XenDesktop 4 announcement, Citrix's view of desktop virtualization is much broader than running a user's desktop in a hosted virtual machine (VDI) and is emerging in mainstream deployment with customers such as Emory Healthcare and Collier County Schools.  Citrix's FlexCast delivery technology enables the delivery of every major desktop virtualization model via XenDesktop. As IT organizations pilot and architect their the desktop virtualization solutions it quickly becomes evident that desktop virtualization requires a robust ecosystem of partners to ensure that, amongst other things, the deployment is fully supported in the desktop value chain, end user's USB devices that are attached to their desktops continue to work, user personalization of their desktops remains persistent and that their desktop are available via multiple modes of access.

At the center of the program is the open architecture of XenDesktop 4. XenDesktop 4 is the only desktop virtualization solution on the market with an open architecture that is designed, certified and tested to work with the wide variety of products customers already have in production, including all popular applications, servers, storage and backup systems, client devices (BTW, check out our new HDX Ready designation that ensures a truly awesome user experience), printers and desktop peripherals, security and desktop management software and systems management products. The Citrix Ready Open Desktop Virtualization Program incorporates over 200 Citrix Ready partners and covers more than 10,000 devices. The products are verified using the full reach of the Citrix Ready program... Citrix product engineering organizations; Citrix Ready partner engineering organizations; our community of technology partners, customer and resellers; as well some via third party venders who verify a range of products (for example, USB devices).

The program covers product categories from the data center to the desktop; from choice of virtualization infrastructure to choice of end user device as shown below. For more detailed information check out the Citrix Ready Open Desktop Virtualization program at http://www.citrix.com/ODV.

I'm sure you are all familiar with the iPhone commercials and the ubiquitous "there is an app for that" phrase that has seemingly become the catch phrase of this decade. Previous catch phrases include --but not limited to -- The 70s-"Heeeey" , The 80s-"Where's the Beef?" The 90s-"Doh!".

All kidding aside, "there's an app for it" reflects the current state of consumerization and customization that is becoming commonplace in today's on-line experience. It is no longer acceptable to have generic applications and content. We all know what we need/want for our apps and we need them now!

Citrix Community Updates

In that same spirit, today I have the pleasure of sharing some of the upgrades we have made to the Citrix community sites. Need a community for discussing Citrix and Microsoft products, "there's a community for that", need a community for the latest and greatest on Citrix and Oracle, "there's a community for that", need a community for finding cool communities "there's a community for that" , need a community where you can geek out (both online and local), "there are 2 communities for that" (gotta spice it up a bit , the first is here and the second is here)... well, I think you get the idea. You should check out the Citrix Community home page and in particular the new partner community module.

My team and I are continually looking for ways to connect with the Citrix community of customers, partners, Citrites and anyone interested in the latest in virtualization of applications, desktops and servers. We are continually soliciting feedback and update the site based on direct comments and industry trends.

Now it's your turn....

Let us know what types of communities you need and (you guessed it) "there will be a community for that", we are open to all types of ideas... here's a few to get the ball rolling (and maybe a peek at the future )... How about a Citrix and Windows 7 community? Or a Citrix and Desktop Virtualization community? Or (heaven forbid!) a Citrix and VMware community?

Also, let us know what type of content you are looking for in your communities. Check out the partner communities or even XenServerCentral for our real time multi-media feeds. Let us know how we can make them better for you...

Now I need to get back to my favorite iPhone App (an oldie but a goodie) ....

john

There are a lot of things to do in Vegas, such as seeing a show, riding a roller coaster and of course, becoming a high roller; however, none of them come with a guarantee that you will go home with something more valuable than you arrived with. At Citrix Synergy, not only will you leave with new and/or renewed connections with other professionals in the industry and at Citrix, but you will leave with knowledge that will deliver more value to your company and to you as an individual.

Sure, there are multiple valuable conferences within a conference at Synergy (iForum, Network World Live! and Virtualization Congress) but my personal favorite is GeekSpeak Live!  If you haven't seen or attended a GeekSpeak session (examples Shawn at Synergy  and Michael with GeekSpeak Roadtrip!) , you need to check this out. These sessions are where true unfiltered technical interactive discussions occur, many sessions are led by Citrix CTPs such as Charles Aunger , Ruben Spruijt  & Jeroen van de Camp, and Brian Madden and many more, but you also have the ability to lead and/or change a discussion topic on the fly.

This year we have expanded GeekSpeak Live to not only include our traditional evening sessions, but we also have the GeekSpeak SpeakEasy sessions on the exhibit floor and we have woven GeekSpeak session through the traditional conference tracks as well.

As we get closer and closer to Citrix Synergy, I will be posting more information about our GeekSpeak sessions and presenters. Please feel free to leave a comment on this blog, check out the GeekSpeak forum or drop me an email if you are interested in a topic or being a GeekSpeak session lead.

Before I go, I wanted to share a discussion I had with a Citrix Synergy attendee. The discussion started regarding the GeekSpeak session, but quickly transitioned to "I am planning to attend, but my boss/finance team is really leery of spending on technology conferences (especially in Vegas), given the negative press that AIG and others in the industry have gotten regarding conferences. Do you have any advice for me?"

We at Citrix are completely aware budget constraints and have pulled together some information on the topic for you. The fact is that from a cost perspective, Vegas is a value compared to other cities hosting technology events Vegas is 20%-60% cheaper from an attendee perspective. With the data we provided, she was able to assure her management that Citrix Synergy was not a boondoggle!

I look forward to seeing you at Citrix Synergy and Geekspeak Live! , perhaps the one time that "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" isn't true!

As the Beatles so famously declared in 1967, we can all use the help of a good friend. From day one, Citrix has always had a strong partner community to ensure that we deliver as complete and robust a solution to our customers as possible. In fact, with over 2200 companies enrolled in the Citrix Technology Member Program more than 800 products from 150 companies verified as part of the Citrix Ready Program and nearly 1200 products in 8000 instances documented in the Citrix Ready Community Verified Program, I would say that we have reached a level of partnership that few companies in the industry can match.

However, that is not enough. It's easy to partner when the economy is good, but it's even more essential to pull together when times are tough. In that spirit, the Citrix Ready team held a webinar for our Citrix Ready partners yesterday (available for Citrix Ready Partners to replay here) to discuss important new changes made in the program that will elevate the value of the Citrix Ready program not only for our partners, but perhaps more importantly, for our customers and channel partners.

The Citrix Ready team is constantly in touch with our partners to ensure that we evolve the program to ensure that the program brings value to our partner community. While there are many ways to calculate the value of a program, the most basic way to quantify the program value is to assess the value of the benefits against the cost to participate in the program, more simply stated:

                        Value of Citrix Ready Program == Program Benefits / Cost of Program

Obviously the quantification of the numerator is subjective and will vary for each company participating in the program, how engaged they are in the program, how many benefits they take advantage of, etc. The denominator is clearly described in terms of the program fees. Therefore, to increase the value of the program, the job of the Citrix Ready team is pretty simple - Increase the value of the benefits without increasing the costs of the program.

That might be enough if times were good. However, they are not. As such, we challenged ourselves to see if we could really, really, find a way to pull together the partner community for the mutual benefits of our customers and channel partners. I am pleased to share with you that the team did just that and found a way to increase the benefits while decreasing the program costs by 1/3!

Yes, you read that correctly, more benefits at lower costs.

(For those of you that are following the math, we increased the numerator while decreasing the denominator thereby supercharging the value of the program!)

Specifically, we announced the following new Citrix Ready program benefits:

• Enhanced partner communication and collaboration via Citrix Ready Forums, Citrix Ready Blogs, Citrix Ready Newsletters and a Citrix Ready Steering Committee

• Increased participation in our channel program communication and events

• Deeper involvement with our products via quarterly technology roadmap seminar series and discounts on Citrix Education programs

• Extended marketing benefits that include education and inclusion in our "Key Play" go to market activities, customer newsletters and Citrix Communities such as the Community Verified site

In addition, all of these benefits are available via the web regardless of what geographic location or time zone the partner is located in, providing 24x7 access enabling our partners to take advantage of these benefits when it is convenient for them, not based on Citrix's availability.

While I doubt that Vicky, Tricia, Vishal and I will ever be confused with John, Paul, George and Ringo, we certainly aspire to uphold the spirit of those Beatles from 1967.

First the thanks!

As we roll into the Thanksgiving week in the US, I thought I would give a quick shout out of thanks to all of you that have participated in the Citrix Ready Community Verified site. Verifications are coming in faster than we can keep up with them (which was, after all, the whole idea in the first place). As of this morning, we have well over 1,000 applications and products verified by customers and partners as "Citrix Ready", backed by more than 7,000 verifications... more than 500 were added this week alone, and it's only Wednesday!

I'm assuming that you have all seen the Citrix Ready Community Verified site and you know it rocks... not because of anything we've done, but because it's created, owned and maintained by YOU; if not don't just take my word on it, check out Chris' blog, or Rene Vester's two blogs, here and here, or even Brian Madden's review, ...or of course, the site itself!

By many standards, the site has proven to be an overwhelming success. We launched it at Citrix Summit on October 25 this year with 600 Applications and 500 Community Verifications. In the month since launch, these numbers have gone through the roof with no end in sight. In fact, I am already hearing of cases where the Citrix Ready Community Verified site has encouraged customers to virtualize more apps, helped channel partners answer customer & prospect questions more quickly and technology partners who have submitted apps (theirs as well as from other vendors).

Citrix IT has even taken up the challenge by starting to validate all the products and applications we use internally in our IT environment. I challenge all of you reading this to verify via the "voting" function all apps and other products you are using via XenApp, XenDesktop, XenServer and NetScaler!

May I have another? Or more appropriately, may we give you another?

The Citrix Ready Community Verified site is a great example of how a community can share small bits of information that doesn't impose a tax on the submitter (the apps are already deployed, submitters are just telling us they have already completed the work)... taking full advantage of the network effect to drive overall benefit.

So the question that I have for all of you, is what can we do next? The Citrix Ready Community Verified site is addressing a common question around product verification with Citrix products that has been around literally since the first release of WinFrame. Are there other longstanding questions, issues, etc that seem difficult to solve as an individual customer, SE, channel partner, technology partner or Citrix employee, that we as a community can attack?

My team and I are very interested in your feedback and would welcome the opportunity to help.

Please feel free to comment on this blog, or send an email to me at john.fanelli@citrix.com

Welcome to my blog!  

I've been at Citrix for about 6 months now and my team and I have been hard at work to bring you the revamped Citrix Community  site.   I'm calling this version of the site "Citrix Community 2.0" to emphasize the fact that it's a new version of the site and that the site incorporates many of the Web 2.0/Enterprise 2.0 technologies that you see written  or filmed about so often in the media.  I tend to think that a lot of Web 2.0 is overhyped (are there really this many Web 2.0 companies??), but I found this definition that I really like "Web 2.0 is linking people...people sharing, trading, and collaborating" If you have 4 minutes, I really suggest checking out the video - plus it's got a great soundtrack. 

The whole purpose of updating our site is to really allow people with an interest in virtualization and application delivery to share and learn ideas.  In fact, you'll see our tagline is "Discover, Connect, Participate".  The new site allows you to all of that and more! 

So, let's get down to the details.  What is new about the site? 

The Citrix Community site is a new multi-media, launching pad to reach your favorite Citrix communities.  It is the location to discover what is hot around application delivery and virtualization; connect with Citrix product teams, customers and industry pundits; and participate through sharing of opinions, thoughts and knowledge in blogs, forums and code sharing.   

New capabilities include better description and easier navigation to Citrix communities, ties to our extended communities in the industry (Hello Citrix CTPs!), enhanced multi-media/video support and real time blog feeds from across the blogosphere, all on a completely redesigned look and feel. In addition, we have made it easier for Citrites (that's what we call ourselves) and non-Citrites (that would be you!) to participate and create content.  Check out our Video Tip Factory if you don't believe me. 

Of course, one of the key communities is the Citrix Developer Network, which has undergone quite a dramatic change itself... 

The Citrix Developer Network is the place for open, unfiltered, straight talk on Citrix products.  The goal of the Citrix Developer Network is to provide access to technical information for all aspects of our community, from Network Architects to IT Professionals, to Data Center Architects to Developers.   

Based on your requests, forum posts and support calls, we have expanded the products covered, while simplifying access to the information.  We now have specific Developer Networks for XenApp, XenDesktop, NetScaler,  XenServer and one of our newest (and coolest) products, Workflow Studio.  Interested in multiple products?  Never fear, due to tagging technology, blogs, discussion and content relevant to multiple products will be available wherever relevant (example, server virtualization is key to both XenServer and XenDesktop). 

New capabilities available in per-product flavors include RSS feeds for our forums (I know, duh - this should have been there long ago), best practices pages, multi-media centers, wiki articles, code snippets and SDK examples. 

Last but not least, the Citrix Blogs platform has some simple to use, yet powerful enhancements, including "window shade" views of blogs to allow you to see more content in less real estate and the simplification of our group blogs to ensure you can find the content you are looking for. 

Today's launch of the revamped Citrix Community site is the first phase of multiple updates occurring in the next few months.  It is the result of a lot of hard work from the team, but also from the community.  Many of the changes and planned changes come directly from you, our community.  We are not done yet and I hope you aren't either. 

Please provide us feedback in the forms of responses to this blog, emails, or better yet post a video. 

Thanks for taking the time to check out the new Citrix Community site... and I have one last request... 

Discover, Connect, Participate

John