Tyler Carter, Product Marketing Manager for Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V, put together a brief overview presentation of the new features in Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V 5-5. The link below will open a new window to play a flash version of the presentation. There is some animation in the presentation, so I suggest just letting it play all the way through without manually advancing the slides. There is no audio in the presentation.

What's New in Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V 5.5

I uploaded the slide presentation to my SkyDrive account. You can download it here. You can download a 10 page Essentials for Hyper-V whitepaper here.

Express Edition Download
http://www.citrix.com/ehvexpress

Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V Step by Step Part 1

StorageLink Deep Dive Webinar - http://community.citrix.com/blogs/citrite/barryf/2009/04/13/StorageLink+-+Essentials+for+Hyper-V+Deep+Dive+Webinar

StorageLink Demo Videos
http://www.citrix.com/ehv

StorageLink Overview - http://community.citrix.com/blogs/citrite/barryf/2009/02/23/StorageLink+in+Essentials+for+Hyper-V

Provisoning Services Overview - http://community.citrix.com/blogs/citrite/barryf/2009/03/20/Provisioning+for+Hyper-V+with+Citrix+Essentials

Lab Manager Overview - http://community.citrix.com/blogs/citrite/barryf/2009/03/19/Essentials+for+Hyper-V+with+Lab+Management

StorageLink Install Install Guide - http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX120789
StorageLink User Guide - http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX120791

Follow me on Twitter.

Join Citrix and Microsoft for this upcoming webinar on November 19th, 2009 at 1:00 PM EST-

Event Date: 11/19/2009 01:00 PM Eastern Standard Time

Have you started planning to migrate to Windows 7? Struggling to continuously update and patch endpoint devices for new application releases and updates ? Data residing on end point devices creating potential security risks? Continuing to follow the decades-old PC refresh cycle and traditional distributed desktop model is a poor choice for IT departments that face reduced budgets and headcount. Join Citrix and Microsoft in this webinar to learn about the only industry leading desktop delivery solution that will enable you to:

• Radically simplify desktop management
• Increase business agility
• Reduce desktop and application management costs
• Right & wrong reasons to implement desktop virtualization
• Improve security
• Accelerate enterprise wide deployment of Windows 7
  
  http://event.on24.com/r.htm?e=175014&s=1&k=03BEDE18A207B107B57E59BBFB11A8B9
  
  
  
  Follow me on Twitter.

Yo! Twitter-ers, you can follow the Citrix and HP partnership on twitter here - http://twitter.com/CitrixHP It's fresh, live and twitter-tastic.  Ok - that was bad.      (but the twitter feed is good now, and the following is growing rapidly!)

My friends in HP Solutions Engineering tell me that historically capacity planning for server deployments was not a trivial task given the range of variables to consider, not to mention the time and therefore the expense required to do it right. And now add virtualization variables to the mix and capacity planning tasks can be even more challenging. YET, effective capacity testing can supply a big payoff by ensuring that your virtualized environment can be the best it can be, and that you gain all the cost savings and flexibility improvement benefits promised by virtualization. See here for a recent HP post on capacity planning in virtualized environments.

Of course it is not surprising that there are a number of innovative tools out there to assist in these efforts for Citrix environments, including HP LoadRunner, a popular load testing tool used for planning XenApp deployments, and the Citrix EdgeSight for Load Testing server sizing and application performance testing solution.

We have a excellent new technical resource for capacity planning with ESLT - the recently released "Using EdgeSight for Load Testing ..." white paper developed by HP and Citrix describes how to implement ESLT tools and scripts to characterize scalability for various HP ProLiant servers with XenServer and XenApp. This paper is a great addition to the ever expanding set of technical papers published on XenApp and XenServer - visit here to browse the entire library.

Don't forget to register for the Citrix Live! Virtual Event, Secrets, Lies and VDI happening Oct 20^th and visit the HP sessions and exhibits! Enjoy.     
 

Citrix is sponsoring SAP TechEd 09 in Phoenix! Starting on October 13th at the Phoenix Convention Center, Citrix will showcase our desktop virtualization solutions and promote our recent Citrix Delivery Center POC produced jointly with SAP and onsite at SAP Labs in Palo Alto.

Don't miss your chance to learn about our desktop virtualization vision and how our solutions work alongside SAP solutions.

If you're planning to be at SAP TechEd, stop by the Citrix booth (#211) to meet with the team and learn how we're working with SAP to improve application delivery and user experience. Learn more about SAP TechEd or register to attend here.

Visit the Citrix Community for SAP to stay up-to-date on the latest partnership information...and don't forget to follow us on Twitter!

The launch of Windows 7 fills me with dread and excitement. The dread comes from coordinating Citrix Global Platinum sponsorship of this launch with North America Roadshows, Virtual Live Events, TechEd EMEA and local launch events. The excitement comes from the promise of Windows 7 after the relative disappointment of Vista (I must stress the word "relative"), as the performance of Windows 7 is definitely promising to live up to the hype.  

So, why would Microsoft invite Citrix to be a Global Launch Partner for an operating system launch?

Normally when you want a new OS, you just go on the web, buy a new PC, and use the CD to install the OS or, if you are like me and technologically incompetent, you get your IT Department to install it. However, the technology landscape has shifted. Now there is an alternative way to get your instant Windows 7 desktop with Citrix and Microsoft Desktop Virtualization, which delivers Windows desktops as an on-demand service to any user, on any device, anywhere.

The combination of Citrix and Microsoft gives customers the fastest way to deliver Windows 7 realizing benefits of increased efficiency and simplified IT Management. In addition Citrix HDX Technology offers up to 10X better Flash multimedia performance compared to alternative solutions, delivering a user experience that is indistinguishable from a local PC.

7 Ways to get up to speed on Citrix and Microsoft Desktop Virtualization for Windows 7

1. Check out the Citrix Desktop Virtualization Live, "Secrets, Lies and VDI" event on the 20^th October - register here

2. Attend the "Harness The Power of Virtualization" events with guest speakers from Citrix, Microsoft, Intel and HP - register here

3. Microsoft New Efficiency Virtual Live Event

4. North America Windows 7 Roadshows in 65 Cities for Technical Decision Makers and IT Professionals

5. Microsoft Tech EMEA

6. Check out your local events

7. Check out Win7 Community Central to see how the Citrix Partner Ecosystem helps deliver Windows 7 - Click here

Citrix is proud to announce that Citrix Technology Professional (CTP) awards have been extended to the following leaders in the technical community:

XenApp CTP Awardees

• Alaa Jallad
• Claudio Rodrigues
• Helge Klein
• Javier Sanchez Alcazar
• Nico Luedemann
• Pierre Marmignon
• Rene Vester
• Thorsten Rood
  
  

XenServer CTP Awardees

• Chris Rogers
• Chris Wolf
• Kirk Manzer
• Ron Oglesby
• Shannon Snowden
• Thomas Krampe
  
  

I'd like to personally congratulate each one of you on your award and welcome you to the CTP program. We'll soon be updating the CTP bio page with your information.

We reviewed many excellent candidates and had a limited number of seats to fill. Thanks to all of you who applied or were nominated. If you were not selected during this review cycle, your form will be automatically reviewed again in 2010, but we also suggest that you re-submit your nomination form in early Q1 to let us know about your most recent activities.

I encourage you to learn more about the CTP program and the nomination process.

Best,
Laura Whalen
Citrix Systems, Inc.

Just wanted to remind you that we're running a Geek Speak VDI Expert Challenge Live Webcast with Citrix CTPs Brian Madden & Ruben Spruijt, and Citrix VDI expert Amitabh Sinha today at 1pm ET. You can still register at:

http://www.citrix.com/geekspeakvdi

Here are the details:

Event Date: 09/23/2009 01:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time

Join Brian Madden & Ruben Spruijt as they face off with Citrix VDI expert Amitabh Sinha, VP of Product Management, in this lively, unfiltered discussion on the hot topic of Desktop Virtualization. Be there & participate live online when Brian & Ruben ask Amitabh the right questions that get to the heart of what the industry wants to know. Don't miss this exciting opportunity to hear the experts uncover the truth about VDI.

Topics include:

• What's all the hype about VDI & is it worth it?
• What desktop virtualization vendors don't want you to know
• VMware View(TM) vs. Citrix XenDesktop
• Right & wrong reasons to implement desktop virtualization
• And much more...

Three reasons to attend:

1. Unbiased, unfiltered technical discussion
2. Live chat with fellow attendees and Q&A with the panel
3. A chance to win cool stuff

In the spirit of "keepin it simple", so simple that even a caveman can do it, I engaged the help of a few of our best CTPs (Child Technology Protégés),actually technology savvy elementary school kids to help produce a small video showing off some Citrix technology with mobile devices. So those of us that aren't smarter than a 5th grader should still be able to follow along We had a lot of fun making this video, but the interesting part was that the kids actually GOT IT! The video features Citrix Ready products from partners Sprint and Celio. Three use cases are expressed in the video:

• Mobile Health Care Users
• Traveling Road Warriors
• Mobile Field Technicians

Hope the video helps generate some ideas on how you can use Citrix to simplify you mobile deployments.

We will dive deeper into some of these use cases as part of a video series on Citrix TV so you can get a little more familiar with each, and some of the products used. If the kid thing works, we may need to have a sequel

Citrix is sponsoring Oracle OpenWorld! Starting on October 11th at San Francisco's Moscone Center, Citrix will showcase our desktop virtualization solutions and promote recent Oracle application validations with Citrix NetScaler and Citrix XenApp. At the event we'll also feature Citrix Receiver for the iPhone running Oracle applications.
Don't miss your chance to learn about our desktop virtualization vision and how our solutions work alongside Oracle solutions.

The following are the Citrix speaking sessions at Oracle OpenWorld:

Delivering Oracle Applications with Citrix Desktop Virtualization Solutions
Different users have different computing needs. Learn how desktop delivery solutions from Citrix can provide cost-effective application and desktop management solutions for all users.
@ October 12th - 11:30am (Booth #2137)

Desktop Virtualization - Five Years Forward
Desktop virtualization will have a pivotal impact over the next five years. Learn how your organization can use these solutions today and to plan for the future.
@ October 13th - 3:30pm (Booth #2137)

If you're planning to be at Oracle OpenWorld, attend our speaking sessions or stop by the Citrix booth (#229) to meet with the team and learn how we're working with Oracle to improve application delivery and user experience. Learn more about Oracle OpenWorld or register to attend here.

And...drum roll please...here's your chance to attend the event at no cost! If you're a Citrix customer and are interested in attending Oracle OpenWorld, we are offering 50 "Discover" passes to the event. These are available on a first come, first served basis. Contact the Oracle Alliance Team today to secure your pass and take advantage of this offer!
 

Are you planning to attend Intel Developer Forum 2009 next week? If so, you will see Citrix in every corner of the event!

Stop by the Citrix booth (#501) next week at San Francisco's Moscone Center to see demos of our Citrix Delivery Center solutions. We will also showcase demos of Citrix XenClient, our joint collaboration with Intel to develop a local desktop virtualization platform.

In addition, Citrix will be featured in the Intel Virtualization Pavilion and Intel vPro Zone Communities. Within the Communities we'll showcase XenClient and also how Citrix XenServer leverages the benefits of Intel Xeon processors for Citrix XenApp and Citrix XenDesktop workloads. And as if that weren't enough, we will also have a demo of SR-IOV with Citrix XenServer at Intel's booth.

Citrix will also be featured within several breakout sessions at the event. Stop by the session "Hosted, Streamed, and Local Bare Metal Desktop Virtualization with Citrix XenDesktop and Citrix XenClient" on September 22^nd from 3-3:50pm to hear Peter Blum introduce our desktop virtualization vision and discuss Citrix XenClient.

Also, Simon Crosby is participating in a cloud virtualization panel discussion alongside other industry-leading companies. This session is scheduled for September 22^nd from 5-5:50pm.

In short...or maybe not that short...if you plan on attending the event, you'll have a lot of opportunities to meet with Citrix and learn how Citrix is working with Intel.

We look forward to seeing you there and we guarantee you won't be able to miss us! Learn more about Intel Developer Forum or register to attend here.

Best Practices for Deploying and Managing Hyper-V Infrastructure

Date: Thursday, August 27, 2009
Time: 2:00 PM Eastern; 11:00 AM Pacific

Join Microsoft and Citrix as they explore best practices for deploying and managing Hyper-V. Learn how to rapidly provision Hyper-V infrastructure, reduce your Hyper-V storage footprint by over 50%, increase I/O performance by up to 30%, and much more.

Discover how Microsoft System Center together with Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V helps you effectively manage and automate the delivery of virtual and physical infrastructure for your Hyper-V deployments, including how the solutions:

• Rapidly provision virtual and physical infrastructure
• Improve storage utilization with the seamless storage integration
• Conquer VM sprawl and take back control of virtual labs
• Maximize performance and resource utilization

REGISTER NOW.

About the Presenters:

Gordon Mangione; VP, Emerging Virtualization Products; Citrix Systems, Inc.
Gordon Mangione leads the Advanced Products group at Citrix, where he is specifically focused on building products for the Microsoft platform. Previously, Mr. Mangione was responsible for product operations with a focus on engineering, support and services at XenSource before its acquisition by Citrix. Prior to that, Mr. Mangione held several VP roles at Microsoft, where he was responsible for Exchange, SQL Server and incubating the security business.

Dai Vu; Director, Virtualization Solutions Marketing; Microsoft Corporation
Dai Vu leads the team responsible for Hyper-V product marketing and marketing solutions built on Microsoft virtualization products and technologies. His team works closely with solution partners to define, develop, and market joint solutions to drive horizontal and business solution scenarios enabled by virtualization technologies. Previously, Dai was responsible for mid-market/channel strategic initiatives on the Server and Tools Strategy and Planning Team. Prior to Microsoft, Dai was Program Director at IBM and Engagement Manager at McKinsey and Company.

REGISTER NOW

This blog was written by Alejandra Amador-Garcia. She is currently out on maternity leave but wrote this just before she left. I hope it provides our test takers with further insights into our testing world.

The views expressed here are mine alone and have not been authorized by, and do not necessarily reflect the views of, Citrix.

As one of the senior exam developers for Citrix, I sometimes get contacted by exam candidates who want to know more about how their exam was scored or because they think their exam should be reviewed. It seems the scoring of Citrix exams is an accidentally kept secret. I hope that this post will divulge those secrets.

Currently, all Citrix exams are scored automatically by a computer, so you don't have to worry that your particular exam answers were incorrectly entered by some intern somewhere. Most Citrix exam questions are worth 1 point each. This includes questions that have multiple correct responses. In the case of multiple correct response questions, you will earn 1 point for selecting ALL the correct responses or 0 points for missing any or all of the correct responses.

In certain exams, such as the 456 and 614 exams, complex questions (like simulations) may be worth more than 1 point. If an exam contains these types of questions, the Exam Prep Guide will let you know how scoring for those questions works.

Sometimes, exams include questions that are not reflected in your score called un-scored questions. These questions are included on an exam to beta test them. If a question is deemed "good" it will be added to the exam as a regularly scored question in the future. A question is deemed to be "good" based on how it performs statistically. If an exam contains un-scored questions, the Exam Prep Guide will include a notice of this. The most important thing to note is these questions do not count against the final score a candidate receives on an exam.

Unlike many exams in the academic world, Citrix exams do NOT penalize you for guessing. An incorrect answer will NOT result in you getting points deducted (e.g. -1 for each incorrect answer); however, an incorrect response would not result in one gaining any points. So how does Citrix ensure that those who pass didn't just get lucky by guessing? The questions are written using a probability equation so that guessing on the entire exam would not score you enough points to pass.

Many candidates are confused about section weights and their relevance to their exam score - really, there is no reason to consider them when thinking about your score, but here is a quick explanation of their function just incase you don't believe me:

Section weights correlate directly to the number of questions on the exam. For example, if an exam has 60 questions, and section 1 is weighted as 50%, then section 1 will consist of 30 questions (60*50% = 30). Section weights are NOT used to calculate your exam score. Section weights are meant to indicate the percentage of the exam that covers certain content, for example, installation, configuration, etc.. Because some questions may have different point values assigned to them, section weights and exam scores do not always have a one to one correlation. For example, in the table below, two sections with questions that have different point values are shown.

As illustrated in the table above, getting a section weight of 5% could mean 4 points or 2 points. The total points you get is much more important than the percentage you get for a particular section. Your score is calculated using the points you get, NOT the section weights.

Another common request from exam candidates mystified by the exam scoring process here at Citrix is to have their exam re-scored. Most likely, your Citrix exam result would never need to be re-scored. Since exams are scored automatically based on a pre-defined answer key that undergoes a very thorough analysis, there is no human error that would accidently change your score. Essentially, each question on your exam is compared to the programmed answer key and awarded points accordingly. Requesting a re-score for such an exam result would be like asking that 1+1 be recalculated to ensure that it still equals 2.

In the past, some exams have had to be rescored due to very unique circumstances that resulted in odd errors during the exam administration. Most candidates that report issues of errors and lag times during an exam administration find that all their exam information was correctly logged. Citrix Exams are also tested to ensure that exam information is maintained in the event of a power outage or computer malfunction.

Another common request I get is to review the questions that a candidate got wrong on the exam revealing why they got specific questions wrong. The answer to this request is almost always, "No." To maintain the confidentiality of the questions on an exam, I can't discuss the questions of the exams or the results with candidates. This also ensures that I don't inadvertently reveal the answers to the exam.

I have now divulged all the scoring 'secrets' for Citrix exams. Hopefully this has given you the insight you need to understand your score or determine if you really need your last exam attempt reviewed for scoring.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact training@citrix.com or respond to this blog.

Intro: 

You've probably seen all my Mac and iPhone development activity and blog posts, but the RTM of Windows 7 was something I couldn't just ignore, Windows 7 is huge for Microsoft and it brought back some memories of my old Windows days, back then I created a little gadget called Remote Desktop; I had in mind allowing rapid access to my remote servers and desktops right from the Windows 7's sidebar.

It's been well over a year since version 2.1 of the Remote Desktop gadget was released on our former site Frameworkx.com, and this app summed up a bit over 1,000,000 downloads. It was built streamlined and simple as an extension to the Microsoft's Remote Desktop Client. Now on version 3.0 I simply added support for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2

I decided to share it with our Citrix audience, since we are all about access, and I believe this is can be neat way to connect to your XenApp servers.

Installation:

Remote Desktop Gadget can be downloaded straight to your Windows 7's sidebar. No extra software or component is required.

Remote Desktop Feature Set

• Version 3.0:
  
  • Choose from 3 Themes
  • Dropdown list of server history
  • Favorites list
  • Manageable server history
  • Compact docked interface
  • Expandable docked interface
  • Support for Windows 7
  • Support for Windows Server 2008 R2

Download:  Remote Desktop Gadget 3.0



Enjoy this little app, and if you need support ping me on twitter: twitter/GusPinto

best,
Gus Pinto
Microsoft MVP

We've been working hard on the next major release of Citrix Receiver for iPhone, although our team is confident we did a good job implementing the first few releases, we decided to continue innovating. With that been said, our next major release will be focused on a highly improved user experience, and many innovative features!

During an usability study we have acknowledged 20 pixels of "waisted" space within the XenApp session, and 20px in a mobile device is like gold, specially when you only have a 320 x 480 viewable area.

I'm talking about the iPhone Status bar.

This bar indicates, time, carrier, signal strength, wireless mode, battery, bluetooth, etc... The status bar is visible most of the time, except in rare occasion, like when playing full screen movies, pictures, games, etc.

Today I would like to turn to you to help me make a decision on how to regain those 20px back, after all, we are designing this product for you, and getting your input this early is very valuable to us.

The question is pretty simple, we have 3 option, Solid (as is today), Translucent (see thru), Hidden. Which one do you like the most?

Best regards,
Gus pinto
twitter.com/guspinto

By now, you've probably been hearing or reading a lot about Citrix's relationship with Intel...or at least we're hoping that's the case!

Most of the recent news has been focused on our joint collaboration in the development of Citrix XenClient. XenClient is one of the most exciting projects in Citrix's history and we can't wait to see how the project changes the definition of desktop virtualization. With that said, there are optimization activities currently underway with our Citrix Deliver Center products, such as Citrix XenServer and Citrix XenDesktop that are worth talking about too!

Intel and Citrix have a long history of working together to deliver end-to-end solutions for the enterprise. From how Citrix XenServer works with Intel Xeon processors to how Citrix XenApp and Citrix XenDesktop work alongside Intel vPro technology to our joint development of Citrix XenClient, there is a great story in this partnership.

At Citrix Synergy 2009, Tom James, Business Development Manager, Digital Office Platform Division from Intel presented how solutions and technologies from Intel work with Citrix Delivery Center. For those of you who weren't able to attend Synergy or those who could but didn't have a chance to check out this session, it's available here for your viewing pleasure.

In this webinar you will learn:

• About recent server consolidation testing conducted in the Citrix Lab with Citrix XenApp, Citrix XenServer and Intel Xeon 5500 Series processors
• About the upcoming local desktop virtualization platform - XenClient - Citrix is developing in conjunction with Intel and how we see it changing the client landscape moving forward
• About the other collaboration areas from a technical perspective and how they add customer value
  

Check out the webinar!

I moved to California from London just over 11 months ago. Obviously there is a significant cultural and climatic shift involved and a settling in period is a necessity to find your feet. Having travelled all over the world I have embraced as many aspects of different cultures and enjoyed experimenting.

One such aspect I have noticed here in California and in fact right throughout the US is the love of cheese.  A meal  smothered in cheese is normally accompanied by a side dish of, guess what, MORE cheese. Normally I reserve this dairy delight for a cracker or with some wine but 'Here' it is on everything.

Ordering a Cheeseburger with no cheese always raises a quizzical look from the waitress and a thought process which starts with "You are weird" and progresses to "Is he a serial killer?". Even the lactose intolerant demand that their lunch, dinners and daily snacks have heavy cheese content. Asking colleagues, "why do they have so much cheese on their food?" the simple answer was, "it tastes so good with cheese".

One technically gifted colleague decided to explain this using the analogy that Citrix XenApp and Microsoft Remote Desktop Services(the technology formerly known as Terminal Services) have the same relationship as cheese and hot meals(zzzz). The hot meal is the platform, Microsoft, and the cheese is the value-add, XenApp, which brings the  meal to life. Beating this analogy to a quick death, then Citrix has a number of cheeses, Citrix XenDesktop, Essentials for Hyper-V and Branch Repeater which embrace and extend the Microsoft Platform to supply a sumptuous meal.

All of these great combos can be found here at the New Microsoft/Citrix Community Portal where we've consolidated all related news, blogs, articles, videos, etc... into the feeds section of this page. We've also created an area that highlights all related forum threads and postings. Look for answers to your burning questions, participate in an existing discussion, or you can tell us if our cheese is good or if it stinks - let me remind you that all the best cheeses stink  

PS Does eating cheese in the evening give you nightmares? 

Citrix XenDesktop: The Clear Choice for Desktop Virtualization

If you're looking for the best virtual desktop solution or want to improve your existing one, you should know that Citrix XenDesktop™ delivers a host of benefits that VMware View can't, including:
 

* 10X lower bandwidth requirement for LAN or WAN
* Unmatched user experience on any device
* Unique performance monitoring of desktops
* Scalable, single image management                                            
* Lowest TCO with both hosted and streamed desktops
 

Come see XenDesktop in Action - See dual monitor support, apps delivered (streamed) with XenApp, including multimedia, USB device support, virtual remote technical support. And then see the experience when working from home - see the desktop session resumed exactly where it was in the office, and automatically refactored for single display.
        -------------------------------------------------------
Register Now!

Thursday, August 13^th, McCormick & Schmick's Pier 5 Inner Harbor
 

Agenda
11:30 - 12:00 - Registration
12:00 - 1:30 - Presentation, product demonstration and lunch
1:30 - 2:00 - Q&A and Wrap-up 
 

**All attendees will receive the "VDI Comparison Kit". It includes expert reviews and industry insights into what you should consider in choosing a VDI solution.

"Citrix Systems' XenDesktop is a state-of-the-art product for hosted desktop virtualization and may be the gold standard by which other products are judged in a feature-for-feature comparison."  Virtualization Review, April 2009

This week at our iForum Singapore event Adam Jaques and Gordon Payne demonstrated an early version of the Citrix Receiver for the Android operating system.

UPDATE August 3rd: See the announcement and demo: http://community.citrix.com/blogs/citrite/adamj/2009/07/29/Citrix+Receiver+for+Android+Demonstration+Video

I'm excited about this, first because it's being developed in Citrix Labs, and what's more in Citrix Labs Sydney. I'm more excited because it brings Citrix ever closer to ubiquity on the smart phone - we have a client for Windows mobile, a receiver for the iPhone, an alpha receiver for the Blackberry, and soon a receiver for Android.

This is really important for Citrix and for our customers because the age of Smartphones has begun, and the mobile device, and mobile experience, will never be the same again. Citrix is helping make this happen by making the Smartphone enterprise friendly by bringing 'every' enterprise application to the Smartphone, no matter what variety; be it Windows, web or other.

For many, the Smartphone will be (or already is) the major connection to the web, the Internet and to the work environment. This brings new challenges for information and security management in every organization.

To address these challenges Citrix Labs is working closely with Open Kernel Laboratories to bring cutting edge laptop management approaches to the world of the Smartphone. In much the same way that the XenClient initiative (originally Project Independence) is bringing new capabilities for laptop management, there is an opportunity to combine the new Android Receiver, secure virtual cell technology from OK Labs, and a management infrastructure to create separate personal and enterprise cells on a given Android device. This is an ambitious goal, but one that could open up a new age of Enterprise managed mobile devices.

In a press release in May, Martin Duursma (VP of Citrix Labs) put it like this:

"Working together on mobile-to-enterprise virtualization (M2E), Citrix and OK Labs will enable handset OEMs, MNOs, or enterprises to deliver enterprise applications and content to any mobile device through an OK Labs implementation of Citrix Receiver for the OK Labs mobile phone virtualization platform," said Martin Duursma, Vice President, Citrix Labs. "Today's announcement broadens the Citrix vision of Project Independence for local desktop virtualization and desktop computing and applies it to enterprise application and desktop delivery into mobile devices."

Steve Subar (CEO of OK Labs) puts it like this:

"To address the security requirements of enterprise IT and the personalization preferences of mobile workers, mobile-to-enterprise virtualization (M2E) will enable a secure corporate cell on a mobile device where the receiver function is protected from the security breach of a personal cell. This solution will enable mobile phone users and Corporate IT to leverage best of both worlds - open, unfettered access to personal consumer applications and data with secure, controlled access to enterprise applications and desktops. In addition, M2E will make possible the centralized remote management of the corporate IT cell across all user devices."

My view - we're in for a gloriously interesting next few years with rapid changes coming from consumerization married with Smartphone technological innovation. With the Citrix receiver providing EVERY enterprise application on EVERY Smartphone, Citrix is definitely along for the ride.

Are you?

Within this one page you'll have all information on the Citrix and Intel relationship available at your fingertips...or mouse click so to speak.  

Interested in learning about Citrix's latest activities with Intel? We know your time is valuable and that's why we've consolidated all related news, blogs, articles, videos, etc... into the feeds section of this page. We've also created an area that highlights all related forum threads and postings. Look for answers to your burning questions, participate in an existing discussion, or post a new thread. Epitomizing the true nature of community... this page is here for you!  

Did you know that Citrix and Intel are working together to jointly develop a bare-metal Type-1 client hypervisor? Learn about and stay up to date on our joint collaboration of Citrix XenClient. View demos, read blogs and let us know what you think about this upcoming solution.

But it doesn't stop there! Get information and results on our joint product validation, benchmarking and scalability tests. You can even let us know how you're working with Citrix and Intel solutions together in our Community Verified area.

You're only one click away from all things Citrix and Intel. Stop by the Citrix Community page for Intel and check back often! And don't forget to follow us on Twitter!

To finish off with another Damone line, "isn't this great?"