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Join us for the Nirvana Phone webinar February 9, 2010
See the demo!
Download the Nirvana Phone reference document
Citrix and Open Kernel Labs (OK Labs) are collaborating to take smart phones to the next level. Citrix and OK Labs recently announced the "nirvana phone" reference architecture that uses virtualization to enable both mobile communications and office desktop-type productivity on handheld mobile devices. (OK Labs is a leader in virtualization software for mobile devices, consumer electronics, and embedded systems and supports OKL4, an open source microkernel that is deployed on more than 500 million mobile phones worldwide.)
As SmartPhones continue to become more capable, fast networks become more pervasive, and virtual desktops like Citrix XenDesktop go mainstream, it is becoming increasingly possible to use a SmartPhone to perform tasks previously limited to laptops and desktops. Desktop virtualization is a concept that delivers a complete Windows desktop experience as an on-demand service to any user, anywhere on a variety of endpoint devices.
With support for docking to full-sized displays, keyboards, mice and other PC-type peripherals, Nirvana Phones will offer mobile workers a complete "virtual desktop in your pocket," allowing them to take their desktop anywhere without the need to carry around a full laptop. The following illustrates the Nirvana Phone concept:
The Nirvana Phone reference architecture incorporates many emerging capabilities in mobile chipsets and handsets like full resolution video and HD output.
Beyond the hype the of the iPad by Apple lovers and the nay sayers who say "who needs it " the iPad is likely to impact company IT practice more than anticipated. For many CIO's and IT Directors there is a growing interest in minimizing the expense and support of endpoint devices. Many companies have taken the fist step to allow access to company apps from unmanaged home PC's utilizing Application and/or Desktop Virtualization, however very few have taken the leap to allow employees to really bring there own computer to work "BYOC".
The reasons for the hesitancy typically revolve around security, compliance, local data and risk to internal networks. These concerns have been reason enough for most companies to not to move beyond where they are today. The policy is either a company provided PC/Laptop only, or the next level of enablement allowing controlled access from outside the company network.
What frequently changes IT's priority to move from the status quo is a management decree or revenue generating employees. Enter the iPad. Regardless of current IT policy the iPad is going to be purchased by Executives, Sale Managers, Physicians, Traders and other money makers. In increasing numbers these employes are going to bring the devices to work and ask IT to support them. Although the first reaction may be no way, the current obstacles of BYOC don't necessarily apply. If IT allows access from a Receiver equipped iPad with a XenApp/XenDesktop backend the following issues and concerns easily can be managed.
Exposure to Internal Networks - The iPad has no Ethernet port to plug into office RJ45 jacks exposing the internal network. Many companies already provide an isolated guest WiFi network that only allows a secure remote SSL/VPN connection. Alternatively no WiFi access could be enforced and only allow controlled access from the independent 3G carrier network completely isolating the device from the company network.
Company Data on Employee Devices - With Citrix Receiver for iPad no data is stored or runs on the device. Email can be limited to company hosted XenApp sessions of Outlook or Notes and disallow the local native email.
Mixing Personal and Business Data - IT does not want to deal with iTunes, personal music and photos, licensing issues etc. With an employee owned device all these issues are the responsibility of the employee and IT can define a "virtual" wall between IT delivered Desktops and apps that never mix with the employees device.
Replacement Issues - Most BYOC iPads will be secondary devices that won't kill the employee's productivity if its out of commission, they can just go back to their primary PC. For some users like Physicians who may depend on an iPad, keeping loaners on-hand can be easy, and set up / configuration can be done in minutes.
Support of Non Company Devices - Aside from replacement issues IT would prefer not to be in possession of employee devices for set-up causing logistical and asset control issues. With Citrix Receiver IT can simply send an email or have an Intranet site that employees only need to click a link to configure the iPad for company apps and desktops.
IT Security Policies - Most companies have specific policies in place for allowing controlled secure remote access. This may include 2 Factor Authentication, 128 SSL Encryption, and password protection enforcement. A Receiver enabled iPad can support all of these requirements.
So for the many companies who are thinking BYOC is an interesting concept but " not for us " , it could be worthwhile to consider the Citrix Receiver enabled iPad as a safe way to allow employees to Bring Their Own Computer.
Have you been asked to support the iPad already ? Do you think the iPad is a door opener to BYOC?
Everyone knows a Smartphone is a Cell Phone + PDA. A " nirvana phone " is a smartphone + video connection to a full size display + full size keyboard, Plus access to a Virtual Desktop. With a "nirvana phone" you finally get your leave your laptop home !
Citrix and partner OK Labs are collaborating to utilize the OK Labs Microvisor plus the Citrix Receiver in a secure mobile VM. This solution will enable a new generation of smartphones to provide "nirvana phone" functionality. In addition, Citrix and OK Labs are providing a concept specification for device builders to follow to assure the best "nirvana phone" function and experience.
Learn more about the "nirvana phone" and the Citrix - OK Labs collaboration at a free Webinar on 2/7/2010. Register here .
No doubt you have heard about the iPad by now and you may be already pondering whether or not you will be buying one. Chances are you have a Laptop or PC and a Smartphone already so you need to rationalize how you will use it beyond e-books and browsing. Well if your company has XenDesktop or XenApp you will be happy to know you will be able to use your iPad for real work as well. It turns out the 9.7 inch display on the iPad with a 1024x768 screen resolution works great for a full VDI XenDesktop. Windows applications run unmodified and securely in the data center, and even multiple applications at once. The advancements that were made for the Citrix Receiver for iPhone will carry over to the iPad, however the iPhone restrictions of screen size and small keyboards are overcome with the iPad. It's a beautiful thing ! The iPad looks to be an ideal end point device that can empower users to be productive were ever they are and IT will be able to safely deliver company hosted virtual desktops and apps without worry.
So tell us if you want Citrix Receiver for the iPad and let us know how your going to put it to work. ( even it's just to rationalize buying another gadget 
)
10 . You won't get fired for leaving your iPhone in a cab revealing company secrets.
9. You won't miss another meeting with your boss because the iPhone calendar app didn't sync right with your Exchange server.
8. Speed read through your email with just a swipe.
7. Open large attachments in seconds without crashing the email app.
6. Edit attachments and view features like Word Track Changes.
5. Click on Intranet / SharePoint site links, and they work !
4. Easily find; Sent, Deleted, Saved, emails just like Outlook on your PC.
3. You can finally convince your IT/Security guys that there is a safe way to support the iPhone.
2. You won't need to carry around both your iPhone because you want to, Plus your Blackberry because you need to.
And the Number 1 reason ?
1. Just because you can ( with Citrix Receiver ) ... and win the next "my app beats your app" debate with your friends
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Most desktop apps are designed with multiple Window Pane's to organize data and make it consumable without forcing a users eyes to scan from one side of a monitor to another. In many cases these Pane sizes are discretionary for the developer or already user adjustable. Given that, why not make the Window Pane sizes easy to consume on a mobile device ?
It turns out that the 320x480 Pixel screen of the iPhone provides a very readable Window Pane whether its displayed with multiple Panes on a desktop app or one at a time on a mobile device. That same Window Pane of information can also look great on an iPhone when hosted on XenApp and displayed with the Citrix Receiver. If it's done right, navigating multiple window Panes of a Desktop app can be done without constant zooming, pinching and panning.
A great new usability feature in version 2.0 of Citrix Receiver for iPhone includes a "Pane-Swipe" gesture that will shift the "view" one Pane at a time with a 2 finger swipe. A user can simply swipe left or right or up and down whether the iPhone is in Portrait or Landscape mode. The result is users can be productive when mobile without the common complaint about dealing with a small screen. This scenario makes securely delivering apps to Desktops or Smartphone's easier than ever. Even better, many desktop apps can easily be configured without coding to provide a great mobile experience. The app displayed is standard desktop Office Excel 2007 with both a Mobile and Desktop View. Certainly some apps would need to be modified but the effort could be minimal vs the multi-platform development and support alternative . The apps could be Windows, Web, or RIA apps like Flash and Silverlight. In fact for many vector based apps simply publishing the app on XenApp at the right dimension will make it Mobile-Friendly ( i.e. publish a 3 column app at 960 wide )
Some native iPhone apps are great, but they can open IT issues around security, compliance and support of employee owned devices ( BYOD ). Even if the organization accepts the security implications and allows native email or other business apps, there are bound to be more company app requirements than can be solved with only existing native apps. It is also becoming more obvious that the iPhone will have some serious competition, fortunately many of the new devices are also adopting the same 320x480 screen resolution. So that same Mobile-Friendly desktop app can also be delivered to devices from Motorola, HTC, Samsung, Google , etc. The OS of the new device doesn't matter either as long as it's equipped with the Citrix Receiver.
To get started check out the Mobile-Friendly demos fom your iPhone on CitrixCloud.net and visit CDN where you can get more details on how to Mobilize your apps.
If you are a developer, are your apps Mobile-Friendly? Keep this in mind for your next app project. Mobilizing your app is easier than you thought.
Let us know what you think, could be useful for your organization?
Amazon has recently announced the availability of spot based pricing that can dramatically reduce the hourly price of cloud computing. While this is not relevant for many scenarios including running user facing apps like production XenApp, it does provide an indication of future pricing models for Cloud infrastructure and its available now. There are restrictions on the new offering but it really does work. I was able to run a new instance of XenApp on Windows 2003 Server for only $.05 per hour, less than half the normal price of $0.12 per hour. This is very useful for test, PoC and potentially scalability testing when your timing can be flexible. Starting a new EC2 instance including the prebuilt AMI images available for the Citrix C3 Lab works without issue, the AWS console provides a few new windows to check the current spot price and allow you to bid your price to start an instance. Currently however there is a significant downside to bidding too low, that is that Amazon will terminate your instance when the spot price exceeds your bid. If your just learning that may be fine, but if you have invested time and resource into a project this could be a big issue. There are some computing tasks that can withstand the impact of terminated instances but this condition does limit the broad appeal of this new pricing model.
When you think about it, this is just like Priceline.com selling unused seats in an airplane or rental cars. It doesn't make sense for a company to fly with empty seats or leave cars in a lot. Business travelers on a schedule will still pay full price, but others on a tight budget with flexible plans can take advantage of very low temporary prices. Amazon is simply taking a similar excess capacity dilemma and maximizing their return on the capital invested. How well this applies to broad IT tasks is not immediately obvious. However it does point out another example of the economic benefit of scale for Cloud Computing. Aside from using virtualization to maximize images and workloads per server, Amazon can now sell unutilized capacity something that dedicated datacenters can't even consider.
Cloud Economics 101 Part 1 - Premise vs Cloud vs Colo
Cloud Economics 101 Part 2 - Premise Plus Cloud
Cloud Economics 101 Part 3 - Amazon Reserved Pricing
Cloud Economics 101 Part 4 - Amazon Ec2 vs Terremark vCloudExpress
There is no question that there are lots of smart people working at Citrix. However, it is always a good idea to augment the internal innovation with external ideas. One way that Citrix fosters open innovation is by sponsoring university research. Because technologies related to datacenter automation and autonomic computing are important to Citrix customers, Citrix is one of the corporate sponsors of the National Science Foundation Center for Autonomic Computing (CAC). The CAC includes the University of Florida, the University of Arizona and Rutgers University. Other universities are looking to join the center in the near future. The CAC engages in research related to self-managed and self-optimizing network, middleware, and services in both centralized and distributed systems.
Citrix Labs work closely with researchers at the CAC. As a CAC industry advisory board member, we help set the direction for the research projects. At times, Citrix Labs' staff initiate internal projects to extend and apply the results of relevant CAC research projects to the Citrix products. Such activities also enable Citrix to provide feedback on real world scenarios to the researchers and the identify areas which require additional investigation. One such project is Project Dosojin, where predictive and classification algorithms developed by CAC are used to optimize the placement of virtual machines on XenServers based on their historic performance characterization. Under Project Dosojin, Citrix labs is developing a framework for dynamic load management as well as power management based on historic data. Typical of most Citrix Labs projects, it will be a while before these capabilities show up in Citrix commercial products.
At Citrix, university and research center relationships are not limited to the United States. Citrix Labs in Sydney, Australia and Cambridge, United Kingdom also interact with regional universities and promote open innovation.
If you run an IT shop today you probably fall into one of two categories: A. You already allow employee access from an iPhone ( supported or not ) or B. You are constantly barraged with employee requests to allow iPhone access ( and the employee might be your boss or the CEO ).
If you are in camp A and already allow email access you may also be frequently scanning the net for the latest iPhone vulnerability and perhaps training employees on the use of Passcode Lock and Auto-Lock features. You are also probably getting requests for access to more company apps and data beyond just email.
If you are in camp B. your probably comfortable with your existing BlackBerry or Windows Mobile support and can point to the 200+ security policies the BES server enables to assure security like remotely wipe the device and reduce the dependency on employees to assure compliance. Beyond email you're probably concerned about Network VPN access from mobile devices especially employee owned devices, and regarding apps the Blackberry has limited app and browser support anyway. You might even be spending money to buy or develop apps that will only work on the Blackberry.
The new release of Citrix Receiver for iPhone 2.0 now offers Enterprise IT shops in either category a new option to provide safe access to email, data, and company apps. Currently over 200,000 companies trust Citrix to deliver apps to PC's and laptops to over 100,000,000 employee's, but traditionally that has not included mobile devices like the iPhone. However since the release of the 1.0 version of Citrix Receiver over 300,000 have downloaded the app and are using it today. Many IT Pro's have been waiting for some specific features to be implemented which are now available in 2.0. Some of these features include 128 Bit HDX/ICA Encryption, 2 Factor Authentication support for RSA ( Tokens and SecureID iPhone app ) and SMS Passcode, plus improved Password control for IT. Other's have been waiting for support to access Virtual Desktops from XenDesktop.
So for those who already support native email the iPhone, you can now provide safe access to IT enabled apps and data hosted on XenApp. You don't need to depend on users to enforce security and your users will be happy with improved features like faster access, multiple account support and improved usability gestures.
For those IT shops that have held off support of the iPhone ( legitimately in many cases ) you now have an option beyond the BES server for controlling email, apps and data even if the company does not own the device ( BYOD ). In a Citrix XenApp or XenDesktop environment the real data never gets sent to or saved on the device, it's for Eye's-Only while the authenticated user is running the app remotely. So many of the 200 BES policies are not relevant to this implementation. If a device is lost or stolen nothing is on it, if an employee leaves the company, IT disables their access with just a click. It's that simple. If you are a Blackberry shop Citrix is also planning release of a Citrix Receiver for Blackberry that will work with or without the BES server. Email clients like Outlook or Notes can run on XenApp servers in the data center and get published to mobile users just like a PC or laptop. The app itself can be easily configured to fit an iPhone screen users get the ability to view AND edit attachments with nothing required on the iPhone besides the Citrix Receiver. So if you have been holding out for a better Enterprise Ready solution before supporting the iPhone, the time may be now to consider the Citrix Receiver. It is a free download in the app store and there is a built-in live demo system to start testing it right away.
In the nine months since the release of the initial iPhone Receiver the app has been downloaded over 300,000 times by users wanting to be productive wherever they are. Many of them also wanted to use the device of their own choice, not necessarily the one provided by IT. We have accumulated significant feedback from users and IT during this time and have managed to implement many of these new features plus a few new innovations as well.The latest release of the Citrix Receiver should be welcomed by users and IT in the enterprise. Here is a short summary;
Self-Serve management
Users can now click on a link from an IT intranet site or email to auto-configure the required settings ( check out the built-in demo for an example )
Personalization
A new Dazzle feature is included allowing users to select favorite apps , and for IT to feature recommended apps.
Improved User Experience
New gestures have been added to improve usability and navigate apps.
Performance
Significant improvement in connection and launch times.
Security enhancements
Support for Secure HDX/ICA 128 bit encryption
Password policy enabling IT to enforce password requirements.
2 Factor Authentication
Integrated support for SMS Passcode authentication allowing Text based One Time Passwords instead of Tokens.
RSA 2 Factor Token or Soft Token authentication ( available in 1.03 )
Multiple Accounts
Users can now access multiple accounts for farms with different credentials and configuration without re-entry.
XenDesktop 4.0 Support
Apps from XenApp or XenDesktop is now supported.
Integrated Demo
The app now has an integrated demo feature with multiple apps for anyone to start right away.
Experimental features
HDX audio can provide access to apps audio such as voice mail attachments.
Icons can now be added on the home screen using the iPhone Configuration Utility.
If you have been waiting for any of these features be sure to download 2.0 from the App Store and check it out. Congrats to the development team and all who contributed. Let us know what you think.
For Tips and Tricks and Forum Support go to http://community.Citrix.com/iPhone
A new Blog Series on Mobilizing your app, Part 1 from Vinny Sosa http://community.citrix.com/x/IIBvBg
Sign up for the demo at http://CitrixCloud.net
For all those early adopter Android users or others pondering the new wave of Android devices to choose from, you can take note that the Citrix Receiver Tech Preview is now available in the Android Market. As good as the iPhone is, plus the other Blackberry, WinMo or Symbian Smartphones are getting, it's becoming more obvious that Android devices will take a significant share of the SmartPhone market going forward. Given the projected success of Android and the great reception of the Receiver for iPhone Receiver, we have now developed the Receiver for Android.
The Tech Preview 0.9 edition is now available in the Android Marketplace ( reachable only with an Android ). This release includes many new features you can expect in the upcoming iPhone 2.0 release including Dazzle capability to select favorite apps and many more. Well done Citrix Labs !
The current limitation with the Tech Preview is (no)support of Citrix Access Gateway, so you will need to test this on a Wireless LAN to get started. We also have support in CitrixCloud.net for Android devices to demonstrate the capability right away.
There is a great community site available with tips and tricks at http://community.citrix.com/android
Andriod users check it out, and let us know what you think.
It was fun to be on stage at the end of summer at the Burton Catalyst conference in San Diego, faced by the somewhat over-emphatic Scott Drummonds of VMware in a debate about performance and benchmarking. In that tussle, Scott tried to justify why VMware's continued resistance to the publication of independent benchmarks on virtualization performance is "reasonable". Basically, VMware reserves the right to prevent publication of any comparative benchmarks between their products and those of VMware competitors, based on the idea that users are incompetent at undertaking benchmarking themselves. Now, I don't want to re-open a can of worms in this context, but I think that it is worthwhile to give credit, as the year draws to a close, to a couple of major achievements in the world of benchmarking during 2009.
The first is a public acknowledgement of the incredible work done by Project Virtual Reality Check, which has developed, and continues to develop an independent, customer focussed benchmarking tool set that is entirely independent of any virtualization vendor, and moreover incredibly useful for identifying bottlenecks in virtual infrastructure that can limit performance. So, hats off to Reuben and Jeroen for developing the industry's most practical and credible virtualization benchmarking suite. The VRC suite is now used at Citrix to ensure that we are meeting performance requirements, and to my way of thinking at least, this means that we can be held accountable to a customer focussed interest - something we strive for but can never succeed at without a reputable independent benchmarking effort.
The second is to point to what may well be a virtualization record for 2009 - the results of the performance testing undertaken by a cloud customer of ours, nicknamed "Project Monterey", that has delivered what I believe to be a record in performance for a service provider cloud offering for system I/O - using Solarflare IOV NICs, switching from Arista, and XenServer. Monterey is no run-of-the-mill cloud. It is a high end, financial services focussed, performance optimized platform for some of the most demanding workloads in the enterprise. Whilst congratulations are in order to the Monterey team, the point that I want to make relates not to the specific technology or market that Monterey targets, but to the publication by a vendor of their own independently conceived, and arguably highly application specific benchmark results - results that no virtualization vendor could ever reproduce or approve with any authority, and that are credible coming only from the cloud vendor promising an SLA to its customers.
My goal here is to recognize that the virtualization industry is maturing, and that in 2009 it has made very significant strides. The arrival of independently credible, expert led, performance focussed benchmarking by a a channel partner and cloud vendor through putting their brand(s) on the line based on their own credible methodologies is a big deal because it means that our customers - clouds or enterprises - who run our products, can be more confident in their own ability to deliver scalable virtual infrastructure as a result, and to stand by them as a performance commitment to their enterprise users in turn. Tools and techniques to advance this cause are of great value to end users. I'd rather have an end user proclaiming the value of XenServer than have to claim it for myself. And in all honesty I'd rather have independent results to point to, than have to deal with uncorroborated assertions from competitors.
So, perhaps this is a good opportunity to reaffirm a commitment from Citrix in the context of virtualization: We are committed to the open publication of virtualization benchmarks. When we fail to meet a commitment, we'd rather see it written up on the front page of the New York Times, than hidden, because then we will be strongly motivated to address customer needs sooner. We are diametrically opposed to any vendor EULA that limits the customer's ability to promote understanding of how best to deploy our software, and what its limitations may be. We also wholeheartedly reject the notion that a competitor will provide useful insights into the good or bad aspects of our products.
Are desktop style mobile interfaces useful for business?
I was browsing the iTunes business apps section the other day. Two of the top ten free apps are remote desktop viewers. I asked a few of my colleagues what they thought about this and got back responses wondering why anybody would care. How often were these apps really used? Were these just cool demos and a gimmick?
I then searched the paid business apps section, and still in the top 100 apps I found several remote desktop viewing apps. So clearly people are buying these type of apps, but it's unclear to me how useful they really are to drive a business. Perhaps they are, would love to hear your thoughts.
How many mobile platforms should you develop for?
Then I turned my attention to the top free apps which at the time of writing this blog are from UPS and FedEx. Makes a lot of sense to me, as it makes it so easy for people to get to the information they need so easily without all the hassle of having to navigate a desktop UI. Certainly, a well thought out strategy at UPS and FedEx to engage with their customers in a whole new way!
Of course they have had to develop a custom application for the iPhone. So that means for every mobile OS, a new version of an application will have to be written. One for Android, Blackberry, Symbian, Windows mobile etc. That also means acquiring or renting the skills to write and maintain these applications. There are of course advantages to doing this but it is at a cost. Additionally, security on hostile consumer owned mobile devices is going to either limit what you can do with data or severely complicate the development and management efforts impacting the TCO.
Think differently to reduce mobile development platform costs
So if you have a number of applications, especially if they are developed in-house, that you want to make available to users on mobile devices, or perhaps you are a software vendor looking to make your applications more accessible in a mobile world, are there other options? Citrix has been investing to enable application delivery from mobile devices. Our iPhone client has been available for several months, our Android client has just been released as a tech preview, check out Adam Jacques blog, and our Blackberry client is coming soon.
My belief is that remote desktop access will look ugly on a mobile form factor and it's a cumbersome user experience once the wow demo factor is over. So why not re-factor your applications for the screen resolution of the mobile device you want to publish on? Not only can you re-factor the screen size, but expose only the functionality you need for the mobile use case. Just like UPS and FedEx make it simple to consume a highly task-orientated function in a format suitable for a small form factor. Why not make a small incremental investment to build a mobile UI for existing Windows applications when you already invest time in building UI's for the desktop applications? The best thing about this is if you build a UI for your app that makes sense for the mobile use case, you can host it on XenApp infrastructure and simply publish with different screen resolutions for the various Mobile form factors and OS's. Your data will be secure centrally and this will have the added benefit of not having to worry about learning or investing in a mobile platform development language or team. Your existing Windows app developers can easily build another UI for the iPhone or other devices.
Examples that show what can be achieved to enable mobile business
Doc Finder is a purpose-built Windows Explorer for small form factors.
App Viewer is a purpose built web browser optimized for screen area usage on small form factors accessing web apps. What I really like about it is that it's just IE rewrapped so a lot of the complexity of building such an app is already taken care of.
At the top of this blog you can see an example of a task based medical application as opposed to a full desktop based app for the same purpose. Other examples can be seen at the CitrixCloud demo. Interested parties can register for an account and see demo apps that we have re-skined for the small form factor. Here are some of my favorite examples.
Xrays for view. Powerful for doctors on the move
App with data in columnar format which is much easier for mobile users to pan and navigate
Secure access to business data on the move
Drive more productivity with your existing apps and XenApp investments
The projected growth of the mobile device market is expected to just skyrocket for years to come. Finding ways to leverage them to securely conduct commerce is a huge opportunity IMO. As mobile devices become even more capable, in effect many of these devices can be considered to be your mobile computer for many tasks. No need to always haul around a laptop or netbook to conduct business. It's especially eye opening for me when I see the proliferation of mobile devices in the emerging markets. During my last visit to India, everybody had a cell phone and the network coverage was better for me than in many parts of the US. There are so many simple apps that could be written in an efficient and secure way to deliver applications for so many new mobile use cases. I listened to an interview with Melinda Gates on a flight last week. She was talking about using mobile devices in Africa to remind people about important health care issues. To do innovative things like send reminders when doctors visits were due to help communities prosper. Simple, yet so powerful.
I think the opportunity to increase customer/user loyalty is enhanced if you empower them. One can even increase the frequency and type of transactions that generate revenue if you can find more opportunities to interact with your customer base anywhere on any device.
We will publish more articles to walk you through how to do this for your own apps
Look out for blogs from Steve Parry and his development team on Receivers for various platforms and keep an eye out for a development series we're planning on best practices for developing and re-factoring existing apps for smaller form factors. Finally, if you're interested in seeing the Receivers in action in your own environment, check out this TechTalk where Vinny Sosa and Pedro Llaguno will be talking about how to configure them.
TechTalk link is https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/794916344
Effective immediately, we are adding a campus-wide option to Citrix's Education Program. With the new campus-wide option, customers in education industry worldwide, including K-12 and higher education, have access to XenDesktop 4 starting at only $9 per year per Full Time Equivalent (FTE) student or staff/faculty. This price includes annual SA (Subscription Advantage - Citrix's software assurance program) that offers customers free software updates along with several other benefits.
Complete information on Citrix's Education program including eligibility and benefits is posted here, including the new campus-wide option.
Desktop Virtualization - The right solution for desktops in Education
Desktop virtualization is an excellent fit for both K-12 and higher education. I have had countless conversations with customers in the education industry who are facing challenges in managing different use case scenarios with desktops with very limited IT resources. Expectations from users (students and faculty) continue to climb - they need be able to access their desktop or applications from any location, any device, anytime. IT staff, on the other hand, is small and not growing at the same pace as the expectations. Desktop virtualization with on-demand desktop and application delivery becomes a perfect fit for these environments.
XenDesktop 4 with FlexCast delivery addresses all the use case scenarios
If you are in education and are looking at desktop virtualization solutions, you are faced with different use case scenarios to support - example labs, classroom workstations with roaming faculty, students bringing their own computers or science students accessing graphics intensive CAD applications. No single virtual desktop delivery technology can necessarily address all these use case scenarios. XenDesktop 4 with FlexCast delivery, is exactly what you need - one centrally managed solution that can deliver different types of virtual desktops to address your needs. You can have one solution to manage your OS, apps and user settings, and deliver different types of desktops to address different use case scenarios - leveraging local streamed desktops for labs, hosted virtual desktops for remote or roaming access and potentially just delivering apps on demand to different devices such as Macs, iPhone, etc. along with self service. Not to forget that the local virtual desktops (coming soon) will also enable the BYOC scenarios extremely well.
You now have two options for XenDesktop 4 - Campus-wide or A-la-carte
Education customers now have two ways to adopt XenDesktop 4:
Campus-wide - At the following price points, customers have access to all the capabilities of XenDesktop 4 in any way they like for campus wide use (adopted for all Full Time Equivalent or FTE). This would mean that they no longer have to worry about user/device/CCU licensing of the product and they can use it without any device/user restrictions.
- XenDesktop 4 Platinum edition - $29/FTE/year
- XenDesktop 4 Enterprise edition - $19/FTE/year
- XenDesktop 4 VDI edition - $ 9/FTE/year
These prices include Citrix Subscription Advantage that offers free software updates and other beneifts.
A-la-Carte - Best for customers starting to use XenDesktop for early evaluation or using XenDesktop for selective use cases. Education customers will continue to get the best discounted prices on all XenDesktop product editions asoffered with the Citrix Education program. This applies to all licenses of XenDesktop - device or user (all Editions) and CCU (VDI Edition).
A-la-Carte offeres customers discounted prices on two types of XenDesktop licenses:
- Annual license - Customers purchase the product for annual use and it includes software assurance and software updates
- Perpetual license - Customers purchase the product for perpetual use and has an option to keep subscription advantage or software assurance
Citrix Education Program offers a solution for all stages of adoption of XenDesktop 4
If you are in education and you are considering desktop virtualization, here are three possible stages that you may be in. This is how Citrix XenDesktop and the Education program can help you:
Scenario #1 - Convinced about adopting desktop virtualization (including multiple types of virtual desktops with FlexCast) - The Campus-wide option gives you the ability to adopt an unlimited use of XenDesktop at the lowest price.
Scenario #2 - Using desktop and application delivery for a targeted use case only (example - lab workstations) - The A-la-carte perpetual licenses gives customers the ability to adopt the right edition and license of XenDesktop. Example - in the case of lab workstations, customers can purchase device based license of XenDesktop.
Scenario #3 - Evaluating desktop virtualization for a small-set of users, and potentially thinking about campus wide overtime - The A-la-carte annual licenses of XenDesktop enable customers to purchase the product for evaluation purposes upfront for the users they need to evaluate it for; and then later expand to campus-wide option.
Your scenario may fall into one of these three or may be slightly different. However, the Citrix Education program with both A-la-carte and Campus-wide option will offer you the flexibility to adopt XenDesktop in any capacity you like.
With over 75M students in the US alone, and heavy interest in desktop virtualization; I expect the education customers to be the ones to adopt desktop virtualization across all their users. Education will be one of the industries that will innovate and break the shackles of traditional desktop management, giving the users (students and faculty) the IT services that they expect and need.
I encourage you to start looking at your scenario and picking the best solution to fit your needs.
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.
There has been a lively discussion going on in the VDI related Blogosphere kicked off here by Dan Feller and Brian Madden here. This issue of whether or not to allow "User Installed apps "exemplifies the dichotomy that IT Pros struggle with architecting a system that meets the business challenges of security, cost, and compliance plus at the same time satisfying the needs of knowledge workers with high demands and expectations.
As VDI expands from task oriented deployments to broader general purpose PC replacement scenarios this issue is likely to gain more attention. Most companies don't condone user installed apps but many do allow users to have administrator rights to their work PC and may look the other way regarding what an individual installs on their own. When it comes time to virtualize everything for VDI however now they need to pay attention. But how big an issues it ?
Dan indicates from an IT best practice standpoint it is better to develop an effective workflow that speeds and automates the IT approval, packaging, and delivery of new apps that individuals need to be productive. Will knowledge workers accept this solution ? As the commenter's indicate, this works for some but not all situations. Brian Madden proposed another alternative, just give the power users a second VM for unique/personal apps. Keep the corporate VM pristine under IT control and let users have their own separate sandbox if warranted. This may be a bit of a brute force solution but would work If the costs are justified. I like it because I do it myself now, although I use lab VM's as a sandbox vs IT delivered VM's. The commenter's however also found issues with this solution due to costs plus compliance issues about what SW/data gets installed into those user VM's. Some offered up BYOC as a solution if users really needed their own environment. There are many 3rd parties looking to enable User Installed apps as well, however even if the technical challenges are solved will IT support/endorse/allow this? Let me put forth another option/proposal, sometimes when I'm on a system thats not mine or a thin client I connect to my home PC via GoToMyPC and keep it running as long as I need it. This gives me access to apps that are not provided by IT, I have all the freedom to install what ever I want and IT doesn't need to deal with infrastructure costs or compliance issues. Yes this assumes that the power user has their own powered on PC and GoToMyPC does not currently have all of the features I might want for this solution, but you get the idea.
Let us know what you situations you face, is it a problem and do you see a solution for it? If you have another idea or comments on the above, please share it.
Two weeks ago, we introduced XenDesktop 4, an exciting new product line that I personally believe will make virtual desktops a mainstream reality for the first time ever.
The initial response to XenDesktop 4 has been overwhelmingly positive. Over the past two weeks, I've had countless conversations with customers, prospects and partners. In the course of these discussions, three themes in particular seem to have struck a real chord:
- Customers of all sizes like the fact that XenDesktop 4 with FlexCast goes well beyond VDI-only products, giving them the flexibility to deliver any type of virtual desktop to any user - from one, centralized solution.
- Including XenApp as a built-in feature makes virtual desktops far more cost effective and gives customers one seamless solution for desktop and application delivery.
- Many customers have commented on the long list of enhancements to our HDX™ technology and can't get wait to get their hands on it to try out, plus test the 90% bandwidth savings in comparison to other solutions.
Amidst all the positive responses, however, it also became clear that we missed a few important things on the licensing and packaging front in our initial announcement. Feedback from numerous surveys and 1:1 conversations found that some customers needed additional flexibility to license virtual desktops based on devices, rather than users. Other customers new to desktop virtualization told us they needed a simple "VDI-only" solution with more flexible licensing to make the transition easier as they ramp up. Finally, we heard from a number of K-12 and university customers who needed a simpler, more cost-effective program customized for the unique needs of the eductional market.
So what do we think about these suggestions? The short answer is "we agree". Your feedback has been invaluable in helping us make sure XenDesktop 4 enables the broadest set of virtual destkop scenarios possible. As a result, we've decided to make three important new enhancements to XenDesktop 4:
- NEW device-based licensing option.
- NEW VDI Edition available in both user/device and CCU licensing
- NEW Campus-wide Licensing Program for customers in the education industry
Flexible licensing based on user or device
Customers in some industries have scenarios where multiple users share the same device. These situations include retail kiosks, warehouses, branch banks, labs, and the like. To help with these situations, we've decided to enhance XenDesktop 4 licensing to offer more flexibility by adding a new device license option - available at the exact same price as the user-based license. This means that users can access their XenDesktop from an unlimited number of devices with the user-based license option, and devices powered by XenDesktop can be used by an unlimited number of users with the device-based license option. As a result, your XenDesktop 4 product license can now be assigned to either a user or a device. Please also note that our user licensing doesn't require you to manage a bunch of named users or specific device lists. We've tried to make it as simple, easy and flexible as possible.
A killer "VDI-only" solution for people getting started with virtual desktops available in user, device or CCU licensing
While most customers were overwhelmingly positive about the power of FlexCast to deliver any type of virtual desktop to any type of user or device, we found many customers were still just testing the waters with VM-based "virtual desktop infrastructure" projects, commonly referred to as VDI. These customers wanted a flexible, VDI-only solution they that could trial in a wide variety of VDI use-cases. Because many were just getting started, they also needed flexible licensing that made it easy to ramp up as they got more familiar with the technology.
In response, we're creating the new XenDesktop 4, VDI Edition available for $95 per user/device, or $195 per concurrent user (CCU). XenDesktop 4, VDI Edition gives customers the ability to deliver best-in-class VDI-based desktops with a true HDX experience, and scale them up with our built-in provisioning services, profile management, and StorageLink™ technology. As with all the XenDesktop editions, the new VDI edition lets customers use any hypervisor, including XenServer or Hyper-V (both of which ship with all XenDesktop editions) as well as VMware ESX or vSphere. I'm confident customers who compare the alternatives will conclude that XenDesktop 4, VDI Edition is hands down the best VDI product on the market, at a far better price than any other competing solution.
Desktop Virtualization in Education is ready to go Campus-Wide
K-12 and university customers told us that they love XenDesktop 4 and want to use its desktop and app virtualization capabilities across a broad diversity of students, faculty, labs, and administrative facilities. They also want the flexibility to deliver either the full Windows desktop, or just some applications to a wide variety of use cases, including enabling access from smart phones, etc.
To address this customer requirement, we're adding the Citrix Campus-wide Licensing Program. This program, available starting November 16th, will offer extremely compelling prices to accredited educational institutions in K-12 and university campuses who adopt XenDesktop 4 for campus-wide use.
Putting it all together
Citrix XenDesktop™ 4, VDI Edition - Best-in-class VDI-only solution available at $95 per user or device, or $195 per CCU
Citrix XenDesktop™ 4, Enterprise Edition - Enterprise-class desktop virtualization solution available at $225 per user or device
Citrix XenDesktop™ 4, Platinum Edition - Best-value comprehensive desktop virtualization solution available at $350 per user or device
Remember, the user-based licenses are available not for per named users but the users as they login to their virtual desktops. You do not have to manage the user lists yourself.
Thanks for making XenDesktop 4 even better
Thanks to all of you who provided all the great feedback over the past couple of weeks. Your input was invaluable in helping us understand the additional use cases we missed the first time around. In short, your input helped make XenDesktop 4 even better, and for that, we are grateful.
As we approach the General Availability date for XenDesktop 4, I'm more excited than ever about the impact this product is going to have on customers of all sizes, across every industry sector. The best part of my job is watching the reaction of customers when they see XenDesktop in action. Even more fun is talking to end users who have discovered the power and flexibility of virtual desktops and would never go back to a traditional installed desktop. That's the power of desktop virtualization. And, XenDesktop 4 makes it real for even a broader set of use cases now!
Congratulations to Simon Crosby for having his blog recognized by Datamation as one of the Top 40 Enterprise Tech Industry Blogs. Datamation annually compiles a list of the top 200 Tech Blogs categorized into multiple categories including our Enterprise software segment. No doubt Simon's technical insight and opinionated positions have put his blog on the short list of many IT pro's and industry watchers.
To Quote Datamation:
" Crosby, CTO of Citrix's Data Center and Cloud Division, is a fierce partisan for the Xen virtualization software. He's also a canny and witty analyst of cloud computing and the larger tech landscape."
Take a look you may find some other interesting Blogs to follow as well.
72 hours after the XenDesktop 4 announcement
In the past 72+ hours after the announcement of XenDesktop 4, I have seen several positive comments written up by esteemed bloggers such as Chris Wolf (Burton Group), Dan Kuznetsky, Brian Madden, Doug Brown, the 451 Group, and more, reinforcing our mission to make desktop virtualization as the solution to the outdated desktop management practices.
In addition, I have personally had several 1:1 conversations with customers and partners and the feedback I have received has been extremely positive. In fact, I was visiting a healthcare customer today and when they heard about XenDesktop 4 - they loved it and when I told them about the Trade-up program, they were excited and wanted to move forward with it ASAP.
Licensing - what? why? hmm!!!
Licensing for XenDesktop 4 has certainly created some discussions in the blogosphere. The user-based licensing in XenDesktop 4 means that customers pick the users they want to deliver virtual desktops or apps to. In addition, it offers the ability to reassign a license from one user to another. For example, in a scenario where an employee quits an organization - the license can be reassigned to another employee. The licensing works perfect for the mainstream use cases where customers are rethinking their desktop management and applying the power of all types of virtual desktops and applications across a range of users. And, the licensing makes even more sense when you implement local VM-based desktops with offline use. In my conversations with the customers and partners, we have found that the licensing works well for majority of customers and prospects.
However, we have also seen comments that user-based licensing does not work for certain use cases, for example - student labs in schools or Universities or shared devices in a healthcare facility. First of all, I want to state that majority of these comments have reinforced that XenDesktop 4 is a solid product that addresses customer requirements, and customers are extremely interested in using the product for their implementations. Citrix's goal is to enable organizations to adopt desktop virtualization and address all enterprise use cases and not restrict usage for any specific use case scenario.
Is Citrix doing something about it?
We have received the customer feedback and we are actively investigating appropriate licensing programs for XenDesktop 4 to address these use cases. We believe that all customers should be able to adopt desktop virtualization enterprise-wide and reshape their desktop computing, and we stay committed on that mission. We are in the process of collecting some more information and we plan to share our solution to address these requirements within 30 days.
How can you help?
Finally, we recently launched a survey to collect more information on how our customers plan to start their desktop virtualization projects with XenDesktop 4. It takes less than 5 minutes to fill it up with mostly multiple choice questions. I encourage everyone to give us your direct input on your use cases. It will help us enhance our product offering overtime and guide us to offer appropriate licensing programs immediately. CLICK HERE TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK
Thank you for interest and support in Citrix and XenDesktop 4. We are open to input so we can serve you with the right products and programs.
Don't forget to attend our online event - we will talk licensing a bit more then!
Time to rethink your desktops
Months of planning, hours/weeks of discussions with customers, listening to the community and years of R&D effort leads to something big - and that right now is XenDesktop 4. Something that unlocks the potential of desktop virtualization that the world has been waiting for. With the new FlexCast delivery and enhanced HDX - now it is easy for anyone to look at desktop virtualization and start building plans to put their traditional desktop computing to rest for ever. Harry lists out why he would consider the change now and Raj talks about how this revolution will play out. Traditional desktop computing has clearly had its day - so long - hope to never see you again!
Looking at the responses within the community and several conversations with customers and partners have me convinced that XenDesktop 4 hits the mark. It offers exactly what customers need to serve different types of users with high def. user experience using one solution.
The only question I get is how do they get to it in the best possible way? What's the right license path to take? Every time I hear this question I think that the most important part of the job is done - getting the right product built for the customers that serves their needs and helps them solve their problems!
Three ways to get to XenDesktop 4
Now - let me walk through some scenarios that you may be faced with - it will help you decide how to pick the right path towards the bright future of desktop virtualization in your organization.
Scenario #1 - Not a Citrix customer today, but evaluating XenDesktop for virtual desktops
This is the most straight forward one. If you are considering desktop virtualization, XenDesktop 4 makes it simple. With FlexCast delivery - you have any type of virtual desktop solution you need, all with HDX user experience. You use it with Hyper-V, XenServer, ESX or vSphere - we will leave it up to you - I am sure you will pick the one that is most cost effective to you! Case closed!
Scenario #2 - Existing XenDesktop 2/3 customers, looking to XenDesktop 4
All XenDesktop customers get entitlements to XenDesktop 4 for no additional charge, as long as you are current on your soft assurance (which you likely will be because we offer 1 full year of SA with the product purchase). Most of you are already using the product based on 1:1 concurrency since virtual desktop means getting a license per user in most cases - Brian summarizes this quite well. So, this means more value for all of you at no additional cost. For example, if you are using XenDesktop 2 or 3 Advanced Edition - you get free entitlement to XenDesktop 4 Enterprise. All of the FlexCast delivery and full power of on-demand apps by XenApp at no additional charge. Wham! Similarly, Platinum Edition customers get the full capabilities of XenApp Platinum as part of XenDesktop 4 Platinum. In few cases I understand that there may be a concurrency delta from 1:1; adding new user based licenses of XenDesktop 4 with all additional capabilities as you expand to a larger number of users can be quite easy to justify with the new pricing and value of XenDesktop 4. Finally, if you are in an industry that has high concurrency ratios - stay tuned - we are working on offering you the right options to address your requirements.
Scenario #3 - All existing XenApp customers
Existing XenApp customers have three options now:
Interested in expanding to desktop virtualization now or in the near future for your XenApp users?
If you are interested in desktop virtualization, you should take advantage of the new Trade-up to XenDesktop 4 Program. This program is unbelievable value for anyone considering desktop virtualization. Here is how it works - you can trade-up all your XenApp licenses that you own for up to 2x the number of XenDesktop 4 licenses. Here is how you calculate savings. This might be enough for you to get your desktop virtualization going. You don't even have to start implementing virtual desktops day 1 - adopt it when you are ready and leverage the power of app virtualization as you get all the capabilities of XenApp with XenDesktop. Don't miss the opportunity - this program is only valid for a limited time.
Interested in XenDesktop 4 for new users that do not use XenApp today?
As part of the Trade-up program that I described, we also offer the flexibility to trade-up selective XenApp licenses and convert them to XenDesktop licenses. This program gives you the ability to use any XenApp licenses that you have own but do not use on a regular basis to deliver apps to your users. In fact, they may not even be current on Software Assurance. This program gives you the ability to leverage your existing investmet with Citrix - both license costs as well as your skill-sets and adopt XenDesktop 4 with lower risk and cost. Again, I encourage you to look at the Trade-up calculator.
Not interested in desktop virtualization?
If you are using XenApp to deliver apps with high concurrency requiements, keep using XenApp the way you are. Citrix is committed on XenApp product roadmap and support. We recently delivered powerful new capabilities in XenApp 5 Feature Pack 2. And, you will continue to see similar innovations in XenApp going forward.
Bottom line
This value with XenDesktop 4 is hard to beat, and time is now to look at desktop virtualization as you adopt your plans for windows 7 migration.
For all XenApp customers, look at the Trade-up program. If it doesn't work for you, no worries - XenApp is still the #1 strategic product with the biggest R&D and you will continue to see some solid product roadmap and support from Citrix.
For XenDesktop customers, most of you will have a solid upgrade with more value at no additional cost. I encourage you to look at the licensing differences as you go through the upgrade to XenDesktop 4.
For new customers, the choice is now easy. If you were thinking of how you can get one solution to serve all your users overtime. The solution is now here - Citrix XenDesktop 4
To learn more and uncover all the secrets, join our live event - Secrets, Lies & VDI