One of the most common requests from XenServer customers is for a web interface, so that they can manage their VMs from a browser. I'm pleased to say that I've found one!

Citrix Education is hosting the following 1-hour virtual sessions to scope the next generation of XenServer training:

• For Citrix customers: Tuesday, November 17, 1:00pm Eastern/10:00 Pacific
• For Citrix partners: Wednesday, November 18, 1:00pm Eastern/10:00 Pacific

If you would like to participate in one of these sessions, then email me at mark.carter@citrix.com for registration information. In your email, state whether you are a customer or a partner and what level of XenServer experience you have.

Each session is limited to 5 participants, so don't delay!

Also, feel free to email me if you would like to participate in this discussion but cannot attend one of the scheduled sessions. Citrix Education will look to schedule additional sessions depending on interest and availability of participants.

Thank you for your interest, and we look forward to hearing your input.

Xen Cloud Platform (XCP) 0.1 is an effort by several community members to create a complete open source virtual infrastructure solution (Hypervisor + Management Toolstack) as a reference architecture for cloud deployments.
This 0.1 release provides a stable platform on which to build, and to provoke community discussion about the final form that XCP 1.0 should take. Developers, testers, and users are all invited to try the XCP 0.1 solution and help drive the community toward the future release of XCP 1.0.

The base platform proposed contains the following features:

• Latest Xen 3.4.1
• Linux 2.6.27 Kernel
• Windows PV Drivers, Microsoft Certified (Binary Only)
• XAPI Enterprise-class Management Tool Stack
  • VM Lifecycle: Live snapshots, checkpoint, migration
  • Resource Pools: Safe live relocation, auto configuration, DR
  • Host Configuration: Flexible storage management, networking, power management
  • Event Tracking: Progress, notification
  • Secure Communication using SSL
  • Upgrade and Patching Capabilities
  • Real-time Performance Monitoring and Alerting
• Basic SR-IOV Support
• CDROM and Network Host Installer
• Full Featured "xe" CLI and web services API

For more information, please visit these sites:

General Product Info - http://www.xen.org/products/cloudxen.html
XCP Roadmap - http://www.xen.org/products/cloud_roadmap.html
User and Developer Support - http://www.xen.org/products/cloud_support.html
Source and Binary Distributions -http://www.xen.org/products/cloud_source.html
XAPI Toolstack Developer Guide - http://wiki.xensource.com/xenwiki/XAPI_Developer_Guide

All questions on the XCP 0.1 release should be directed to these mailing lists:

XAPI Toolstack Questions -xen-api
Developer Questions - xen-develwith XCP in subject line
User Questions -  xen-userswith XCP in subject line

The Citrix Workflow Studio Evaluation Virtual Appliance (EVA) is now available. This EVA provides you with 30 days to evaluate a pre-configured virtual machine running Windows Server 2008 that has Workflow Studio 2.0 already installed and configured with all activity libraries and the sample workflows from CDN. Download the EVA and review the Getting Started guide .

If you have any questions leave a comment or contact me directly

Award nominations for Citrix

Citrix wanted to let you know that some of our products have been nominated for the SYS-CON Virtualization Reader's Choice Award and the Cloud Computing Readers' Choice Awards. These awards recognize excellence in the virtualization and cloud-based software, solutions or services provided by the industry's top vendors.

We wanted to let community members know about this nomination, since the final award winners will be determined through a public voting process. The voting period for these awards is now open and will end on Oct. 23 .

If you feel inclined to vote for a Citrix product for one of these awards, we would appreciate your support! To vote, please visit the Virtualization Readers' Choice Awards and the Cloud Computing Readers' Choice Awards voting pages. You will need to include your e-mail address and select one product in each category. Then, place your vote by clicking "vote now" on the bottom of the Web page. Award winners will be announced the week of Nov. 2.

Thank you for your consideration!

Don't miss this webcast as our Systems Engineers discuss the new technical features and benefits of XenDesktop 4. Find out why XenDesktop is the most flexible way to centralise and deliver your desktops.

In this webinar you will learn:

• What's new in the latest version of XenDesktop 4
• Best practices for upgrading to the latest release

Click below to learn more:
http://www.citrix.com/English/NE/events/event.asp?eventID=1857244

In this session you will learn about the key improvements in Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, and new license bundles from Microsoft in addition to how Citrix and Microsoft continue to innovate together to further develop and enhance desktop virtualisation.

In this webinar you will learn:

• What's new in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2
• About new virtual desktop licensing bundles from Microsoft
• How Microsoft and Citrix work together to deliver virtual desktops

Click below to learn more:
http://www.citrix.com/English/NE/events/event.asp?eventID=1857900

You are invited to the next meeting of the New York Metro Citrix Users Group.

The User Group provides members with an opportunity to share and learn about common issues and utilization of Citrix® technology. Additional discussions include technology design and infrastructure, enterprise solutions and ideas, trends, and upcoming activities of interest.

Agenda:
4:00 Opening Remarks - Mediator
4:05 Citrix Announcements - Citrix
• Product Updates
• Beta Announcements
• Tech Releases
4:30 Application Virtualization - Streaming
• Citrix
• Symantec
• Microsoft
4:45 Citrix VPX - Citrix
5:15 Open Discussion - ALL
• Feature Requests
6:00 Next Meeting - Agenda Requests

This event will be hosted by Ivan Carrasco, Corporate Network, Depository Trust Clearing Company and supported by Citrix Systems.

Click below to learn more:
http://www.citrix.com/English/NE/events/event.asp?eventID=1857032

You are invited to the next meeting of the New York Metro Citrix Users Group.

The User Group provides members with an opportunity to share and learn about common issues and utilization of Citrix® technology. Additional discussions include technology design and infrastructure, enterprise solutions and ideas, trends, and upcoming activities of interest.

Agenda:
4:00 Opening Remarks - Mediator
4:05 Citrix Announcements - Citrix
• Product Updates
• Beta Announcements
• Tech Releases
4:30 Application Virtualization - Streaming
• Citrix
• Symantec
• Microsoft
4:45 Citrix VPX - Citrix
5:15 Open Discussion - ALL
• Feature Requests
6:00 Next Meeting - Agenda Requests

This event will be hosted by Ivan Carrasco, Corporate Network, Depository Trust Clearing Company and supported by Citrix Systems.

Click below to learn more:
http://www.citrix.com/English/NE/events/event.asp?eventID=1857031

You are invited to the next meeting of the New Jersey Citrix User Group

Twitter: http://twitter.com/nycctxusrgroup

The User Group provides members with an opportunity to share and learn about common issues and utilization of CITRIX technology. Additional discussions include technology design and infrastructure, enterprise solutions and ideas, trends, and upcoming activities of interest.

Agenda

• 9:00AM Opening Remarks - Mediator 9:15AM Citrix Announcements - Citrix Product Updates
• Beta Announcements
• Tech Releases 9:45AM Scheduled Presentation - TBD
• Feature Requests 10:30AM Open Discussion - ALL

Click below to learn more:
http://www.citrix.com/English/NE/events/event.asp?eventID=1858386

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.

Datamation Top Tech Blogs

We are proud to announce that several Citrix virtualization solutions have been nominated for both the SYS-CON Virtualization Reader's Choice Award and the Cloud Computing Readers' Choice Awards. We have been nominated in many categories and we are honored to be nominated for these awards. Citrix XenDesktop and XenServer have been nominated for two awards each. Thus, proving that Citrix has the best-in-class end-to-end solution for the enterprise (but you already knew that).

Casting your vote and voicing your opinion is easy, simply click on the links below and cast your vote for Citrix!

Virtualization Readers' Choice Awards

-Best Application Virtualization - Citrix XenApp
-Best Desktop Virtualization Platforms - Citrix XenDesktop
-Best Device Virtualization - Citrix Receiver
-Best Network Virtualization - Citrix NetScaler
-Best Server Virtualization Platforms - Citrix XenServer
-Best VDI - Virtual Desktop Infrastructure - Citrix XenDesktop
-Best Virtualization Management Tools - Citrix Essentials

Cloud Computing Readers' Choice Awards

-Best Cloud Infrastructure Solution - Citrix XenServer
-Best Cloud Services - Citrix C3 Product Line

About the SYS-CON Virtualization Reader's Choice Award:

SYS-CON Virtualization Readers' Choice Awards and Cloud Computing Readers' Choice Awards recognize excellence in the virtualization and cloud-based software, solutions or services provided by the industry's top vendors. To determine these top vendors and products, SYS-CON is asking readers to vote on nominated products.
The voting period for these awards is now open and will end on Oct. 23. To vote, please visit the Virtualization Readers' Choice Awards and the http://cloudcomputing.sys-con.com/general/rcawardsvote.htm voting pages. You will need to include your e-mail address and select one product in each category. Then, place your vote by clicking "vote now" on the bottom of the Web page. Award winners will be announced the week of Nov. 2.

( Citrix employees our vote --@Citrix.com has already been counted )

Thank you for your support!

Citrix Geek Speak is an event format that allows Citrix, Citrix partners, other IT resellers and customers to exchange their know-how in free discussions following a defined subject around the main subject "Desktop Virtualization".

Date: 11/12/2009
Time: 14.30 CET - 21.00 CET
Location:
Europaplatz 1
CH-6005 Luzern
Switzerland
Hosted by: Citrix Central Europe
Venue: KKL Luzern / Kultur- und Kongresszentrum

Click below to learn more:
http://www.citrix-eventservice.de/geek-speak/termine-und-orte/#2009-11-12

Citrix Geek Speak is an event format that allows Citrix, Citrix partners, other IT resellers and customers to exchange their know-how in free discussions following a defined subject around the main subject "Desktop Virtualization".

Date: 11/2/2009
Time: 14.30 CET - 21.00 CET
Location:
Karlsplatz 13/011
A-1040 Wien
Austria
Hosted by: Citrix Central Europe
Venue: Technische Universität Wien / Hörsaal 6

Click below to learn more:
http://www.citrix-eventservice.de/geek-speak/termine-und-orte/#2009-11-02

Citrix Geek Speak is an event format that allows Citrix, Citrix partners, other IT resellers and customers to exchange their know-how in free discussions following a defined subject around the main subject "Desktop Virtualization".

Date: 10/27/2009
Time: 14.30 CET - 21.00 CET
Location:
Kurfürsten-Anlage 52-60
69115 Heidelberg
Germany
Hosted by: Citrix Central Europe
Venue: Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG / Print Media Academy

Click below to learn more:
http://www.citrix-eventservice.de/geek-speak/termine-und-orte/#2009-10-27

Prepare your calendar for another one of those great meeting of the minds events that brings together the best presenters and attendees for collaboration on all things Citrix. The next bi-annual DocForum event is going to be held on December 5, 2009 at seines highs in Courbevoie, France. I've included information about the event below in both English and French

About DocForum

The meetings at DocForum are non-commercial and all about technologies around Citrix, Terminal Server and SBC in general.
The goal of these meetings is to bring together the best in the French IT sector together to exchange experiences and know-how.
DocForum meetings are held bi-annually in June and December, with free registration.
The next DocForum event is on December 5, 2009

À propos de DocForum

Les DocForum sont des rencontres non commerciales autour des technologies Citrix, Terminal server et SBC en général.
Le but de ces journées est de réunir les meilleurs IT Francais du secteur, pour échanger leurs expériences et leurs savoir-faire.
Nos rencontres sont bi-annuelles, en Juin et Décembre, libre d'inscription.
Prochain DocForum le 5 Décembre

About the Event

The second bi-annual DocForum event registrations are open. As for the first opus, this happen a Saturday, December 5 at Courbevoie in seines highs.

For the second DocForum we will have a true Hall with 40 seats with all the equipment due to this day. This will always be a day without sponsor, so of technical presentations without trade.

Given the number of registered persons, first DocForum that do are not come (unfortunately without warning). We will ask you a symbolic contribution from 5 € per person*. Such participation will be used to validate your subscription, so it is best that you use the same e-mail between PayPal and the form below.

A propos de l'événement

Les inscriptions au deuxième DocForum sont ouvertes. Comme pour le premier opus, cela se passera un samedi, le 5 décembre à Courbevoie dans les hauts de seines.

Pour le deuxième DocForum nous aurons une vraie salle de 40 places, avec tout l'équipement dû à cette journée. Ce sera toujours une journée sans Sponsor, donc que des présentations techniques sans commerce.

Vu le nombre de personnes inscrites, au premier DocForum, qui ne sont pas venu (malheureusement sans prévenir). Nous allons vous demander une participation symbolique de 5€ par personne*. Cette participation servira à valider votre inscription, il est donc préférable que vous utilisiez la même adresse email entre Paypal et le formulaire ci-dessous.

For more information about the event click below:
http://www.docforum.fr/

T-Mobile and Microsoft announced that a Microsoft subsidiary had suffered a "data-service disruption" that wiped out all Sidekick users' contacts, calendar entries, to-do lists, and photos. In the joint statement, Microsoft/Danger and T-Mobile said its teams were working "around the clock in hopes of discovering some way to recover this information." However, it noted that the likelihood of doing so "is extremely low." - From NewsFactor.com (Oct 12, 2009)

Google Search and Google News performance slowed to a crawl, while an outage seemed to spread from Gmail to Google Maps and Google Reader. From ComputerWorld (May 4, 2009)

It's hard to believe in this day and age that we should hear of data recovery being an issue, isn't it?  Even the government has explicit input into this worrisome problem.  Yet in the past six months we've seen two major Cloud Computing corporate faux pas.  More correctly, here we are talking about Business Continuity or drilling down one level, Workforce Continuity. 

One of my colleagues, who shall remain nameless, was aghast with these news releases and asked if it would negatively affect the push we are seeing in industry toward consumption based delivery of IT services.  Specifically, if Citrix technology was associated with one such disaster as a part of the Citrix Service Provider program, would we end up with a "black eye" and thus a negative brand implication?

Ironically, when I was working on our CSP TCO/ROI calculator, the question came up about Disaster Recovery and whether or not service providers offer it as a part of their subscription/hosting business.

The next logical question is 'Do service providers also provide some form of disaster recovery for themselves?'  It's one thing to back up data for the end customer, but what if the service providers' whole farm goes down?  Well... this is really a great question, but as we've seen from the recent press, it may be a matter of big fish vs. small fish.  For example, smaller hosting/service providers can and do back up their data using larger enterprises such as Amazon's S3. Why?  The costs are relatively low and the processes relatively easy to use. 

Also, because storage arrays are relatively inexpensive and technologies such automated failover are available, many smaller scale service providers opt to use their own backup and recovery systems on premise.

So one might ask, what about the big guys (Google, Amazon, Microsoft)?  Who provides their data recovery systems?  Well... based on the performance recorded in the press over the past few months, that appears to be a very good question.  There are speculations that because large Cloud Compute companies use (very) low cost equipment (servers and storage arrays) that duplicating real-time data for instantaneous recovery is just a part of their operations.  But is it really?

One of the challenges with scale is that you have to have enough compute power and storage to not only service the masses, but to provide continuity (and backup) in the event of a catastrophic failure.  Will negative press such as that from Google and Microsoft's "Danger" (what a name for a DR company!) keep businesses from using service providers for their mission critical data?  Anecdotally I've got to say no... at least at the SMB level because the data shows an increase in off premise IT services.  But maybe Google and Microsoft need to take a closer look at how they handle these types of services, especially for the large enterprises.

I've got a question for you. When was the last time you actually tested your Business Continuity system?  I mean, really tested a failure to see if your processes meet your users' expectations?  Don't get caught in the news answering the question like these guys did!

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.     
 

I just returned home from attending this year's CUGtech Autumn 2009 event in Geilo, Norway hosted by Citrix User Group Norway. It was my first time attending this event, and even with hearing all the great things about this event, I don't think I was even remotely prepared to experience at how truly impressive of an event our friends in Norway put together.

One has to keep in mind that this is a Citrix User Group run event, but this is no ordinary users group, they are at the top their game in every respect. Yes they hold regular users group meetings in the traditional sense of what one would expect to be a users group, but they also hold bi-annual CUGtech events, which one could say are on par with or one could say even compete with some of the other corporate run industry events. I think that it is great to see a users group evolve from being a local community to become a global community that attracts people from all over the world.
To get a better understanding of why I was really impressed by this event and Citrix User Group Norway, I guess I have to start off with talking about what they put into the making of this event happen from the planning to the execution.

We all need an identity and or something to represent. Having a logo is a good start, and I've got to say that Citrix User Group Norway has got to have one the snazziest logo's yet for a users group. Being one who loves visuals I think that a visual identity is very important aspect of any group or organization.

They have also taken this identity and applied it to documentation, banners, singage, and swag for the event, like any major industry would do.

But where would we be if everything was just dressing, we need a little substance to that eye candy right. Well, it was very interesting to see how much substance there was at this event. The planners of this event like so many others these days have also had to come to terms with the fact that we can no longer have a single track event. There are just so many products and technologies to talk about, and not to mention the focus, such as being technical or operational in perspective, that it is not possible to hold an event these days without running dual tracks to cover it all. If you have ever had the pleasure of trying to organize any type of event you can certainly appreciate all the planning of that goes into making a schedule like this.

CUG Agenda

Choosing where to hold an event is always an interesting challenge. One has to try and choose a location that is something more than a place to hold and event, as we all want a venue that has a little something more to offer than just a conference hall, or is a place that is easy to travel to while keeping cost to a minimum. I think that at first glance some people, and I could be wrong about this, would view traveling into the mountains of Norway as not being the easy part to travel to. But you have to remember that this is Europe, and they have the whole train thing down very well. The event was held in Geilo, Norway which is one the major Ski resort areas in Norway, and is only about a three hour train ride from Oslo.

For me the train ride was part of the whole event, as we traveled there with many of the attendees of the event, and it gave all of us an opportunity to get know each other a little better, Oh and did I mention there was bar on this train.

Usually most events are held in places rich in night life, but don't let the location fool you, as I soon learned that this played into the events favor, as it didn't suffer from the usual disbursement of attendees being side-tracked to other attractions. If you take a look at the schedule you notice that this event goes very far into making sure it is a great time for all, the actual schedule for the first day's events go from 8:00 AM until 2:00AM, and let me tell you what a day that was, the first word that come to mind is WOW! The event planners really outdid themselves, as we went from a day of sessions to having a grand dinner together, to having a Ski party where everyone dressed up in the favorite Ski gear, to having a Geek Speak session at 1AM. They even had a kicking band playing for pretty much the entire night, to along with the pinball machines, and arcade skiing machines.

The Citrix User Group Norway would not be possible if weren't for the dedication of its members, leaders, and sponsors that over the years have grown this community to where it is today.
I would like to thank Kenneth Beck, Bjørn Uddal, and all of the many great people from Citrix User Group Norway for putting together such a great event. It was great to be a part of it all, and to meet so many people who are truly passionate about Citrix Technologies.

I would also like to thank the many sponsors that have also given their support like Atea, Commaxx, Logica, RES Software, and Steria.

Well its time to catch a plane, but I hope I have given you enough of a slice of what CUGtech is all about, and if you ever get the opportunity to attend one, I wouldn't hesitate on doing so.

There is an $8 Billion market opportunity for hosting Windows applications, but if you don't have the right marketing approach, you'll be sitting on the sidelines.  Our partners, who are both Microsoft SPLA (Service Provider License Agreement) and CSPs (Citrix Service Providers) have been screaming for more marketing insight, so here it is!
I wrote a blog back in August about Marketing IT Services and this blog speaks specifically to Step 2 - "Know Thy Customer" and Step 3 - "Know Thy Marketing Approach".  For Step 1 "Know Thy Product and Value" we are running a separate webinar that you can sign up for by hitting the links listed here...

Date: Wednesday, October 28, 2009*

Time 9:00-10:00 AM EDT

Time 2:00-3:00 PM EDT

Time 9:00-10:00 PM EDT

*If you can't make any of these times, you can register afterwards for the recorded session.

Under the "Know Thy Customer" heading, you've got to pick a way to get to them after you've figured out your product offering.  One of the most cost effective approaches today in this market is through your website.  Most service providers know this but don't spend the right resource emphasis to make it a reality.  Look, 1990s marketing approaches won't work in this space and your (potential) customers are searching for ways to do business the same way they are doing all of their other research, via the web.  So if you don't have the right content, or tools to monitor your sales approach, you will be stuck going door-to-door, which is the recipe for long sales cycles in a volume subscription market... not what you want!

The first question you need to ask is, "Is my site effective?" To know this you'll have to employ some kind of web analytics to get the information required to determine the effectiveness of your online campaigns and lead generation.  If you want to do this on the cheap, Google has a free tool you can pick up that will show you things like "bounce rate" (people who leave your site from the top page).

The second question you should ask is, "How do I get visitors to immediately sign up for my service?"  One way to do this is to provide them with an interactive tool where they can see for themselves the benefits you provide over their existing model.  The CSP Marketing Team has created a great TCO/ROI tool that you can repurpose and rebrand for your site.  Another way to do this is by allowing customers to trial the service without having to pay right up front.  One way to accomplish this is to sign up with a billing clearinghouse/broker who will allow you to encourage "impulse buying" by your prospective customers.  According to one company, "customers who use the service spend 75% more per transaction than a website's typical buyer".

Now that you've got a way to get knowledgeable about your customer and a way to allow he or she to access your services more easily let's talk about the "Know Thy Marketing Approach" for a minute.

It may seem infantile in this age of high tech, highly graphical marketing, but online selling gimmicks such as Avatars are very effective.  There are companies who specialize in this marketing approach and can set you up with the tools to rapidly put these animated sales people to work for you.  Buy the way, according to some experts, among virtual sales reps, female avatars produce twice as many sales as males.

You should also offer "Amazon.com-style recommendations".  This may seem like expensive proposition again, but there are companies that specialize in setting up the tools for you and you'll know in just a couple of months whether or not this is worthwhile for you.  One company who issues this software claims you'll see an average increase in sales of 20%.

Lastly, use Email advertising.  Hear what I am saying...DON'T SPAM your customers.  Rather once you have your analytics from the tools you incorporate, ask for potential customers to "opt in" to messaging from your company.  You have to be careful with this approach and be very targeted with your email ads.  I subscribe to five different services for marketing research and I can tell you that I'm fed up with all but one of them because they send me information that has nothing to do with my work... and so they have now been either discontinued or sent to my SPAM mail box.  If you do this correctly, you could see up to 35% conversion rates on the ads you send.... if you do it incorrectly you'll not get another chance with that same customer.

Follow these steps and I can assure you that you will do better than just throwing a web site together and hoping for the best.  By the way, if one of your senior people isn't personally running your electronic marketing, then you might as well just stop doing it.  Research shows that there is a direct proportion of sales (or lack thereof) to the quality of the team supporting the content.

Note: I need to credit INC magazine for some of the content here.  They had a great article in their February 2008 edition if you're interested.