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As you can probably imagine, life in a fast-paced technology company like Citrix can be a little hectic, especially around product launch time and around events like Citrix Synergy. Now picture this...
I'm at Citrix Synergy watching the keynote and all of a sudden I start getting e-mails from Citrites in the audience and back at headquarters who are looking for more information on connecting back to headquarters using our shiny new Citrix Receiver for iPhone. Now, I know that I posted a short document on the step by step process for doing this in our environment. The problem is that the document was missing a critical piece in it (my fault) and I needed to update it immediately. The show was at the MGM Grand (a huge sprawling hotel in Las Vegas) and my room was pretty far away so it would have taken me 15 minutes to get to my room, 10 minutes to update the doc, and another 15 minutes to get back. I would have missed 40 minutes of the keynote. I had no connectivity from the keynote area except using 3G with my iPhone. What better time to put our new stuff to the test.
So... I logged into our Access Gateway via the Receiver for iPhone and used my domain credentials and RSA token to login and get a list of my apps. I tap Doc Finder, open my instruction doc and edit it using a full version of Microsoft Office. No big deal... just had to add a couple of lines of text. I save it off and then go back to my app list and open Internet Explorer. From there, I visit my Sharepoint site and upload the document. I even manage to make a couple of updates to the web page where it's posted before I sign off and 'reply to all' that the solution has been posted and problem fixed.
It took me 15 minutes to do it and I didn't miss a single second of opening keynote at Synergy. Sure... you could argue that I needed the exercise and should have walked back to my room but the opening keynote speaker was amazing and I'm happy I didn't go. The Receiver for iPhone allowed me to get my job done in a pinch to keep other employees productive. Now that's value you can take to the bank.
What was my experience like? I imagine there were lots of folks using the Receiver from the keynote over 3G and I was experiencing some sluggish performance but not enough to make the experience unusable. I think we still have a little bit of work to do on click/tap accuracy because there were a couple of times where I had trouble positioning the cursor (it could have also been Sharepoint. On memory, I can't remember where to place the blame 
). It took a little bit of practice but I got the hang of it. Thank goodness for Pan and Zoom and copy and paste on the keyboard. The Save button also afforded me a little extra time too. All in all, it worked quite well in the pinch I was in. This is exactly what the Receiver for iPhone was created for.
Now if only Apple would create a cradle that could turn my iPhone into a thin client. That would be awesome!
Learn more at [http://citrix.com/iphone].
Comments (3)
May 11, 2009
Anonymous says:
My problems isn't with your story or with the use case. The problem I (and...My problems isn't with your story or with the use case. The problem I (and other had) is with the 3G service. I'm not sure how useful the App Receiver for the iPhone can be if the Service provide (AT&T) cannot deliver proper service. I've had my iPhone lockup twice, many many Call Errors, and many tweets failed. All because of the horrible 3G service, especially in the Arena. I'm glad you were able to get your job done.
May 11, 2009
Vinny Sosa says:
I definitely see your point. If there was wifi in the arena though, I would have...I definitely see your point. If there was wifi in the arena though, I would have pulled out my laptop. The only reason I put up with the 3G service in that area was because it was the only option short of walking back to my room. I agree with you though... I wish my cell connection was more reliable. I found that it was unreliable throughout the hotel in general. This is the first time I've actually experienced unreliable 3G. I've heard stories but don't experience it back home in Fort Lauderdale either. Thanks for the comment though!
May 13, 2009
Anonymous says:
Was the wireless service/access at Synergy as bad as it was in previous years?&n...Was the wireless service/access at Synergy as bad as it was in previous years? ie. practically unusable, insufficent bandwidth.
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