So what are architects at Citrix? Are you guys developers? Or do you design specs? Brian

Hi Brian, The architects represented in this forum are mainly either product architects who are responsible for overseeing the design of specific products or components, or 'global' product development architects with a particular specialization, such as security or usability. Most if not all our product architects were developers at some stage (not necessarily within Citrix) and some still do occasionally write code, but we are not considered developers. Depending on the product or component concerned, a product architect may produce formal design specs but more usually I'd say we oversee the design work carried out by the engineering teams themselves. We also serve as the "voice of realism" for product managers dreaming up new features that may be ever-so-slightly expensive to realize. Some of the architects work in our research group, where they typically oversee the design of embryonic products or technology (the AIE technology now included in CPS and Tarpon, and the IRIS tech demo from a year or so ago are examples). Others are more involved in tracking various standards and technology developments (in grid computing for instance). There are yet more people in Citrix with architect in their job title, mainly in Consulting Services, but that is not the group represented here. Cheers, AndrewI