Citrix Receiver for iPad is off to a great start with over 15,000 downloads in the first 5 days since the iPad release.  This has earned Receiver the # 3 top spot in the free business apps category in the App Store right along side # 4 GoToMeeting.
 
Early feedback has been extremely positive from both users and IT Pro’s gearing up to support the onslaught of iPads showing up at work.  
 
You may notice in the reviews the written ones are very positive and the number of 5 star ratings is outstanding for Citrix Receiver. We love the encouragement so keep it coming. There are a number of 1 star reviews that do cause concern. I believe these are the result of users not talking to IT and just trying to get access to their work apps like they do from their home PC or work laptop. If you are lucky this may work but it depends on how your XenApp, XenDesktop and Web Interface are configured. If it doesn’t work many users blame the app and are very disappointed that they have this great new device but they cant put it to work.
 
If you normally log in to Citrix apps from a web page ( Web Interface ) you may also be attempting that from the safari browser on the iPad. You will even see the list of applications you normally get. The problem is this will not work. The iPad OS limitations prevent Safari from running at the same time as Citrix Receiver. The correct thing to do is ask your IT department for the proper server address and security settings to enter in the Workspace account fields. IT may also need to make configuration adjustments to the XenApp/XenDesktop and Access Gateway to enable this type of access. We have provided a site at http://community.citrix.com for both users and Admins with tips and videos. Your IT team may also consider attending CitrixSynergy for first hand direction and advise to learn how to enable the iPad for your business.
So please do talk to IT about your iPad, they already know Citrix is the safe way to provide access to the apps you need and protect the business data at the same time. We want all 5 Star happy users .

http://twitter.com/chrisfleck

User Demands and IT Requirements Growing Further Apart
It seems to me that what people want from IT and what IT is able to provide them is getting further and further apart.  People want fast, easy access to their Windows desktop and business apps from any device.

They don’t particularly care about security, networking or infrastructure costs.  They just want to get their jobs done efficiently and conveniently from wherever they are, whether they’re in the office, waiting on their car to be serviced, or sailing the high seas on a family cruise.  And oh, yeah…they want to be able to do all of this from whatever device they want, whether it is a PC, a Mac, a Smartphone, or even a tablet like Apple’s new iPad.

Devices, Devices, Devices, Oh My!

Unfortunately, while the world at large is being bombarded by a never-ending array of new, cool consumer devices like the iPad, most IT shops are being asked to lock down access to corporate data and to reduce costs. 

In a world of constant change, IT needs to be able to assure the safety of corporate information and minimize complexity.  In short, IT needs secure, reliable infrastructure for delivering Windows desktops and apps, not thousands of new devices to support, a bigger attack surface for hackers, and higher costs.

IT Has Won the Battle but Not the War

Over the years, IT has traditionally won out in this battle of corporate decision making.  As a result, most of us lowly users have had to suffer with standard issue corporate PCs (read slow and boring!) and limited access to IT services from anywhere outside of the corporate firewall.  Simply put, we’ve been forced to accept a poor experience for the sake of security and cost.  About now, many of you in IT might be saying, “You’re darn right, security and cost trump user satisfaction every time.”

There’s a New Kid in Town


Well look out Mr. IT!  There is a big wave heading right for your cubicle and its name is consumerization.  You see, a new generation of workers (Echo Boomers born between 1984-1996) is entering the workforce in droves (80 million in the US alone) and they are bringing with them a vast array of consumer devices – from netbooks to iPhones, iPads, Kindles and even internet-enabled TVs.

And guess what?  They expect, no scratch that, they demand to connect all of these devices to your precious corporate network.  This is a bold new generation – they want to do their jobs from anywhere, at any time, using any device and guess what?  They are willing to plead their case to a higher authority – the executives in your company that want the exact same thing.

So what is any self-respecting IT leader to do?  This new world could mean total anarchy!  What about the protection of intellectual property?  What about cost reductions?

A Bold and Fresh Idea

Well, as you may have guessed by now, we think we have a pretty revolutionary idea over here at Citrix.  What if you could build one delivery infrastructure for Windows desktops, business apps and online meetings that would empower people to use any device they want, keep all of your information in the data-center and lower costs.  Stated another way, what if you could get “Windows Apps and Desktops to Go” and “Online Meetings to Go”, even if you’re using Macs, Android smart-phones, or other non-Windows devices? Good news…now you can with Citrix Receiver and Citrix GoToMeeting.

Say Hello to Citrix Receiver

Citrix Receiver is a universal client for the delivery of IT services. 
It provides everything you need to run Windows desktops and apps from any device, keeps your apps current, and even speeds up your connection.  In short, Citrix Receiver is a lightweight software client that makes accessing virtual desktops and applications as easy as turning on your TV.

Connect from Any Device, Anywhere

One of the best things about Citrix Receiver is that it runs on every conceivable type of device, including PCs, Macs, Windows Mobile, Android and Apple smart-phones.  It supports automatic updates so if you apply a patch it is instantly available to every user whether they’re connecting from a work PC, a net-book in their kitchen, or an iPhone at an airport.  All you need on the back-end is Citrix XenDesktop or XenApp- virtual computing infrastructure products already in use by 99% of the Fortune 500.  

The iPad is Now Open for Business


Millions of iPads have now begun begun shipping all over the globe. Citrix is proud to announce two new iPad apps designed to transform Apple’s tablet into the ultimate device for mobile business.  Check out the announcement video here.  The new Citrix Receiver for iPad apps makes it easy for iPad owners to take their virtual office with them anywhere.  One simple touch gives iPad owners secure access to all of their corporate Windows apps and documents.

The Citrix GoToMeeting app for the iPad app brings the same level of simplicity to the world of business meetings, making it easy for iPad owners to collaborate from anywhere via online meetings.  Both apps will be available free of charge and can be downloaded from the Apple App Store beginning tomorrow.

Rather than just taking my word for it, I suggest you try it for yourself by checking out the video demo at citrix.com/iPad and our live cloud-based demo.  With Citrix technology you can even learn to use your iPhone as a virtual track-pad for your iPad.  You can also find out more by visiting our community site for the iPad with expert commentary from Citrix Desktop CTO Harry Labana and resident Apple guru Gus Pinto.  Best of all,  I’d like to extend an invitation to everyone interested in learning more about all things Citrix at our annual industry event called Synergy.  At Synergy, Citrix Receiver and GoToMeeting for iPad will be on full display.  You can also attend hands-on learning labs about the state of the art in virtual computing and hear from industry thought leaders.

Consumerization – Is it Real for You Yet?

OK enough of the commercial on our way cool new apps and events.  I’d really love to hear what you think about the impact of consumerization on your organization.  What role do you think the iPad will play in that transformation and what role do you think Citrix can play?

In case you haven’t noticed, the diversity of mobile computing devices continues to grow with no signs of slowing down. From netbooks to smartphones, and everything in between, consumers have a dizzying range of choices, many of which have captured their imagination in ways that old school corporate computing devices could never do. And this explosion of devices took a step function leap forward this past weekend with the release of the Apple iPad.

Having spent most of my career in IT, I see tremendous new opportunities in trends like these. The simple truth is that if employees like the devices they’re using, and they take those devices with them wherever they go, they will be more productive (work longer hours) and be happier doing it because they’re not stuck in a gray cubicle, staring out the window and wishing they could go home.

At the same time, this level of personal mobility can be terrifying for IT from a security perspective. If we thought it was difficult to control the confidential company data floating around on corporate laptops, what happens when people want to start using all of these exciting new personal devices for work tasks? We can always issue new policies and controls trying to prevent employees from using such devices, but that’s rapidly becoming a fool’s errand. The horse is already out of the barn. If IT leaders don’t figure out how to support employees on devices like this in a secure way, they will simply start going around us… which is 10x worse.

Here at Citrix, we’ve been working hard to help solve this kind of problem in ways that are a win for both employees and IT leaders…extending our virtual computing solutions to a wide range of mobile devices, including netbooks, Macs, iPhones, Blackberries, Androids and Windows Mobile devices. This past weekend, we extended that to the new Apple iPad with two exciting new iPad apps. The new Citrix Receiver for iPad makes it easy for iPad owners to take their virtual office with them anywhere they go by providing secure, one-touch access to all of their Windows business applications and documents. The Citrix GoToMeeting for iPad brings the same level of simplicity to the world of business meetings, making it easy for iPad owners to collaborate from anywhere via online meetings that are both effortless and visually stunning.

In my mind, these new announcements continue to evolve our Bring Your Own Computer (BYOC) offerings. Typically when people talk about Citrix and BYOC, the conversation centers around our upcoming XenClient Type 1 bare-metal client hypervisor installed on a laptop. Certainly XenClient will offer an incredible new level of choice for work and personal environments on a single machine, (you’ll be hearing a lot more about XenClient at Citrix Synergy 2010 in San Francisco next month, BTW… very exciting stuff that’s going to blow a lot of people away, but I’m sworn to secrecy for the moment). However, just like Citrix does not believe that VDI alone covers all desktop virtualization scenarios, we also don’t believe that client hypervisors alone represent all BYOC use cases.

For me, using a lightweight software “receiver” on these client devices, while running the main apps, documents and desktops securely in the datacenter, makes a lot of sense when one starts to consider the capabilities and use cases of these mobile devices. Consider low cost netbooks as an example. They are low cost primarily because they are low powered… in effect, a really cheap laptop designed mainly to access things on the web. Using any kind of client-side hypervisor on devices like this… type-1 or type-2… simply doesn’t make sense. Even a slick new device like the iPad isn’t nearly powerful enough to run high-end Windows business applications, especially ones that require 3D graphics, financial modeling or data analysis.

For over 20 years, Citrix has been solving this kind of problem for traditional PCs and thin clients with our XenApp product line. More than 230,000 organizations worldwide have standardized on XenApp, and are using it to deliver an estimated 25 million Windows applications to more than 100 million end users every day. We’ve recently extended that leadership into the broader desktop virtualization space with our market-leading XenDesktop, delivering all flavors of virtual desktops from a single system with our FlexCast™ delivery technology. Both of these products allow customers to deliver Windows desktops and apps securely from the datacenter with a high quality user experience over any network, thanks to our high-definition HDX™ technology.

With the addition of Citrix Receiver, we can now light up millions of mobile devices… including the new iPad… transforming them into powerful business tools… all with virtually no additional support needed from IT… and with the security of knowing that the apps, documents and data never leave the datacenter. Simply delivering these services over an HDX connection without thinking about the complete user experience, however, is still likely to result in dissatisfied end users. To truly enable “work from anywhere” on such a diverse range of mobile devices, we also had to consider how users would interact with the applications, documents and desktops on each unique type of device. I blogged recently about how remote native Windows applications could be re-skinned to enable some of these use cases and also provide IT the ability to retain their security posture and enhance their service offerings for business users.

The new Citrix Receiver for iPad is a great example of this kind of attention to detail. User experience is something that Apple has understood for years. The iPad is getting rave reviews because it was clearly designed to be better than a smartphone and laptop at certain functions, and not a just a compromise of an existing form factor. To light up the iPad for business, we knew we had to think the same way. Our goal was to transform the iPad from a great personal mobile device into a great business mobile device. We knew that simply opening up a secure tunnel to hosted Windows apps or desktops wasn’t going to cut it. We had to do something truly worthy of the iPad… the kind of solution that would excite iPad owners by really taking full advantage of the unique attributes of the device itself.

When you try out Receiver for the iPad, the first thing you’ll notice is that it provides a great looking personal workspace with a slick, intuitive way to organize apps and documents. We also tried to take advantage of the touch interface to enable simple navigation so users can complete tasks efficiently and naturally, whether they’re working with native iPad apps, or their Windows business apps and documents.

• We’ve even created a something we call the “Wireless Trackpad” which allows you to use your iPhone as a mouse for the iPad.
• “Auto-Fit” detects the orientation of your device and automatically adjusts the session resolution.
• We’ve simplified gestures to make it easier to interact with Windows applications on the iPad.
• User self-service access to IT managed resources is also provided, as well as the flexibility to connect to your full Windows desktop, if desired (if you don’t have an iPad yet, check out our online video tour ).

I personally think the iPad will predominately be a content viewing and editing device, not a full replacement for a content creation device like a Windows or Mac laptop, but this will still lend itself to some really cool use cases such as secure health care record viewing, more accurate and secure entry of content such as patient prescriptions, sales presentations, field services, etc. Chris Fleck posted a great blog on this (“Top 10 Business Uses for the iPad “).

Another key aspect of declaring the iPad “open for business” is the work we’re doing to enable online business meetings. I’m very excited by the addition of the GoToMeeting app we’ve designed specifically for the iPad. I’ve used GoToMeeting for many years, and now that I am at Citrix and more mobile than ever, it’s become an essential part of my work life. When I work from home, I hate having to fire up my laptop just to use GoToMeeting. Now I can grab an iPad, tap on the meeting invite, and I’m in. It’s easy. It looks great. And I’m free to walk around while connected to the meeting. I’m highly unlikely to do that with my laptop or netbook device. Even when I am in the office, I often find myself ducking into a conference room just to setup a laptop and connect to a GoToMeeting. I’d much rather just carry my iPad to the meeting and take it wherever I go. It truly delivers on the promise of “meetings to go” in a way that’s far more profound than I think most people realize. I’m also looking forward to using the same device to read my books when I fly so I can stop carrying the physical books to lighten my load.

While the iPad may not be for everyone, it’s already created a lot of fans over here at Citrix… including me. In addition to all the value I can get with Citrix Receiver and GoToMeeting for my business life, there are armies of smart and creative people around the world building native iPad apps to enable me to do so much more from a single device, on a form factor that I find delightful. I’m also very pleased to see Apple start to add native enterprise security features. I can now bring my own device and use it to be more productive and have the flexibility to be me. I believe the very notion of what a desktop is, will continue to change over the next decade with this type of innovation. Others out there are also thinking this way in terms of the user experience. As this evolution continues, Citrix is well positioned to help IT bridge the gap between traditional enterprise computing and the unstoppable market forces of consumerization. BYOC shouldn’t be limited to a single device type or technology, and the IT organizations who recognize this early are the ones who will end up with more successful, productive and happy employees.

Best Practices, Tools, Techniques

In part one of this series, I illuminated a few of the challenges to instructors and students in the online learning environment and related a somewhat embarrassing story of my own experience teaching online for the first time. In part three, we’ll look at some additional technologies being used in the online classroom today and discuss some important considerations for their use. But here, in part two, I want to simply provide a list of tips, best practices, and techniques for delivery of training content in an online setting. I save the technology section for the final part because it is secondary to what we’re discussing here, in part two. No amount of technology will make you a better instructor. What matters most are your instructional and interpersonal skills and how you adapt them to an online environment…

Many of you that may have professional coaching will recognize much of what follows as just simple teaching techniques. So for you experienced presenters/instructors, this may be a reinforcement of what you already know. But if you are just beginning to deliver presentations or actual online classes, I strongly encourage you to study what you see here, seek the advice of experienced instructors, and above all, practice.

Now, let’s begin…

Set your goals – then create your content

When developing content for online delivery, determine what information is most critical – and what information is less critical. Then spend your development time accordingly. Knowing your audience is critical to knowing how much detail is required. Don’t spend 2 minutes on a critical topic followed by 20 minutes of information that is self explanatory. Do not plan for the same timing as a traditional classroom presentation either, but instead plan for no more than 45 minutes of lecture at a time. The remaining 15 minutes of each hour should be budgeted for breaks, Q&A, polls, or quizzes.

Set expectations

When announcing the event to potential students, make sure you clearly explain what topics are covered and what (if any) the prerequisites are for attending. Consider a list of questions to ask, or a short quiz to assess a student’s required knowledge. Of course this must be done tactfully. But don’t do the student or the instructor a disservice by putting a student in a class he or she is not ready for.
Once students are registered for an online class, make sure they know what is required of them. As the course date approaches, send them at least two email notifications detailing the course content and any requirements of their computer equipment. If there are requirements for bandwidth, software, or hardware (such as headphones and microphones), make sure you provide ample time for them to verify they meet these requirements and will be able to connect to the online environment. Consider creating a test environment for students to connect to for the purpose of verifying their equipment – such as audio input/output, video, browser plug-ins, etc. This should minimize the chances of having to waste time by troubleshooting student connections at the start of each course.

Know your tools

If you are the instructor, make sure you are familiar with the applications you’ll be using. Practice with another person and make sure you know how to use the full feature set of the applications employed during the session. For instance; know how to mute yourself and other participants, show or hide your screen, transfer keyboard and mouse control, etc.
Consider using more than one computer so that you can view notes on a ‘private screen’. You might also consider joining the online session from both computers so you can more seamlessly switch between presentations, demos, or white boards. Just transfer control between you primary and secondary computers.
It is absolutely critical that you do a dry run of the course and try to closely simulate the conditions of the actual class and network/ Internet bandwidth available to your audience.

Remove distractions

If the instructor is displaying his or her screen to the students, close any programs that can produce distractions, such as email notifications or instant messaging. Consider creating a clean uncluttered account profile on the instructor’s computer for use during presentations.

Know your audience

It’s traditional and expected that the beginning of a classroom session include introductions of some type. This is helpful for the students to get to know the instructor, the fellow students, and generally get a little more comfortable in unfamiliar surroundings. It’s also a valuable opportunity for the instructor to assess the student’s expectations, possible learning style, and establish some level of rapport.
Surprisingly, this valuable opportunity is often neglected in an online setting. But it is even more important in a remote training session. If you are the courseware developer, don’t forget to include an introductions slide. If you are the instructor, this is your opportunity to set a very important precedent – that student participation is welcome and expected. If you don’t allow people this opportunity at the start of the class, they’ll be more likely to not participate later on. At a minimum, collect the following information (and write it down for reference):

• What is your name? – The name they registered with is often different.
• How would you like to be addressed? – Don’t assume it’s ok to call someone by their first name.
• What is your job function? – Don’t assume everyone has a technical or non-technical role.
• Do you have any specific expectations for the course? – This gives you the chance to tailor your presentation.
• What time zone are you in? – Where appropriate, this may be helpful to know regarding lunch breaks.

Also take some time to explain the basic functions of the classroom interface, such as muting controls.

Move it along

Don’t bore the students. If using a slide deck, plan on spending less than one minute on each slide (on average). Some slides may take less time – some may take more. But don’t plan on delivery of more than 45 slides per hour of presentation time. If you find you have a slide that cannot be explained in less than a minute, reevaluate your delivery strategy, you may find that breaking the slide into multiple slides works better. In addition, try to avoid putting too much text on one slide. Nobody likes to look at a ‘wall of words’. Lastly, if you are the instructor, don’t allow yourself to lapse into a mentality of ‘getting through the slides’ and forget that it’s YOU doing the teaching – not the slide deck.

Keep it lively

One sure-fire way to put your students to sleep is to do only one thing – one way. Try to avoid only static slides, and add some animation where appropriate to catch the viewer’s eye and illustrate a particular point. It should go without saying – but don’t animate all of your slides. The goal here is to keep the student’s attention, not overwhelm them. Slide animation does not have to be too complex, just a simple blink or highlight is often enough.

Use a variety of tools

Don’t use only one medium. Power Point is a great tool (if used properly) – but it’s relied upon too heavily – too often. Consider using other mediums such as polls, quizzes, white-boarding, or videos. But make sure you know how to use these tools before attempting to do so. For instance; don’t attempt to show a full motion video via your own screen, but provide the students a link to download it and watch it locally for the best performance.

Never do anything for the first time in front of a live audience! Make sure you’ve practiced beforehand.

Make sure they hear you clearly

Voice over IP (VoIP) connections can be especially problematic. Using VoIP requires a reliable and stable internet connection. If using VoIP, strongly encourage the use of headphones, and not computer speakers. It is very unnerving to hear yourself (or others) via feedback. Headphones that incorporate a microphone should eliminate the audio feedback issue.
It is very common for one or more students to prefer a telephone for the audio; either because they do not have headphones, their network blocks VoIP traffic, or network performance issues. So always have a backup plan for audio. Providing a toll call number may present a problem as well, consider a toll free service.

Telegraph your actions

If you are the instructor, announce to your students what you are about to do before you do it. It’s not necessary to announce every new slide in a presentation, but if you’ll be switching to a white board or a live demo, announce it. This can help refocus students if their attention has wandered. If you were in an actual classroom and you picked up a pen and approached the white board, it’s obvious what you are about to do. In an online training session, you must compensate for the inability of the students to read your body language.

Make it interactive

Require some performance from the students. Encourage them to ‘raise their hands’ via their control panel if they have a question and need some further clarification of a topic. Create polls and quizzes and ask them to take a short quiz or vote in a poll. Just get them involved any way that you can. One method is to create a quiz or poll to get feedback for a particular slide, module, or topic and ask the student if it was clearly presented. This is one way to get that shy student who won’t speak up and ask a question to let you know you need to revisit a particular topic.

Make it fun

Don’t be afraid to joke a little and tell a polite joke here and there. The same techniques for ice-breakers in the classroom will generally work online as well. Consider including a humorous quote, image, or cartoon within your presentation if it bears any relevance to the topic. Don’t forget to credit the author or seek permission where necessary. Including the pleasantly unexpected within your presentation can keep the students energized and focused.

Make it profitable

If there is a budget for it, consider giving prizes to the students for some performance on their part. This almost always works wonders in an actual classroom and there no reason it can’t be employed in the virtual classroom as well. Gift certificates for online retailers work well and can be emailed to the students.

Ask questions – wait for answers

Of all the tips in this document, this may be the most important! So much is accomplished by dialogue – it’s absolutely critical to the learning process. As the instructor, don’t simply ask (of no one in particular) “Are there any questions?” Nine times out of ten, you’ll get nothing but an awkward silence. Asking a question in this manner is not helpful at all, and in many cases gives the impression you really don’t want questions, but want to move ahead in the courseware. How you phrase a question is as important as the question itself. You have to compel the student to respond and you have to do it in a non-threatening way. Most people are anxious about giving an incorrect answer, so make sure you don’t ‘corner them’ with yes/no answers unless you know what they’ll say. Consider the following techniques instead:

• So John, did I explain that adequately, is there anything unclear?
• Susan, given your job function, do you have a comments or suggestions regarding this slide?
• Would anyone like to comment on this topic? John? Mary? David? (Calling out names)

Notice in the first example, the instructor takes the responsibility for the student’s answer. In the second example you are asking for a professional opinion. And in the third example, you are subtly letting the students know you haven’t forgotten about them and desire a dialogue with them. Notice that none of the examples above are direct questions regarding content, but catalysts for dialogue. If you can just get the students talking, a question will usually emerge that you can address.
Once you have asked a question of a particular person- wait for the answer. Remember that students in an online session may be unfamiliar with the user interface and it may take them some time to un-mute themselves, or maybe they have forgotten they are muted and they are speaking but you can’t hear them.

Never waste a answer

Whenever a question is asked of the instructor, the instructor should repeat the question for all to hear – before giving an answer. This allows all of the students to benefit from the answer – and not just the student who asked the question. It also gives the instructor an opportunity to make sure the question posed was interpreted correctly.
In a training session with proper dialogue, it’s not only the instructor that students learn from. They learn by dialogue with other students as well. Many questions are answered before they need to be asked if proper communication techniques are observed. So when a student has a relevant comment – that should be repeated for all to hear as well.

Please continue to part three of this article where we’ll look at some additional technologies being used in the online classroom today and discuss some important considerations for their use…

As millions of Apple iPads begin shipping tomorrow, Citrix has released an exciting new iPad app designed to transform Apple’s revolutionary new personal computing tablet into the ultimate device for mobile business. The new Citrix Receiver for iPad app makes it easy for iPad owners to take their virtual office with them anywhere they go. One simple touch gives iPad owners instant, secure access to all of their Windows business applications, documents and desktops, making it easy to work on the go, while still enjoying the great user experience they bought an iPad for in the first place.

More than 230,000 organizations worldwide use Citrix virtual computing infrastructure every day to deliver virtual desktops and more than 25 million Windows applications to their employees. The new Citrix app for the iPad acts as a secure “receiver”, making these millions of Windows apps instantly accessible on the iPad.

For iPad owners, this means “Windows Apps and Desktops to Go” – directly on your new iPad – with all the rich performance you’d expect, thanks to Citrix high-definition HDX™ technology. For IT administrators, this means you can now support iPads with virtually no setup cost, using the same Citrix infrastructure you’re already running today. And because all the Windows apps and documents are actually running in your datacenter at all times, it’s actually more secure than many of the corporate laptops you’re supporting today. Best of all, you can give your employees everything they need to be more productive by using devices that they love to spend time on.

With Citrix Receiver, the iPad is now “Open for Business”.

Key Facts and Highlights:

• Secure Data and Communications - Send emails and calendar invites using your standard corporate email systems, and work on all your normal Windows apps and documents just as you would on a PC or laptop with a full high-definition user experience. Because these apps and data are never stored on the iPad, your business is always confidential and secure.

• One-tap Connect to Read, Create and Share Documents - Interact seamlessly with Windows apps and documents using intuitive iPad gestures, and even turn your iPhone into an iPad trackpad for fast and familiar screen navigation (yes, it is “wicked cool”). 

• Resource-Intensive and Demanding Apps - Use even the most demanding Windows apps, from complex modeling and databases to 3D professional graphics applications… all with a high-speed, visually compelling user experience (check out our video tour to get a sense of what this is like).

• Online Meetings to Go - Collaborate with colleagues and host secure online business meetings from wherever you happen to be – at a café, in a hotel, or on the road with Citrix GoToMeeting for the iPad.

• Access Your Full Windows Desktop - You can even run your full Windows virtual desktop on the iPad if you like, switching back and forth between the iPad and Windows as needed.

Related Resources and Announcements:

• Citrix Receiver for iPad is available today free of charge from the Apple App Store
• Full details about Citrix Receiver for the iPad
• Video Tour of Citrix Receiver for iPad
• Top Ten Business Uses for the iPad
• Live Cloud Demo of Citrix Receiver for iPad

Learn more about virtual computing solutions from Citrix and other industry leaders by attending Citrix Synergy in San Francisco, May 12-14.

Dear Citrix Partners,

Do you have a compelling demo of a Citrix solution that you use with prospects and customers? We’re on the look-out for real-world virtual demos used in successful sales engagements. We believe that demos that rock
easily replace ‘a thousand words’ and we want to show off the best ones out there to everyone coming to
Summit and Synergy this May in San Francisco.

We have identified 5 Award categories to make it easy for you to enter:
1. Citrix Desktop Virtualization Demo Grand Champion 2010
2. Citrix Virtual Computing Demo Grand Champion 2010
3. Most Compelling Business Case for Adopting Virtualization Demo 2010
4. Best Demo of the Power of FlexCast and HDX 2010
5. Best Competitive Demo 2010

And we are offering some Big Prizes for the best demos:

• 1st Grand Prize is a XenClient compatible Dell Latitude E6400 ATG Laptop +
a free hotel stay at Summit and Synergy + the opportunity to do your demo on stage for
everyone.
• 4 more Grand Prize winners will also receive a XenClient compatible Dell Latitude
E6400 ATG Laptop

There’s more! Get Your Demos In Now!

The first twenty-five demos submitted for the contest will receive a Flip UltraHD.
The Flip UltraHD camcorder combines Flip Video’s signature shoot-and-share simplicity
with the power of HD video. The UltraHD is perfect for capturing your latest demos.

This is your chance to prove that your demo is the best! The contest is open to Citrix partners
worldwide. Winners will be announced at Summit 2010 in San Francisco during the Monday
keynote, May 10th. One winner will be selected to present their demo on stage at Citrix Summit
and be notified in advance.

To submit your entry, simply attach a video of your demo to an email to partnerprograms@citrix.com. The deadline for submitting demo entries is Midnight, Eastern Standard Time on Friday, April 23rd, 2010. Read all of the contest details on My Citrix.

We’ll make it even easier!

If you need screen capture software to record your demo, Citrix offers Citrix GoView for free! Simply go to goview.com

Michael Dell
Chairman and CEO
Dell Inc.

Citrix is pleased to announce that Michael Dell will be one of the Keynote speakers during Synergy 2010. Attendees can see Mr. Dell’s presentation on Thursday, May 13th at 8:30 a.m.

Mr. Dell is the chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer of Dell, the company he founded in 1984 with $1,000 and an unprecedented idea — to build relationships directly with customers. In 1992, he became the youngest CEO ever to earn a ranking on the Fortune 500.

Mr. Dell serves on the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum and the executive committee of the International Business Council, and is a member of the U.S. Business Council. He also serves on the Technology CEO Council and the governing board of the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad, India. He is the author of Direct From Dell: Strategies That Revolutionized an Industry.

In 1999, he and his wife formed the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation to manage the philanthropic efforts of the Dell family.

There’s an interesting debate going on about the value of online meetings and web conferencing compared to face-to-face in-person meetings. Airlines don’t want always want airport visitors to see the “Next Time Meet Online” GoToMeeting ads. And Hyatt is defending business travel.

This is a false choice. Of course, face-to-face meetings are great. The question is are there situations where the benefit of saving time and travel costs outweighs the value of meeting in person? Can you sell to a wider audience? Train people more easily? Attend more productive meetings? Employ (or retain) people in more locations? And, if so, how much time and travel costs do you save exactly? What’s the ROI on online meeting tools?

Consider this graph from our finance dept correlating increased use of GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar at Citrix and decreasing travel cost per employee.

In this example, the $150 savings is a roughly 3X return compared to the cost of a GoToMeeting license, but reduced travel isn’t the only benefit of online meetings. 
For instance, a greater benefit for us is simply including a GoToMeeting link in all on-site meetings. That way people can join from other offices, their home, wherever they happen to be, even if it’s just down to road. 

From marketing, to sales, to service, to training, HR, engineering -- what’s remarkable is how impactful online meeting tools are across the organization on everyday productivity. It takes time, but usage grows and they become habitual and indispensable. It is becoming a competitive disadvantage to not use them.

One caveat to that is that if you have a web conferencing solution but people don’t use it widely (because it’s not easy, not reliable or otherwise problematic) than you are missing out on the benefits. The key is usage.

Citrix Ready™ is a Product Verification program that allows partners to validate their product, solution, or service as compatible with Citrix.   The program has received tremendous response from its inception in 2006 and has verified more than a 1000 products which are featured on the Citrix Ready catalog.

Citrix Ready program offers its partner a unique opportunity to promote their products online and is designed to highlight the product features and demonstrate the products compatibility with Citrix. Some of the essential benefits of the program for Citrix partners include;

• Generate new revenue opportunities by associating with the Citrix brand and customer base 
• Increasing exposure to Citrix customers and channels via Citrix Ready Programs
• Become a trusted and recommended solution, improving joint customer satisfaction
• Gain access to Citrix “technology insiders” via forums, newsletters and webinars  

The program also offers its partners technical and marketing benefits through “My Citrix” which is a private Citrix partner portal from where partners can;

• Utilize NFR licenses and discounted technical support incidences
• Joint solution marketing opportunities
• Access to Citrix Key Play materials and marketing templates
• Quarterly Technical and Program Webinars

You can also follow the program activities on Twitter and receive daily program updates on product verifications.

Additional Technologies in the online classroom

This is part three of a three part article. In part one, I discussed why online training should matter to you, and outlined a few of the challenges to the online training medium. In part two, I discussed some basic (but often ignored) instructional techniques that should be employed when teaching (or presenting to) an online audience. Now I’d like to examine some of the additional technologies that you might want to consider for use in your online training or presentations. No amount of technology can replace an effective instructor. But an effective instructor can further enhance the student experience by using technology to its fullest potential. If you’ve read parts one and two, you’ve probably asked yourself, ‘what about video in the online classroom?’ Well, here I’ll discuss that, and how it’s not the panacea you might think when it comes to dealing with the lack of visual stimuli in the online environment. Sure, introducing video can be a great benefit, but all too often it doesn’t have the positive effect you want. Let’s get started…

Video (many to many)

Video can go a long way toward making a student feel more connected and remain engaged throughout the training session. Quite a few software packages include video, where the instructor uses a web cam and broadcasts video to the students. Some software packages even support multiple video sessions where each student is display on every attendee screen.
Bi-directional (many-to-many) video is typically seen as a teleconferencing / corporate meeting tool (and in my experience rarely beneficial in the online classroom). Ideally the students should be able to see the instructor and each other – just like an actual classroom environment, but many factors make this difficult to achieve.

• Few video applications support ‘many-to-many’ video.
• There are privacy issues – especially where a mixed group of students not from the same organization are in attendance. Many students will either not have camera equipment – or feel uncomfortable being seen by ‘strangers’. Anxiety over appearance, dress and background environment is counterproductive to the learning experience.
• In a worst case scenario, students may display inappropriate behavior that could jeopardize the learning session and even cause legal issues.

Video (one-to-many)

In this format, the instructor uses a camera and that image is displayed to all the students in the session. This is very valuable in that it can give the students a more dynamic, personal experience. There is something in our human nature that can impact our behavior when we have a face to look at – and that face is ‘looking’ at us. Even though intellectually we know that we cannot really be seen.
The undesirable aspects of this (one-to-many) format are largely the same as the many-to-many format.

Video (one to one)

This is the most commonly used format and many Internet communication applications use it. The most notable applications are free of charge. Applications such as Skype™, Google Talk™, and Microsoft Live™ are just a few and they are well recognized by most Internet savvy users. These rarely support multiple video participants, and are not generally useful for training more than one person at a time. However this can be used quite effectively in a situation where only the instructor is the only remote attendee. An example of this is when the students are all located in a classroom and it is not feasible to send an instructor to them. Here’s how you can leverage this technology for little or no cost:

• In the classroom, set up a dedicated computer and project its display onto a screen for all students to see. Then use one of these freely available video chat applications to display the instructor’s image to all the students via the projector. Individually, the students can join a GoToTraining or GoToMeeting session on their computers to see the presentation. For further benefit, install a web cam on the computer in the classroom so the instructor can see the students in the room.
  It should be noted that this technique has been employed with great success by Citrix, where U.S. based instructors have taught course in European countries. This saved many thousands of dollars in travel expenses.

Video (all formats)

The instructor must know how to behave when on camera. This is a new experience for most instructors and it is not uncommon for an instructor to negate the benefit of video by not understanding the student’s perspective.

If you were a student in an actual classroom, and the instructor was staring at the floor while lecturing, it wouldn’t be very engaging would it?

Looking into the camera has an effect on the students of being ‘looked at’ and that is generally desirable. Here are a few suggestions for effective use of the camera:

• Since the instructor’s computer screen is a natural focal point, position the camera as close to the top or bottom of the instructors monitor as possible. Center the camera on the screen – not off to the side. Then experiment with the up/down angle of the instructors head and eyes as the monitor (or the instructor’s chair) is moved up and down. Use books under the monitor if you need to raise it. Most camera software has a self monitoring feature but don’t forget to test remotely, with the help of a colleague. Remember the goal here is the same as in any public speaking format, appropriate eye contact.

• Consider a small web-cam that has a gooseneck (or a miniature tripod) mounting system. Then position the web-cam directly in the center of the instructors computer monitor. This will obscure a small portion of the center of the screen, but with practice it can usually be dealt with.

• Most cameras (including webcams) have built-in microphones. Don’t use them. While some of these built-in microphones cancel feedback and background noise, none do it perfectly.

• Use ‘behind the head’ headphones with a built-in microphone. These wrap around the back of the head and are almost unnoticeable to viewers. An integrated microphone will ensure no feedback noise from computer speakers. These are usually inexpensive and reliable when 3.5 mm speaker/microphone plugs are used as the physical connection. Of course wireless, USB, and Bluetooth headphones exist but for nearly 100% compatibility, use the microphone and speaker plugs present on nearly all computers.

Whiteboards

Whiteboards, a fixture in most classrooms, are often omitted from online training for a couple of reasons, but mainly because virtual white boards can be difficult to use. Here are the two primary challenges:

• Many instructors cannot easily make the transition from a pen to a mouse and without a lot of practice, completed materials may look amateurish
• The instructor cannot easily save and distribute whiteboard sessions
  Here is where some additional technology can be really useful. There are hardware and software solutions to address these challenges:
• Mimeo® – This is a hardware and software solution. Mimio makes several products for interactive white boarding. Most notable is the ‘Mimio Bar’® that attaches to a standard whiteboard and through the use of specialized pens allows the instructor a natural interaction with the whiteboard and the ability to save to files.

• SMART® interactive – SMART makes specialized interactive whiteboards that allow any whiteboard work to be saved as files.

• Graphic tablets – There are numerous graphics tablets available. While these are primarily used for graphics work they can be displayed through the screen sharing application and allow for the use of a pen. Using any graphics program would then allow you to save the whiteboard sessions as graphics files.

• DabbleBoard® – This is a web based application that has unique handwriting recognition with ‘snap-to’ functions that with practice can produce nice results. It is also multi-user capable and files can be saved.

Using mulitple technologies

While numerous additional tools have been mentioned, it is important to note that there is a matter of the computer screen ‘real estate’ that must be taken into account. Asking the students to switch between many applications may ‘keep them on their toes’ so to speak, but it may also frustrate them. It is usually impossible to know what size monitor students are using, the resolution they are capable of viewing, and what software incompatibilities may exist. Simplicity is always better. You usually don’t want the class to be more about how to use ‘all these training tools’ than about the actual product being taught.

I hope you’ve found this article interesting, and I’d love to hear your comments and suggestions.