Earlier this week I attended “The New Wave of Healthcare IT Virtual Seminar” from SearchHealthIT.com. Unfortunately, I had to leave for the airport, but I did catch one of the first sessions on mobile health by Claudia Tessler and C. Peter Waegermann of the mHealth Initiative, Inc.
mHealth is basically the area where electronic medical records (EMR), mobile computing, social media and direct patient / doctor communication intersect.
The vision is clear: Patients and their doctors communicate via all the modalities we’re already enjoying as consumers: eMail, text messages, and sometimes social media. The obvious challenge is that the desire for convenience must be carefully balanced with the mandated need for privacy and security.
Application and Desktop virtualization can confine the protected data to the datacenter, while enabling clinicians to interact with the data securely over any device without the need to re-write the application. Application vendors sometimes offer secure patient portals that allow for direct communication between patients and doctors and nurses. With app and desktop virtualization, even the relatively new iPad is supported out of the box through Citrix Receiver.
The following resources provide a best-practices based approach to designing virtualization environments based on Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop technologies:

• Windows XP Optimization Guide for Virtual Desktops
  Description: If Windows XP is still your desktop operating system of choice and it is going to be used within a virtual desktop environment, you need to optimize it appropriately. The optimizations will help deliver a better user experience and greater scalability on the hypervisor of choice (XenServer, Hyper-V, or ESX).
• XenDesktop Modular Reference Architecture
  Description: The architecture explained within this white paper is a recipe for creating a scalable XenDesktop environment using any required FlexCast option. This reference architecture discusses how to configure the controllers, imaging layer, application layer and the desktop layer.
• High-Availability for Desktop Virtualization – Reference Architecture
  Description: In environments where desktop virtualization is a critical business resource, it is imperative that the solution remains available even if a component or data center is lost. This reference architecture looks at all levels of the entire XenDesktop solution, and provides an architecture for creating a highly-available solution.
• High-Availability for Desktop Virtualization – Implementation Guide
  Description: Implementing a desktop virtualization solution oftentimes requires an investigation and implementation of the high-availability options. This white paper provides step-by-step instructions for enabling high-availability in XenDesktop within a single site and across multiple sites.
• Virtual Applications or Virtual Desktops
  floirDescription: Trying to decide between virtual desktops and virtual applications is oftentimes challenging. By understanding the core expectations and requirements for each delivery method helps make this decision easy. This white paper focuses on the decision and how to identify the most appropriate type of delivery solution.
• Networking topics, including Global Server Load Balancing- it’s like never having to worry about datacenter failures again.

These and many other good nuggets on real world implementations of virtualization and networking practices can be found at the Ask the Architect sites.

Florian Becker
follow me on twitter: @florianbecker

Want a quick way to configure many iPads, iPhones, and other mobile devices that run Citrix Receiver? There is a way to do it without having to write pages upon pages of documentation for end users, or even worse personally configuring the devices for them. We have created the Citrix Mobile Receiver Setup URL Generator just for this purpose. The best part is, it takes a few seconds and can be reused over and over again (remember? Write once leverage infinitely?).

The steps to making an admins life exponentially easier are:


1.) Go to the Citrix Mobile Receiver Setup URL Generator
2.) Save it to your bookmarks .
3.) Enter in an Account Description.
4.) Enter the Server Farm address.
5.) Enter in the domain of your farm.
6.) If you are using an Access Gateway, check the box to show your options.
a. Choose the type of Access Gateway in your company.
b. Choose the authentication type for the Access Gateway.
7.) Click the “Generate URL” button.
8.) Under “Your Result” a link is given with all of the info you populated in the form. You can email it, copy it and paste it, etc. 

The great thing is, the user is responsible for the username and password for the account (user information is not in URL ) so it is secure enough to email!

The user will then get the email on the device, tap the link, and Citrix Receiver will open and ask the user to save the profile.

So there you have it, an easy and secure way to configure 1000′s of devices with just an email.

Remember to let the user know they have to fill in the users name and such before saving the profile on the device.

 Citrix Receiver for iPad is now top of the charts number 1 ranked free app in the App Store business category !  And GoToMeeting is number 4 !
 
So even though the initial flurry is over the downloads for Citrix Receiver continue to grow. More and more people are downloading the top rated app and putting it to work. Sometimes from home and sometimes from work. That’s part of the beauty of the Receiver on the iPad, being mobile has never been so productive.
 
Some useful links if you have have bought an iPad or are thinking about it. 
 
 Dan Fellers blog post with recommendations for IT on how to prepare your corporate environment.
 
 Mick Hollison’s post on Consumerization of IT.
 
 Harry Labana’s post on The iPad, Citrix and BYOC. 
 
 Top 10 Business uses for the iPad Take our Poll.

 CitrixSynergy iPad site Come learn how to prepare for the iPad first hand and make your organization more productive ( and happy    ) 

The iPad was released, and people were happy.

People brought the iPad to work, and users were excited.

Users connected the iPad to the corporate environment and IT got scared.

If you went to the Apple store and did a demo of the iPad, you might have noticed the installed Citrix Receiver (honestly, did anyone actually demo these things before buying? I bet most of us just bought it without playing around with it). But, let’s say you did demo and you selected the Receiver, what would you have seen? Windows Applications.

Yes, Windows Applications on the iPad.  I admit, that is pretty cool. In fact, why not put Windows 7 on the iPad.  It is possible. I’ve also seen reports that people are now using the iPad at work, although right now it is for minor tasks, but this will only increase.  Chris Fleck recently posted a blog talking about some of the top business use cases for the iPad.  These are great ideas, but before our employees start using a virtual Windows 7 XenDesktop desktop on the iPad for work, we need to get the environment prepared.

These items are HOT.  And you know what happens to new technology? It gets stolen. It gets hacked. First, let’s make sure our environment is secured. Second, let’s give the user the best experience.

To secure the environment, there are a few things that should be done:

1. Require authentication. Seems pretty obvious, but you can connect to virtualized applications and desktops with anonymous accounts (there are business reasons why, but this is not one of the).  If the iPad is stolen, the thief can only see the Receiver, but cannot log in.
2. Enable encryption: Citrix can encrypt the communication between the iPad and the virtual desktops/applications with RC5-128bit encryption.  As users will connect over any number of wireless networks, it is recommended that the communication is encrypted from prying eyes.
3. Disable device mapping: Although some of local iPad objects cannot yet be seen within the virtualized desktops/applications (drives, clipbard, etc), it is recommended to still disable  these features from within the XenDesktop/XenApp farms as a precaution.  The Receiver will go through updates and will add new functionality. You, as the administrator, don’t want to be surprised when users start copying materials to/from their iPads.

By doing these simple items, we can make our iPad connections to Windows 7 desktops and Windows applications more secure. But how do we make the user experience better?  Here are some recommendations:

1. HDX: Many users will browse web sites on their iPads.  By enabling HDX browser acceleration, we can compress the images and give the user a faster browsing experience.  Also, because the iPad does not support Flash natively, by accessing a hosted browser, users can view websites with integrated flash content. By enabling HDX Flash (Server-side rendering), we can allow users to view flash animation content at reasonable performance levels by slightly degrading the flash quality.
2. Visual Effects: Windows has many features that provide an interactive experience, but some of these items require additional bandwidth.  For iPad users, it is recommended to disable menu animations and to disable window content while dragging.  This allows the desktop to have faster response times.  Although we can also disable the user’s desktop background, I prefer to keep the backgrounds enabled. Hey, it’s the first thing the user sees that helps create that personalized environment.
3. Audio: Although we can disable audio, that really diminishes the user experience, especially if we are using a hosted browser so users can access flash content.  Let’s keep audio enabled, but only provide medium sound quality, which will give better performance.

The last thing we must be concerned with is that these settings do not interfere with other users. Not everyone is going to have an iPad.  Even iPad users will still access their virtual desktops/applications over other devices.  We don’t want these security/optimization settings from impacting others.  In order to accommodate iPad users, we need to create a policy with all of these settings and apply the policy to only iPad devices. By filtering on the client name of iPhone* and iPad*, we can accomplish just that.

Remember, it’s a balance between providing an acceptable user experience, while allowing for performance and security.  By tweaking the policy we can provide. So before your first user tries to use the iPad on your XenDesktop and XenApp environments, better get your infrastructure ready. No matter what you do, users will start to use their iPads to change how they access their applications. They iPad might even have an impact on what devices they use to do their work.  To get ready, you need to prepare and secure your environment appropriately.

Lead Architect – Worldwide Consulting Solutions
Follow Me on twitter: @djfeller
My Blog: Virtualize My Desktop
Questions, then email Ask The Architect
Facebook Fan Page: Ask The Architect

 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.

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.

Fill in the blank if you will.  There are many people who are super excited about the upcoming release of the latest tablet PCs (iPad, Slate, etc).  I recently received a comment from someone on Facebook related to a previous blog saying that the iPad Will Not Replace Your Desktop.  The comment basically said
 

Does the iPad and like devices need to be fully functional to be successful?  How many people have more than one mobile device like a laptop and a netbook?”

 
That is an interesting question.  But I’m starting to wonder if we need a laptop and an iPad?  Do we need a laptop and a netbook?  Depending on what you do, the iPad or the netbook could potentially replace your laptop.  As I see it, most users have a smartphone and a main work computer, for many that is a laptop because they require a larger form factor device while not in their office.  But what if we did the following:
 
•    Main computer: Thin client
•    Mobile computer: iPad/Netbook
•    Ultra-mobile computer: Smartphone
 
If we have Citrix Receiver on all of these devices, we access the same applications/data/environment.
 
Think about all of the problems we hear about with laptops: stolen, dropped, lost, expensive, etc.  If we went down the virtual desktop route, stolen, broken or lost laptops would not be a problem because your data would be in the data center with your virtual desktop.  So why use a laptop?  
 
Is it possible that tablets and netbooks could mean that those of us with laptops can toss them away?  If the tablets/netbooks provides us with a connection to a virtual desktop from anywhere, why would we need the laptop functionality?
 
Of course this won’t work for everyone. Some people will need a laptop. But what we will see in the coming months/years is a much more diverse end point environment. We know this is coming, so it is  good idea to start planning how you will integrate all of these endpoints into your infrastructure while still trying to keep the environments secure.

Daniel

Lead Architect – Worldwide Consulting Solutions
Follow Me on twitter: @djfeller
Blog for Next-Gen Desktop: Ask The Architect
Questions, then email Ask The Architect
Facebook Fan Page: Ask The Architect

1.2 times a day!

Sometimes more, sometimes less. Over the last 284 days, that is the average number of times I have been asked about Citrix Receiver for Blackberry.
I know what your thinking…. “Marcus, why didn’t you Blog on this topic 283 days ago?“

It’s a story of intrigue, suspense, broken promises and big money. More on that latter…

For those of you who have followed Citrix for any length of time, you might have heard that Mobility is the Next Big Thing. Almost yearly; usually around mobility industry events.

So what makes this year different? – Devices and network speeds.

Citrix Receiver unlocks the power in these fast and eloquent devices, allowing us to create a terrific user experience.

Before you start screaming that the iPhone is not an Enterprise solution, hear me out. When the iPhone was introduced, it provided an ideal form factor to deliver applications. Fits in your pocket and it has a big, beautiful screen with lots of real-estate for users to interact on. Citrix users agree. We are quickly trending towards the 500,000-download milestone. Meter readers, land surveyors and even motorcycle cops are getting their principle applications delivered to their iPhones daily.

Recently I had the chance to meet with Samsung, HTC and other key manufacturers in the “Smartphone” business. There are devices being introduced this year that dwarf the 3-year old iPhone technology. The first on my list was announced today.

The HTC EVO 4G delivers. It has a 4.3-inch touch screen that just looks beautiful when Citrix Receiver is delivering applications to it. Many similar devices are coming soon for all of the Mobility Operating Systems.

Currently we offer a Citrix Receiver for Android, Windows Mobile and iPhone. We also have a Symbian client.

We understand how important the Blackberry is in the Enterprise. In fact, through a Company called Rove, the Blackberry was one of the first mobile devices to have a Citrix client. At Citrix, almost 35% of our Smartphone users have a Blackberry.

Our intent was to come out with Citrix Receiver for Blackberry about the same time as the iPhone. Each platform has it’s own teams, so this goal was very realistic. In an effort to further accelerate this development, we took some time and acquired outside technology, believing it would provide us with a solid platform that we could quickly iterate on in the future. We were not happy with the result.

We decide to start again from scratch, armed with the knowledge gained from delivering Citrix Receiver on the other platforms.

I am pleased with the internal build I am using and feel comfortable sharing that with you today.

We hope to announce registration for the beta program shortly. Those who have already signed-up, your names have been retained and you will be contacted. If you haven’t registered, please send me your name, device, OS version and memory size. We want to test against as many configurations as possible. When you come to Synergy, be sure to bring your Blackberry to the opening Keynote.

On a separate note, look for Citrix Receiver for Android 1.0, with full CAG support, to be available on the Android Marketplace within a few weeks.

I’ll have a special post for you on April 3rd that you won’t want to miss.

In closing, I sincerely thank you for you patience and suggestions as we look forward to getting Citrix Receiver onto your Blackberry.