Hello Everyone,
I am happy to announce that Citrix will be releasing the next exciting , feature-packed versions of Citrix Receiver and Merchandising Server software on March 1st, just one short week away! Below are just a few of the new enhancements for the 1.2 release:
Receiver for Windows 1.2:
- Includes new language support – Nine languages: English, Japanese, German, French, Spanish, Korean, Russian, traditional and simplified Chinese
- Full support for Dazzle , the new “iTunes-like” application store
Receiver for MAC 1.2:
- Automatically configure and update the new Citrix online plug-in
- Full support for Dazzle, the new “iTunes-like” application store
Merchandising Server 1.2:
- Expanded Administrator Console browser support: Internet Explorer 8 in native mode, Firefox, and Safari
- One-step download of new plug-ins. (Note: only plug-ins compatible with your version of Merchandising Server are downloaded)
- Ability to configure a back-up Active Directory server in case your primary server is down
Note: The current version of Merchandising Server virtual appliance can be imported into the Citrix XenServer virtual machine environment. We are working on releasing a version of the Merchandising Server that can be imported into VMware’s ESX virtual machine environment, stay tuned for updates!
Why upgrade to Receiver?
First of all because it is a time-saving, slick, new tool that administrators and end users are finding a great deal of value in. Those customers that have already upgraded to Citrix Receiver are finding value in three main areas, are you one of them?
- Faster, smoother rollouts of new desktops, whether they are physical or virtual
- Ease of client management, version and configuration control
- A single end user experience for everything Citrix
How do you upgrade from your existing XenApp Online Plug-in? Simple!
- Download and import the Merchandising Server
- Either push the Receiver client using your favorite ESD tool, or use the built in download page to enable end user self-service
- Use the built-in plug-in download feature of MS to get the latest and greatest Online Plug-in
- Configure a single rule and delivery with the new online plug-in
- Your upgrade is now complete!
Regardless of what it was designed for and despite all it’s limitations, I expect the iPad to be the best thing to happen for Desktop Virtualization in 2010. No it’s not always the best Thin Client but as a sales, marketing and awareness enabler it won’t be beat, here’s why:
Purple Cow effect - Seth Godin, the new media marketing guru defined the Purple Cow as something remarkable. Something that stands out from the crowd and worth noting. A great example is the screen shot of Windows 7 on the iPad. This picture was replicated and written about in hundreds of articles and blogs… because it was remarkable. The Gizmodo post alone now has over 62,000 views and 520 comments.
Early adopters will show friends & colleagues - The iPhone started the new phenomena of showing off your latest cool or useful app. Everyone with an iPad and Citrix Receiver will show it off. Godin also makes the point that it’s not the best ideas that win, it’s the best ideas that spread, win.
First impressions count - The iPad is beautiful, when prospects recognize they can also do work with it they will sell it to themselves. The $500 entry price is low enough to justify for companies or many individuals.
Peer envy - As more iPads show up in the workplace and they are put to work visibly and effectively, others will follow.
Executive mandate - When execs see they can run all their work apps from an iPad and get their work done where ever they are, they will better appreciate the benefits of Desktop Virtualization. They will also approve projects faster and demand IT support for their own iPad.
Internal IT promotion - Internal company Desktop Virtualization champions will set up demos on the iPad, hand it to users and management … Sold !
Preferred device for conference room meetings - The iPad will be ideal for bringing to meetings without the intrusion, distraction, boot up or power cables of a laptop. In the future the laptop will be staying in the office/cube while you grab the iPad to bring to the meeting down the hall or down the road. ( and everyone else in the meeting will ask you how you like it )
Sales demo tool - Sales pros everywhere will use iPads to demo their products, check inventory and bring up photos and then hand the iPad to a prospect. Not something you see happen often with laptops. Desktop Virtualization will enable the apps and be the answer to ” how did you do that ? “
Healthcare, Healthcare, Healthcare - Doctors will sell more iPads with Desktop Virtualization into healthcare than anyone. Even if they have to buy the iPads themselves.
Vertical Market Solutions - Besides healthcare, many other verticals like legal, insurance and field workers will adopt the iPad rapidly if the Apps they need are available via Desktop Virtualization.
Desktop Virtualization overcomes iPad limitations - Multi-Tasking, Flash, Windows apps, all resolved with Desktop Virtualization.
BYOC - As described in a prior post , The iPad with Desktop Virtualization will lead the “Bring Your Own Computer” BYOC movement and provide IT a safe way to allow personal devices inside the company.
Multiple Desktop Virtualization options - The iPad will work great with VDI ( XenDesktop ) or shared Virtual Desktops ( XenApp Published Desktops ) or selected Apps on-demand ( XenApp ). VDI only solutions will not always be justified for every user or app.
Multiple Device Management - For most iPad users this will be a 3rd or 4th device, in addition to a smartphone a work laptop and a home PC/laptop. The hassle of making sure you have the document you need on the device you have will be solved by the centralization benefits of Desktop Virtualization.
Standard Desktop Virtualization benefits - In addition to all the above reasons , the standard benefits of security , manageability and TCO still apply. But now it’s really productive and cool…
Besides the overall benefit to the Desktop Virtualization industry I expect that the Citrix Receiver for iPad will expand the advantage that XenDesktop already has over VMware View. The Citrix user experience will be superior to the other 3rd party RDP/VNC options available and create very visible differentiator. As a result I predict that VMware will end up building their own View client to try to catch-up and take advantage of the emerging iPad phenomena. ( For the VMware execs reading this … please prove me wrong and don’t follow my prediction … 
)
Come see the iPad enabled by Desktop Virtualization at CitrixSynergy. Learn how to make it work for your organization and sell yourself on the idea. ( you may even win an iPad ! )
XenApp Expert Series – Informational, News, Interviews (2010) The show where we interview the experts to get you the latest news in on-demand application delivery with XenApp. Host Vinny Sosa (@vinnysosa) interviews Product Manager Aaron Videtto (@aaronvidetto) on current Citrix Receiver functionality and insight into what’s planned in support for XenApp on Windows Server 2008 R2. Episode 5, Season 2.
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Whether you operate a call center or a full-service contact center delivering virtual applications, virtual desktops or accelerating your web applications with Citrix can help you reduce cost and improve profitability. But adding EasyCall is an often overlooked way to do even more with less to improve service and cut costs!
EasyCall can save agents time and you telephone expenses every time agents need to consult with an associate or return a customer call, something that happens hundreds of times a day even in inbound call centers. EasyCall lets agents make calls simply by clicking a telephone number in an email, web page, or CRM system anywhere on their screen, without any need to modify those systems!
EasyCall’s smart Directory can also help agents look up and call telephone numbers in seconds.
All agents need is a phone that rings to save time and expense dollars, every time they make a call! Even if agents use softphones when working remotely, EasyCall works with those too!
On the customer side of the telephone, EasyCall lets you add click to call numbers to you customer facing web applications..it’s simple with EasyCall!
EasyCall 3.0 is available to every XenApp, XenDesktop, and Netscaler customer …at no additional cost!
And installing EasyCall for agents takes seconds and a Xen-based virtual appliance brokers calls with virtually any commercial telephone system. To get EasyCall, just download and install XenServer and add the EasyCall Virtual Appliance to your XenApp, XenDesktop or NetScaler setup. Download it and go.
EasyCall 3.0 also supports call forwarding so you can both make and receive calls remotely; a user portal accessible from browsers and even iPhones for managing conferencing, call forwarding, and locations; Win 7 and Snow Leopard in English, French, German, and Spanish; click to dial-in access to EasyCall conferences; and delivery via Citrix Receiver for both Mac and Windows!
Please check it out and let us know what you think. We welcome any and all feedback!
Learn more about XenApp for R2
XenApp Expert Series – Informational, News, Interviews (2010) The show where we interview the experts to get you the latest news in on-demand application delivery with XenApp. Host Vinny Sosa (@vinnysosa) interviews Product Manager David Wagner on new User Profile Streaming technology planned for availability in XenApp for R2. Episode 4, Season 2.
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Learn more about XenApp for R2 |
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Most desktop apps are designed with multiple Window Pane’s to organize data and make it consumable without forcing a users eyes to scan from one side of a monitor to another. In many cases these Pane sizes are discretionary for the developer or already user adjustable. Given that, why not make the Window Pane sizes easy to consume on a mobile device ?
It turns out that the 320×480 Pixel screen of the iPhone provides a very readable Window Pane whether its displayed with multiple Panes on a desktop app or one at a time on a mobile device. That same Window Pane of information can also look great on an iPhone when hosted on XenApp and displayed with the Citrix Receiver. If it’s done right, navigating multiple window Panes of a Desktop app can be done without constant zooming, pinching and panning.
A great new usability feature in version 2.0 of Citrix Receiver for iPhone includes a “Pane-Swipe” gesture that will shift the “view” one Pane at a time with a 2 finger swipe. A user can simply swipe left or right or up and down whether the iPhone is in Portrait or Landscape mode. The result is users can be productive when mobile without the common complaint about dealing with a small screen. This scenario makes securely delivering apps to Desktops or Smartphone’s easier than ever. Even better, many desktop apps can easily be configured without coding to provide a great mobile experience. The app displayed is standard desktop Office Excel 2007 with both a Mobile and Desktop View. Certainly some apps would need to be modified but the effort could be minimal vs the multi-platform development and support alternative . The apps could be Windows, Web, or RIA apps like Flash and Silverlight. In fact for many vector based apps simply publishing the app on XenApp at the right dimension will make it Mobile-Friendly ( i.e. publish a 3 column app at 960 wide )
Some native iPhone apps are great, but they can open IT issues around security, compliance and support of employee owned devices ( BYOD ). Even if the organization accepts the security implications and allows native email or other business apps, there are bound to be more company app requirements than can be solved with only existing native apps. It is also becoming more obvious that the iPhone will have some serious competition, fortunately many of the new devices are also adopting the same 320×480 screen resolution. So that same Mobile-Friendly desktop app can also be delivered to devices from Motorola, HTC, Samsung, Google , etc. The OS of the new device doesn’t matter either as long as it’s equipped with the Citrix Receiver.
To get started check out the Mobile-Friendly demos fom your iPhone on CitrixCloud.net and visit CDN where you can get more details on how to Mobilize your apps.
If you are a developer, are your apps Mobile-Friendly? Keep this in mind for your next app project. Mobilizing your app is easier than you thought.
Let us know what you think, could be useful for your organization?
Beyond the hype the of the iPad by Apple lovers and the nay sayers who say “who needs it ” the iPad is likely to impact company IT practice more than anticipated. For many CIO’s and IT Directors there is a growing interest in minimizing the expense and support of endpoint devices. Many companies have taken the fist step to allow access to company apps from unmanaged home PC’s utilizing Application and/or Desktop Virtualization, however very few have taken the leap to allow employees to really bring there own computer to work “BYOC”.
The reasons for the hesitancy typically revolve around security, compliance, local data and risk to internal networks. These concerns have been reason enough for most companies to not to move beyond where they are today. The policy is either a company provided PC/Laptop only, or the next level of enablement allowing controlled access from outside the company network.
What frequently changes IT’s priority to move from the status quo is a management decree or revenue generating employees. Enter the iPad. Regardless of current IT policy the iPad is going to be purchased by Executives, Sale Managers, Physicians, Traders and other money makers. In increasing numbers these employes are going to bring the devices to work and ask IT to support them. Although the first reaction may be no way, the current obstacles of BYOC don’t necessarily apply. If IT allows access from a Receiver equipped iPad with a XenApp/XenDesktop backend the following issues and concerns easily can be managed.
Exposure to Internal Networks – The iPad has no Ethernet port to plug into office RJ45 jacks exposing the internal network. Many companies already provide an isolated guest WiFi network that only allows a secure remote SSL/VPN connection. Alternatively no WiFi access could be enforced and only allow controlled access from the independent 3G carrier network completely isolating the device from the company network.
Company Data on Employee Devices – With Citrix Receiver for iPad no data is stored or runs on the device. Email can be limited to company hosted XenApp sessions of Outlook or Notes and disallow the local native email.
Mixing Personal and Business Data – IT does not want to deal with iTunes, personal music and photos, licensing issues etc. With an employee owned device all these issues are the responsibility of the employee and IT can define a “virtual” wall between IT delivered Desktops and apps that never mix with the employees device.
Replacement Issues – Most BYOC iPads will be secondary devices that won’t kill the employee’s productivity if its out of commission, they can just go back to their primary PC. For some users like Physicians who may depend on an iPad, keeping loaners on-hand can be easy, and set up / configuration can be done in minutes.
Support of Non Company Devices – Aside from replacement issues IT would prefer not to be in possession of employee devices for set-up causing logistical and asset control issues. With Citrix Receiver IT can simply send an email or have an Intranet site that employees only need to click a link to configure the iPad for company apps and desktops.
IT Security Policies – Most companies have specific policies in place for allowing controlled secure remote access. This may include 2 Factor Authentication, 128 SSL Encryption, and password protection enforcement. A Receiver enabled iPad can support all of these requirements.
So for the many companies who are thinking BYOC is an interesting concept but ” not for us ” , it could be worthwhile to consider the Citrix Receiver enabled iPad as a safe way to allow employees to Bring Their Own Computer.
Have you been asked to support the iPad already ? Do you think the iPad is a door opener to BYOC?
Everyone knows a Smartphone is a Cell Phone + PDA. A ” nirvana phone ” is a smartphone + video connection to a full size display + full size keyboard, Plus access to a Virtual Desktop. With a “nirvana phone” you finally get your leave your laptop home !
Citrix and partner OK Labs are collaborating to utilize the OK Labs Microvisor plus the Citrix Receiver in a secure mobile VM. This solution will enable a new generation of smartphones to provide “nirvana phone” functionality. In addition, Citrix and OK Labs are providing a concept specification for device builders to follow to assure the best “nirvana phone” function and experience.
Learn more about the “nirvana phone” and the Citrix – OK Labs collaboration at a free Webinar on 2/7/2010.
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XenApp Expert Series – Informational, News, Interviews (2010) The show where we interview the experts to get you the latest news in on-demand application delivery with XenApp. Host Vinny Sosa (@vinnysosa) interviews XenApp Architect Juliano Maldaner (@jmaldaner) on best practices for Migrating to XenApp for R2. Episode 3, Season 2.
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10 . You won’t get fired for leaving your iPhone in a cab revealing company secrets.
9. You won’t miss another meeting with your boss because the iPhone calendar app didn’t sync right with your Exchange server.
8. Speed read through your email with just a swipe.
7. Open large attachments in seconds without crashing the email app.
6. Edit attachments and view features like Word Track Changes.
5. Click on Intranet / SharePoint site links, and they work !
4. Easily find; Sent, Deleted, Saved, emails just like Outlook on your PC.
3. You can finally convince your IT/Security guys that there is a safe way to support the iPhone.
2. You won’t need to carry around both your iPhone because you want to, Plus your Blackberry because you need to.
And the Number 1 reason ?
1. Just because you can ( with Citrix Receiver ) … and win the next “my app beats your app” debate with your friends
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