Citrix Extending Enterprise Virtualization To Wider Range Of Devices
At the opening of Citrix Synergy In San Francisco, CEO Mark Templeton unveiled GoToManage for iPad, a remote support service that allows IT to work from outside the corporate office. In addition to being able to provide real-time support for physical and virtual desktops, IT can also use GoToManage for iPad to remotely manage networks and servers. GoToManage for iPad will be available "soon" and is free of charge for IP professionals, Templeton said at the event.
Templeton also took the wraps off Citrix Receiver For the Web, a collaboration between Citrix and Google that works with any browser and is related to the companies' partnership on Chromebooks, the cloud-connected laptops Google unveiled earlier this month at its I/O developer conference.
Amit Singh, global vice president of enterprise at Google, joined Templeton onstage to offer more detail on the nature of the partnership. "We're excited to be part of the Citrix cloud," Singh said to a packed conference hall of 5,500 attendees. "The desktop experience leaves much to be desired in terms of speed and manageability, and we think people are looking for a new experience. Chromebooks are a new generation of cloud consumption device."
Citrix is also working on a Receiver For Chromebooks, which is currently in beta and slated for launch this summer. This is a key element of Google's Chromebook strategy, as it will enable the devices to run a wide range of enterprise applications.
"Thanks to Citrix we can bring all kinds of enterprise applications to Chromebooks, including SAP, Oracle and yes, even Microsoft applications," Singh said, as Templeton cringed. Citrix has partnered with Microsoft for the past two decades and is one of the software giant's largest partners.
Citrix also launched a technology preview of XenClient 2, the company's next generation Type 1 hypervisor, which supports non-vPro systems without affecting performance and is a big part of Citrix's Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). XenClient 2 can isolate a user's personal and business computing resources on a single device, addressing IT concerns around the security of enterprise data.
XenClient 2 includes enterprise class management features like automation, scalability, reporting and backup, Templeton said.
Citrix in June will launch XenClient XT, a new version of XenClient that's designed for specialized, highly isolated environments, such as defense, that have heightened security needs. "It's designed specifically for the most sever and extreme computing environments, where everything has to be verifiably secure and where lives are at stake if security is breached," Templeton said.
Templeton unveiled a public beta of GoToMeeting with HD Faces, which brings high definition video down to a part of the market that hasn't previously been able to afford it. It's free for existing GoToMeeting customers and an effort on Citrix's part to being telepresence to the masses.
Citrix is spending a good deal of time at Synergy talking about the concept of personal cloud, or the combination of an individual's work and personal workspaces delivered through a secure cloud networking fabric. It's a place where users can access their data and apps in a unified fashion and work anywhere from any device.
"It's where personal and business computing meet," said John Fanelli, Citrix's vice president of product marketing, enterprise desktops and apps, in a press conference prior to the Synergy keynote. "A lot of personal life seeps into work life, and the constant blurring of personal and work computing bring the personal cloud together."