Citrix Synergy 2013 kicked off with a bang. Citrix CEO Mark Templeton takes the stage and immediately dives into Product Updates:
First on the list is Citrix CloudPlatform, their version of AWS/EC2 and Vmware's vcloud VSP.
- Amazon-style production cloud platform
- Currently 200+ providers across 40,000 compute resources
- Tremendous Opensource adoption specifically around Apache Cloudstack integration with over 35,000 current members among 60 companies
Next big announcements were around Sharefile, Citrix Mobile Enterprise file services:
- currently have over 35,000 corporate customers
- Enhancements to managing and deploying storage zones (on premises storage)
- Introduction of new storage connectors:
- Access corporate network shares seamlessly through Sharefile on any device, including editing capability
- Access corporate MS Sharepoint sites, including collaboration funcitons like check-in/check-out
- ShareFile access is now available for MS Azure clients deploying in the cloud
Improvements to Microsoft integration:
- 80% growth YoY of Xendesktop deployments on Hyper-V
- 100% XD Full support for MS AppV version 5
- VHDX enhancements for better multimedia playback and compression
- Windows 8 Citrix receiver (across all devices)
New enhancements to running XD on Apple Mac:
- Citrix Desktop player for Mac
- Runs Windows virtual desktops sessions directly on a Mac
- Sync/Re-sync capability from local to hosted desktop
- Currently in Tech preview for the next 30-60 days
Cisco OEM partnership updates:
- Xendesktop – top workload on Cisco UCS deployments world-wide
- Cisco Identity Services Engine + Xenmobile -> integrated security model
- Netscaler – ADC replacement for Cisco products
Citrix announces the finalists for the Citrix Innovation Award:
- Miami Children's Hospital:
- Implemented Xenmobile, GotoMeeting with HD faces, XD/XA to provide EMR and remote web-conference consult sessions (no need for in hospital consultation)
- USP Brazile University:
- Citrix CloudPlatform with Netscaler - fully deployed a cloud-based solution for data and application access on any device for student and faculty
- Essar Steel:
- Rollout of BYOD utilizing XD/XA/NS/AG/Receiver
The winner is USP!
Mark talks about the vision of "Going Mobile" and how it impacts Workflow (Transformation), the Workforce (Engagement), and the Workplace (Reinvention). The point of convergence is mobility.
In 2012 at Synergy, Citrix announced Project Avalon and this year their has been alot about buzz around project Excalibur. Mark formally introduces the fruits of those projects, XenDesktop 7.
First big change is Flexcast (FMA). Regardless of published app or desktop deployment, everything is managed through FMA. XD7 is a single downloaded package, wizard driven, with automatic configuration checks built into the installation. Another big change - everything is controlled and managed through 2 consoles: XD Studio and XD Director.
XD Studio is the central console for designing, configuring, provisioning XD and includes the following enhancements:
- Automated application migration (P2V) via AppDNA
- The ability to publish applications in bulk, not just one by one
XD Director is the central console for monitoring and managing both your XD/FMA deployment and Netscaler via HDX Insight. This includes major improvements to Citrix Edgesight monitoring that is a game changer for monitoring XD environments. I'll provide more details in a separate post on Edgesight updates. Additional enhancements include:
- ability to run on Windows 2012
- updated MS System Center 2013 connectors
Stay Tuned for updates on XenMobile and HDX.Labels: Avalon, Citrix, Excalibur, Synergy, Xendesktop 7