Today, at Citrix Summit™, the premier Citrix partner training
event, Citrix announced a broad new set of products, solutions and
programs designed to help small and medium businesses move from the
PC Era to the Cloud Era by capitalizing on the benefits of desktop
virtualization. Central to the company’s new SMB initiative is the
release of an all-new version of Citrix VDI-in-a-Box™, the easy,
affordable, all-in-one virtual desktop solution designed
specifically for small and medium businesses. VDI-in-a-Box 5 is the
first Citrix release of this market-leading desktop virtualization
product following the acquisition of Kaviza in May 2011 (see
announcement). In addition, Citrix announced a new solution
combining Citrix VDI-in-a-Box and the Citrix GoToManage®
cloud-based support offering, making it easy for managed service
providers and IT staff to remotely monitor and support virtual
desktop deployments at multiple sites or customer locations.
To help drive further penetration in this fast-growing market
segment, Citrix also announced a new channel partner specialization
for the Citrix Solution Advisor Program, called SMB Specialist. SMB
Specialists, which Citrix will begin certifying in January, will
have access to an extensive set of sales tools, free online
training and pre-sales support focused specifically on helping them
successfully engage and service SMB customers.
The new Citrix SMB initiative also includes support for
thousands of Citrix Ready® products from leading technology
partners like Dell and Wyse that will offer validated hardware and
software solutions easily consumed by small and midsize business.
The combination of Citrix VDI-in-a-Box 5, Citrix GoToManage, the
support of a strong Citrix Ready ecosystem, and a new SMB
Specialists channel program, all help extend the benefits of “going
virtual” at the desktop to 10s of 1000s of small and medium
businesses worldwide.
Desktop Virtualization: One Size Does Not Fit All
As the industry moves from the PC Era to the Cloud Era, desktop
virtualization is rapidly being adopted by cloud providers and
large enterprises to centrally-manage and deliver virtual desktops
and apps as a service to any user, on any device, in any location.
Small and medium businesses want to adopt desktop virtualization
for the same reasons large enterprises do – to reduce desktop
management costs, improve security and increase business agility,
but they often find enterprise-class solutions overkill for smaller
environments. Citrix acquired Kaviza in May 2011 because it shared
the vision with Kaviza founders that the SMB market has unique IT
challenges that cannot be addressed by the one-size-fits-all
approach of other vendor solutions. Citrix VDI-in-a-Box 5 is
purpose-built for SMB customers. Its simple all-in-one architecture
eliminates over 60 percent of VDI costs without compromising
features like user experience, security and high availability that
are needed by customers of all sizes.
Solutions and Engagement Model Tailored for the SMB
Market
Citrix is already the clear market leader in desktop
virtualization for enterprise customers and cloud providers with
Citrix XenDesktop®. With the addition of VDI-in-a-Box 5, Citrix now
offers the best virtual desktop solution for SMB customers as well,
along with tailored solutions, channel programs and technology
partnerships to ensure success for customers of all sizes. The new
Citrix SMB initiative includes:
- Simple, Affordable Virtual
Desktops - Citrix VDI-in-a-Box 5 is the easy, affordable,
all-in-one virtual desktop solution for SMBs. It deploys on a
single server, and includes everything Windows® administrators need
to rapidly deliver centrally-managed virtual desktops to any user,
anytime, on any device1 - for less than the cost of new PCs.
VDI-in-a-Box 5 delivers a high-definition user experience with
Citrix HDX™ technology, supports more than one billion business and
consumer devices through the Citrix Receiver™ software client, and
ensures high availability. Its dramatically simplified design
eliminates over 60 percent of traditional enterprise VDI
infrastructure – including management servers and shared storage
(SANs) - by creating a grid of off-the-shelf servers with
direct-attached storage perfect for SMB environments.
The latest release adds new features aimed at
radically simplifying virtual desktops - new wizards to further
simplify and speed virtual desktop management for Windows®
administrators, an expanded open architecture to include support
for the three major hypervisors - Microsoft Hyper-V®, Citrix
XenServer® and VMware vSphere™, ESX and ESXi - and is delivered as
a fully integrated Citrix solution backed by the worldwide
expertise and support of the market leader in desktop
virtualization. (See detailed blog).
- Remote Management and Support -
To help channel partners, managed service providers and IT
administrators support SMB customers, Citrix GoToManage has new
dashboards and alerts that make it easy to remotely monitor and
support Citrix VDI-in-a-Box servers and virtual desktop deployments
anytime, from anywhere. GoToManage continually tracks key health
and performance metrics on the physical and virtual infrastructure
helping to keep end users productive. Alerts can be configured to
provide an “early-warning-system” - giving IT pros time to
troubleshoot problems and make configuration changes before users
are impacted. With the GoToManage Remote Support module, it is easy
to set up and securely access (over the Internet) all VDI-in-a-Box
servers from a PC, Mac, or iPad.
- SMB-focused Channel Enablement -
Citrix invites partners to join the Citrix Solution Advisor program
as an SMB Specialist to help SMB customers to realize all the
benefits of desktop virtualization. Training is fast, online and
free. SMB Specialists can quickly get an evaluation up and running
for customers utilizing the free trial, as well as leverage
customer videos and testimonials, key-play marketing resources and
online forums with tips and best practices.
- Partner Ecosystem to Ease Virtual
Desktop Deployments - A key component to the Citrix strategy
for SMBs is working with a partner ecosystem to develop validated
end-to-end solutions that can be easily purchased and consumed by
customers. The Dell and Citrix VDI-in-a-Box solution, available
today from Dell, combines Dell validated server configurations and
Citrix VDI-in-a-Box software into easy-to-use reference
architectures, helping SMBs adopt desktop virtualization, while
addressing implementation complexity and eliminating capital cost
barriers. Wyse is offering the industry’s only zero-framework
clients for VDI-in-a-Box with special partner promotions (see
related announcement).
Quotes
Krishna Subramanian, Vice President, Marketing & Business
Development, SMB Solutions, Citrix
“There is pent-up demand among small and medium organizations
who want to realize the benefits of desktop virtualization but have
been underserved by existing solutions. Together with our partners,
Citrix is breaking down the barriers for smaller organizations
wanting to realize the business agility and efficiency of virtual
desktops but face tight budget and resource constraints.”
Tom Flink, Vice President, WW Channels and Market
Development, Citrix
“VDI-in-a-Box represents a significant new revenue opportunity
for the channel. Based on feedback from our partners we created a
specialization with the tools and incentives to enable the partner
community to take full advantage of the growing demand in the
market. We also eliminated complex program requirements that create
barriers for SMB-focused partners to engage with us.”
James Preston, IT Technician, Fitzharrys School,
Abingdon, UK
“We were looking for something that would extend the lifespan of
our classroom PCs, while keeping us at the leading edge of
technology. Within an hour of first hearing about VDI-in-a-Box we
had it up and running on a spare PC. Nothing else we had tried
could even match this ease and speed of free trial download to a
full production deployment. The best thing about VDI-in-a-Box is
that you can scale from 20 clients to 100 just by adding
another server - no extra configuration needed.”
Rafael Colorado, Director, Desktop Virtual Solutions,
Dell
“Small and mid-sized organizations are increasingly
acknowledging the need to streamline their desktop management with
VDI, but they are often faced with significant deployment
challenges. By combining validated Dell PowerEdge server
configurations with Citrix VDI-in-a-Box software, Dell is offering
a unique solution in the market for addressing implementation
complexity and eliminating capital cost barriers. The
combination of Citrix software with Dell hardware makes IT more
agile so SMBs can drive strategic initiatives for their
organizations.”
Param Desai, Senior Director, Product Management at Wyse
Technology
“Coupled with Citrix VDI-in-a-Box, Wyse thin clients deliver the
best-in-class, most affordable VDI solution for SMBs. To support
the wide adoption of VDI-in-a-Box, Wyse will offer a special promo
price of US $249 for the C10LE zero-framework client through common
Wyse and Citrix distributors. Wyse is excited to deliver a
flexible, secure, multiprotocol supported, no management required,
SMB virtual desktop solution with VDI-in-a-Box.”
Joining as a Citrix Solution Advisor Program SMB
Specialist
There are no minimum requirements to join as an SMB Specialist.
Partners that complete free online training will be eligible for
leads and can earn up to 10 percent rewards from the Citrix Advisor
Rewards program. New partners don’t have to wait for this
specialization to be available, they can join the Citrix Solution
Advisor program today at www.citrix.com/csa.
Product Availability
Citrix VDI-in-a-Box 5 will be released this quarter. A free
technology preview trial is available at
www.citrix.com/vdi-in-a-box/try-it. Learn more by attending a
TechTalk and product overview webinar, sign up at
www.citrix.com/vdi-in-a-box.
Related Links
- Expert Blog: Citrix Builds Desktop
Virtualization Business
- Announcement: Citrix Extends Desktop
Virtualization Portfolio with Acquisition of Kaviza
Follow Us Online
- Citrix VDI-in-a-Box page
- GoToManage page
- Twitter: @Citrix, @vdiinabox,
@GoToManage
- Citrix on Facebook; GoToManage on
Facebook
About Citrix
Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTXS) is a leading provider of
virtual computing solutions that help people work and play from
anywhere on any device. More than 230,000 enterprises rely on
Citrix to create better ways for people, IT and business to work
through virtual meetings, desktops and datacenters. Citrix
virtualization, networking and cloud solutions deliver over 100
million corporate desktops and touch 75 percent of Internet users
each day. Citrix partners with over 10,000 companies in 100
countries. Annual revenue in 2010 was $1.87 billion.
For Investors
This release contains forward-looking statements which are made
pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the
Securities Act of 1933 and of Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934. The forward-looking statements in this
release do not constitute guarantees of future performance. Those
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results to differ materially, including risks associated with the
impact of the global economy and uncertainty in the IT spending
environment, revenue growth and recognition of revenue, products
and services, their development and distribution, product demand
and pipeline, economic and competitive factors, the Company’s key
strategic relationships, acquisition and related integration risks
as well as other risks detailed in the Company’s filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Citrix assumes no obligation to
update any forward-looking information contained in this press
release or with respect to the announcements described herein.
The development, release and timing of any features or
functionality described for our products remains at our sole
discretion and is subject to change without notice or consultation.
The information provided is for informational purposes only and is
not a commitment, promise or legal obligation to deliver any
material, code or functionality and should not be relied upon in
making purchasing decisions or incorporated into any contract.
Citrix®, Citrix Summit™, VDI-in-a-Box™, GoToManage®,
XenDesktop®, HDX™ and are trademarks of Citrix Systems, Inc. and/or
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1 On any supported client device.
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