Citrix Expects Receiver to Put VMware on Hold

Used in conjunction with Citrix’s Dazzle platform for managing application deployment, the two technologies are intended to create the equivalent of a self-service application store in the enterprise via which end users can give themselves access to any application they are authorized to use from any device that is connected to a virtual server.

Citrix expects that Dazzle and Receiver will go a long way toward driving home the point to customers that Citrix is the only supplier of desktop virtualization technologies that is not asking customers to commit to one model or another. Instead, Citrix officials stress that there are least six different approaches to desktop virtualization and a large pool of potential client devices, including Linux and Apple Macintosh systems as well as smartphones, that Citrix can support.

In contrast, Citrix officials say that VMware is attempting to confine customers to only one type of desktop virtualization model known as virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), which they say may be appropriate for some customers while other customers may find the network, server and storage upgrades typically associated with VDI to be cost-prohibitive. In addition, they noted that VMware approach at this point is confined to Windows clients and that the Citrix approach to virtual desktops supports multiple types of virtual server implementations. Customers can also opt to toggle between Windows XP and Windows 7 desktops if they so desire.

As part of an effort to back up its approach to desktop virtualization diversity, Citrix has also changed its software licensing model. Customers can now buy units of Citrix software that can be applied to any one of six different desktop virtualization scenarios, including terminal services, to give customers flexibility. After all, said Citrix officials, most customers at the moment are not sure which desktop virtualization model is going to prove to be most appropriate. As such, they need a more flexible licensing model, which Citrix has made an inherent part of its recently unveiled FlexCast architecture. The six desktop virtualization models that Citrix supports are VDI, hosted shared desktops, hosted blade PC desktops in the data center, local streamed desktops, virtual machines running on local desktops and virtual applications running on remote servers.

Most customers, they added, are still evaluating the implications of Windows 7, which Citrix said they expect will push more customers toward desktop virtualization models that today provide IT organizations with the benefits of centralized management without requiring users to compromise on key aspects of the PC computing experience.

In addition, Citrix officials said they will be extending the company’s portfolio of desktop virtualization software to include mobile computing devices with the introduction of a hypervisor implementation designed specifically for devices that need to re-establish their state with servers and networks once they have been reconnected to the network.