After previewing its Workspace Cloud at its Synergy event last May, Citrix has now announced general availability of Citrix Workspace Cloud. The cloud platform creates a new control plane that merges the worlds of on-premises and cloud hosting environments, allowing IT managers to create secured, mobile workspaces that include desktops, applications and data from whatever infrastructure source best meets their specific needs.
Since May 2015, thousands of Citrix customer and partner test drives and trials have provided feedback to ensure the services are simple, fast and easy to deploy, while delivering a an intuitive user experience.
In some cases, administrators have been able to stand up a complete Citrix virtual desktop environment for approximately 50 users in a matter of minutes, according to Citrix. The cloud-based platform simplified the virtual app and desktop deployment process by eliminating the need to build the hosting infrastructure and configure the virtual app and desktop components.
More than 70 percent of Citrix Workspace Cloud trial participants surveyed have indicated plans to use the new platform to migrate resources to the cloud, and manage application and data workloads running in more than one cloud or data center infrastructure location.
Citrix Workspace Cloud is now available with the following service packages:
- Virtual Desktops – a “low-cost” package to “securely” deliver any type of virtual desktop to any device. This package offers the flexibility to deliver Windows or Linux hosted shared and VDI desktops. Included are file, sync and share services and predefined blueprints for “fast, reliable” deployment.
- Virtual Apps and Desktops – a comprehensive package to deliver Windows and Linux applications, browsers and desktops to any device with “high security, performance and deployment flexibility.” This service package also includes extensive features to design, edit and deploy app and desktop blueprints, and to “efficiently” monitor and manage deployments, along with file, sync and share services.
- Integrated Apps and Data Suitev- an integrated workspace package that includes all of the capabilities of the Virtual Apps and Desktops Services package, plus mobile device and app management, and productivity apps.
- Lifecycle Management – operational packages that include the full complement of features to design, edit and deploy app and desktop blueprints, and “efficiently” monitor and manage deployments. The entry-level package is available at no charge to Citrix customers that are current with Software Maintenance.
“With Citrix Workspace Cloud, we are opening up virtualization and VDI to a whole new range of customers, for whom it was too complex or too expensive for in the past,” said Jesse Lipson, Vice President & General Manager, Citrix Workflow and Workspace Cloud. “Citrix Workspace Cloud stands apart as the only delivery platform that provides partners and customers with their choice of any cloud and range of hybrid and on-premises infrastructures, a degree of flexibility that is unmatched in the industry.”
