Citrix Dazzles End Users with Self-Service Virtual Desktops from Millions of Devices

To further accelerate the mainstream adoption of desktop virtualization, Citrix announced the general availability of Citrix® Dazzle™ for Windows and Mac, along with new versions of Citrix® Receiver™ for Windows, Mac, iPhone, BlackBerry and Android. The new releases make virtual desktops far more compelling for end users, enabling unprecedented levels of flexibility, mobility and self service. As the first self-service “storefront” for enterprise applications, Citrix Dazzle gives corporate employees 24x7 self-service access to a broad array of applications, desktops and content, allowing them to choose exactly what they need, when they need it. Citrix Receiver is a lightweight software client that makes accessing virtual desktops and applications on any device as easy as turning on your TV. Together, Dazzle and Receiver work with Citrix® XenDesktop™, the company’s market-leading desktop virtualization solution, to power self-service IT for a wide range of virtual desktops, giving every user in the enterprise instant access to their corporate desktops and applications from whatever device is most convenient at the time.

While the promise of centralized security, simpler management and lower costs have been the primary drivers of desktop virtualization, delivering a great experience for end users is equally important. This is especially true as younger employees enter the workforce, bringing with them increasingly high expectations for self service, flexibility and personalization (see video “Generation Y will drive self-service virtual desktops”). By investing heavily in both enterprise scalability and user experience, Citrix continues to win accolades from desktop virtualization customers, analysts, end users and independent reviewers alike. InformationWeek recently selected Citrix XenDesktop over eight other products as its “Editor’s Choice” for desktop virtualization, while readers of Redmond Magazine chose XenDesktop as the “Best Desktop Virtualization Product” among 14 other products as part of their recent Readers' Choice awards, calling Citrix “the runaway winner with almost half the votes going its way.”

2010 Will be the Year of Desktop Virtualization
Multiple factors are converging to make 2010 a breakout year for desktop virtualization. As 2009 draws to a close, desktop virtualization is progressing along the same rapid trajectory that server virtualization enjoyed two to three years ago – moving quickly from test labs, to pilots, to full scale production deployments. As virtual desktop technologies continue to mature, an increasing number of enterprises are proving their mainstream viability by rolling out large-scale virtual desktop implementations to thousands of users, improving security and reducing desktop management costs by up to 50 percent in the process.

The desktop virtualization market is expected to accelerate further in 2010 with the highly-anticipated arrival of Windows 7 as organizations of all sizes take time to evaluate their enterprise-wide strategies for desktop computing. Many experts, in fact, expect desktop virtualization to ultimately surpass server virtualization, in part because of the sheer size of the potential markets. While server virtualization currently has an addressable market size of approximately 35 million servers worldwide, desktop virtualization has the potential to impact more than 600 million desktop users in corporate environments alone.

Demand Coming from Both End Users and IT
While the benefits of server virtualization are almost exclusively focused on IT agility and cost savings, desktop virtualization has the unique advantage of benefiting both the end user and IT. Centralized management of employee desktops gives IT what it wants most – greater security, control and cost savings. At the same time, going virtual at the desktop also gives end users what they want most – flexibility, choice and self service. Through the power of virtualization, Windows desktops can be delivered by IT as an on-demand service to any device. This flexibility gives users the ability to work from any device they choose, and to self select the services they need, when they need them. At the same time, IT gains all the benefits of centralized management and control, ensuring unprecedented security of corporate resources, and significantly lowering desktop management costs. The combination of Citrix XenDesktop at the head end, and Citrix Dazzle and Receiver on each device, enable customers to respond to the growing demand from both users and IT administrators for a simpler, richer, more powerful desktop computing experience.

Desktop Virtualization is Ready for Every User
While early VDI-only (virtual desktop infrastructure) products allowed only one model of desktop virtualization, XenDestkop 4 with its new FlexCast™ delivery technology gives customers the flexibility to deliver any type of virtual desktop, to any user, on any device – and to change this mix at any time. This unprecedented flexibility makes virtual desktops a practical reality for every type of employee – from task workers and office workers, to power users and mobile employees.

To reach broad, enterprise-wide deployment, virtual desktops must also provide a great experience for end users. Citrix addresses the first part of this equation with its market-leading HDX™ technology, which ensures a high definition experience for all end users, regardless of their location or device.

Bringing the Power of Desktop Virtualization to Any Device
The addition of self service capabilities with Citrix Dazzle and Receiver significantly enhances virtual desktop user experience by enabling employees and contractors to get instant, secure, self-service access to their full Windows desktop and everything on it from whatever device is most convenient.

Dazzle is a user-facing application that runs on any Windows or Mac computer. It acts as the storefront for all the applications IT has centrally staged in head-end infrastructure products like XenDesktop. To select an application in Dazzle, users simply browse and search based on application name, description or type. Dazzle also interfaces directly with Citrix Merchandising Server, the head-end management system that makes it easy for IT to actually start “merchandising” apps to users, not just delivering them.

Dazzle is fully integrated with Citrix Receiver, the universal software client that makes it easy for users to access corporate apps and desktops from any device they choose. With the new Receivers for BlackBerry and Android, Citrix has extended anytime access to applications to even more mobile devices. Together, Citrix Dazzle and Citrix Receiver with XenDesktop bring the power of desktop virtualization to millions of devices.

“Virtualization has brought a tremendous amount of positive change in IT over the last few years,” said Gordon Payne, senior vice president and general manager of the Desktop Division at Citrix. “Server virtualization has transformed the datacenter and holds great promise in cloud computing. As virtualization now moves to the desktop in 2010, our goal is to revolutionize the desktop computing experience for end users and IT administrators alike. With XenDesktop 4, we’re giving IT unprecedented control, security and cost savings over their desktop assets. At the same time, we’re helping IT give end users exactly what they want most, providing self service through solutions like Dazzle, and making millions of endpoint devices virtualization-ready with Receiver.”

Availability
Citrix Dazzle, Citrix Receiver and Citrix Merchandising Server are free of charge to any Citrix XenDesktop or Citrix® XenApp™ customer. The following versions of Dazzle and Receiver will be generally available to all Citrix customers in December:

• Dazzle 1.1 for Microsoft Windows; Dazzle 1.2 for Apple Mac
• Receiver 1.2 for Windows and Mac
• Receiver 2.0 for Apple iPhone (available at the Apple App Store)
• Receiver 1.0 for RIM BlackBerry (available at the BlackBerry App World store)
• Receiver tech preview for Android by Google

Product Information and Resources

• Citrix XenDesktop 4 page
• Citrix Dazzle and Receiver
• Citrix Receiver for mobile devices
• Citrix XenDesktop Community
• Citrix on Facebook
• Citrix on Twitter: @XenDesktop and #XD4