Interviews

‘Over time, Citrix Has Innovated Desktop Virtualization Offerings To Five Different Flavors’

Citrix
Atul Ahuja
Director, desktop & apps, Microsoft Alliance, India subcontinent, Citrix
Citrix, the Florida-headquartered mobile workstyles enabler, is seeing growth in adoption of desktop virtualisation by Indian companies across sectors. In an exclusive interaction, Atul Ahuja Director- desktop & apps, Microsoft Alliance, India subcontinent, Citrix, speaks about how desktop virtualization and specifically, Desktops-as-a Service (DaaS) can help Indian enterprises overcome their current challenges and gain competitive edge.

CT: How can Desktop Virtualization help companies in migrating from Windows XP to Windows 7, Windows 8 and beyond?

Ahuja: The Windows 7 upgrade process can be greatly simplified using desktop virtualization. XenDesktop and AppDNA address the problem of application compatibility and application migration by providing application insight and on-demand application delivery of any Windows application.

Desktop virtualization decouples the client operating system, applications and data from the underlying hardware, and therefore a single upgrade of the operating system centrally at the datacentre, gets replicated at each end point device, without disrupting business continuity. As a result it doesn’t necessitate a hardware upgrade; eliminating the scenarios of cost expenditure and downtime. All that the procedure entails is, merely deploying the Windows 7 solution at the data centre, and all the user has to do is simply log out and re-login. When they log in to the desktop virtualization client, their systems are up and running on Windows 7/8 with all their requisite applications

CT: How is Desktop Virtualization facilitating BYOD?

Ahuja: Desktop Virtualization enables employees to connect to their desktops anytime, anywhere, on any device, as a secure, high-definition service without sacrificing IT control or security. It optimizes the delivery of desktops, applications and data to users. The operating system, apps and data are decoupled from the underlying PC hardware and moved to the data centre, where they can be centrally managed and secured. Instead of juggling thousands of static desktop images, IT can manage and update the OS and apps once, from one location, then deliver desktops and apps that are customized to meet the performance, security and mobility requirements of each individual user.

CT: How is Desktop Virtualization facilitating Citrix’ workshifting solutions?

Ahuja: Citrix workshifting solutions empower organizations to move work, cut costs, and delight employees by allowing them to choose the ideal time, place and device for work. By enabling easy online collaboration and secure access to desktops, applications and files from anywhere, organizations can reduce costs, ensure business continuity and offer a better work experience. With Citrix, organizations can attract and retain the best talent and reduce real estate, travel and labour costs by embracing a work-anywhere policy. Citrix workshifting solutions enable organizations to transform the workplace and extend productivity beyond the physical office and traditional work hours.

CT: What differentiates Citrix from other players in the marketplace in the desktop virtualization space?

Ahuja: Citrix solutions enable businesses to transform Windows desktops, apps and data into a cloud-like service accessible on any device, anywhere. It offers tailored solutions for every business – from the affordable all-in-one VDI-in-a-Box for IT organizations that require simplicity to XenDesktop designed for enterprises needing a comprehensive desktop virtualization solution. Over time, we have innovated and strengthened our offering in desktop virtualization to create five different flavors of the technology to meet the varied desktop requirements of enterprises. Using the Flexcast delivery model, IT can deliver every type of virtual desktop – each specifically tailored to meet the performance, security and flexibility requirements of each individual user whether it be tough a local VM, a streamed offering, a hosted model, a hosted and shared model.

Two other differentiators for Citrix’s desktop virtualization technology include, Citrix receiver- An easy-to-install client software that lets you access enterprise data, applications and desktops from any computing device across multiple mobile platforms and Citrix HDX enables a consistent, high-performance experience by adapting each device’s processing, graphics and network capabilities with the native capabilities of the desktops, applications and IT services they access.

CT: Could you give us some examples on how Desktop Virtualization has helped companies overcome their challenges and increase productivity?

Ahuja: Ratnakar Bank’s deployment is a good example of how desktop virtualization enhances a company’s productivity. The company realized that the challenge was to redefine the existing overall application delivery architecture and the decentralized nature of IT computing. In effect, the bank wanted to replace its traditional desktops with a desktop virtualization solution. The innovative use of Citrix XenDesktop helped the Bank deliver banking applications to all branches with greater efficiency while simultaneously lowering the cost of application delivery and time taken by over 25%. Adopting a centrally-hosted, remote monitored model with enhanced security allowed the bank to increase IT effectiveness and ROI. Their power consumption reduced by over 65%. With the new solution, tablets and other mobile devices could be used, thus added to employee mobility and great end-user experience.

Another example is Thermax, which was lagging behind in IT infrastructure. Through the deployment of Citrix XenDesktop, the company gained the advantage of managing data centrally along with an enhanced security and control.

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