Citrix & Cisco UCS - Makes Perfect Sense

One of the best posts I have seen coming out of VMworld is from Harry Labanna - CTO of Citrix. What a few may not know is that prior to joining Citrix - Harry was a critical contributor to the overall desktop architecture of Goldman Sachs (nearly 80,000 desktops at one time). In starting - I must be the first to admit - as a long time Marimba customer - I have admired Goldman Sachs for their top notch Architecture and Innovation. They were one of the first to do a virtual desktop solution before it was the in thing to do.

His latest blog posts articulating the value of the Cisco & Citrix relationship is refreshing because it brings the customer experience and reality into the overall virtualization media hype. For those that have not read it yet - http://community.citrix.com/display/ocb/2010/09/07/Cisco+and+Citrix+partner+to+further+enhance+the+desktop+virtualization+ecosystem

Of course it has the "Vendors" glasses on - as we all would expect but to further Harry's point - Cisco UCS & Citrix combined with NetApp - do make perfect sense in order to bring Desktop Virtualization from a point solution to the mainstream. Why?

UCS brings a host of different technology (not just the network and the routers) but also key integrations with existing management frameworks (like BMC, HP, MS, others) to help simplify the transition from legacy hardware/software to virtual environments and the cloud.

UCS was designed around Policy Orchestration, Templates, and ITIL - key success factors in Systems Management (and BSM) that the biggest and best datacenters have recognized and adopted over the years.

NetApp has been a key VMware partner for years and has built up the credibility and IP around optimizing storage access and control not only in virtual server environments but also virtual desktop environments almost since their inception.

Starting with Presentation Server - Citrix has tried to solve the "problem" application issues for desktops delivered in the server realm for years.

Many Johnny-Come-Lately vendors speak of the revolution, suggesting rip and replace existing systems without understanding the true implications from a customer perspective or in some cases without understanding what it takes to build out and maintain the infrastructure needed to manage a large number of distributed endpoints. Not just in regards to technology but also the overall business impact.

Why is this important?

• Customers don't have a greenfield - they have legacy systems management, hardware, OS, and apps that in some cases they can not easily swap out. But where they can - it makes sense to look at the whole solution (Network, Storage, Desktop Experience). Their existing systems help them report on and prove compliance (HIPAA, PCI, SOX, etc). Whatever they add needs to work with what they have today versus where they will be eventually in a few years.
  
  
• Desktops have a bigger impact on the business - Many companies are starting with niche deployments because they can not afford a minute (hour, week) of down time across their entire call center, work group, or other key individuals that rely on the system to sustain their primary job function. This will be even more prevalent as EMR and other regulatory requirements around technology are forced to become more mainstream. For example - A doctor with out patient history (meds, ailments) is like a fish out of water. Same rings true for a Marketer without Power Point, Lawyer without case law/contracts, etc. It is even bigger for the Small to Medium Business Owner obtaining services from the Cloud without on site IT.
  
  
• Rising Energy Costs & Impact on Datacenter - Many companies I have worked with over the years moved to server virtualization because they were running out of power in the datacenter. Energy costs have continued to climb (particularly in areas like Phoenix that have a high number of data centers) and in the down economy - many IT shops can not justify adding another POP or expanding power consumption. Remember IT usually is not their primary business but a means to do business...
  
  The key take away that I saw in this article is that they are looking at it from a different perspective (the one that counts) the customers..

Universal Clients – Have Lift Off In the EXTERNAL Cloud With InstallFree

Universal Clients – Have Lift Off In the EXTERNAL Cloud With InstallFree
There are days that I think – I must be dreaming – but realize today – Universal Clients are a reality for InstallFree providers like GDS and their customers not just in the traditional sense but in the Cloud. This week was a productive week in Seattle with pivotal, explosive growth across many sectors.
How one may ask – can someone take highly regulated applications and host them in an external cloud? InstallFree provides unique capability for 2 factor GRC that fits nicely with HIPAA. Unlike other physical and virtual packages – IF provides a unique set of capability that enables many ONLY features that address critical control GAPs – making compliance in the cloud – and therefore Universal Clients a reality today – not tomorrow. The unique approach does not require additional hardware, OS changes or hypervisors in the mix.
Modularity & Security are all well thought through beyond any other desktop paradigm in the market. Yes I am biased as the VP of Business Development – but then again – that is why I am here – truly superior technology. The secret sauce is in dynamic binding down to the machine & user level. Now applications that once had to be repackaged multiple times with complex pre/post install scripts, targeting, overhead – can be reduced to a single package. Configurations can be restricted based on policy and bound at run time to make the most impossible case seem utterly simple.
What’s the bid deal? After over a decade of working with the top Fortune 1000 companies in this space a product comes along that finally gets it right. For example – A doctor with a clinic, home office for on call, and affiliated hospitals – only needs a single app to comply with HIPAA. Because of this revolutionary approach – IT can set policies that restrict what the doctor can do on his Home PC to read only, on his clinic PC to full copy, paste, and print within the confines of the environment, and to the nurse’s station based on local resources to avoid fines for printing to the wrong printer. Without requiring additional technology to make it happen other than a read only view to Active Directory…
Imagine – cutting the 3 applications used today down to 1. No extra pre/post install scripts, linking, sequencing or complex procedures just pure simple file copy. Simple enough that even the technophobe can leverage the easy to use IF Management Console without having to know how to script, link, sequence, etc… Easy as 1 2 3…
This is just the tip of the iceberg – built in Digital Rights Management, Encryption (apps & data), 2 factor discovery for “truly virtual apps” that plugs into current reporting paradigms without risks or writing to the registry, and shell integration for seamless experience – WOW.
Why care? EMR is just around the corner. New laws around privacy and encryption are under way with the Security Czar – the monolithic world, packaging, and interlocking principles will no longer suffice in the new age of Governance Risk and Compliance.
Not to mention versatility without impact on application richness (due to poor server graphics processors and remote displays) or delivery mode – online, offline or in the cloud.