Citrix Systems is targeting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with a range of desktop virtualisation products.
This emerged at the Citrix Synergy Conference, in Barcelona, yesterday, when the company revealed that central to its new SME initiative is the release of the Citrix VDI-in-a-Box, which it touts as an all-in-one virtual desktop solution designed specifically for the emerging business.
According to Citrix, VDI-in-a-Box 5 is the maiden release of this desktop virtualisation product, following the acquisition of Kaviza in May 2011.
Tom Flink, VP, WW channels and market development, Citrix, said VDI-in-a-Box represents a significant new revenue opportunity for the channel.
“Based on feedback from our partners, we created a specialisation with the tools and incentives to enable the partner community to take full advantage of the growing demand in the market. We also eliminated complex programme requirements that create barriers for SMB-focused partners to engage with us,” he noted.
Citrix also unveiled a new solution that combines Citrix VDI-in-a-Box and the Citrix GoToManage cloud-based support offering. The solution enables managed service providers and IT staff to remotely monitor and support virtual desktop deployments at multiple sites or customer locations.
The company also revealed a new channel partner specialisation for the Citrix Solution Advisor Programme, called SMB Specialist.
Said Krishna Subramanian, VP, marketing and business development, SMB solutions, Citrix: “There is pent-up demand among small and medium organisations who want to realise the benefits of desktop virtualisation, but have been underserved by existing solutions.”
In a keynote address yesterday, Citrix president and CEO Mark Templeton revealed that as the industry moves from the PC era to the cloud era, desktop virtualisation is rapidly being adopted by cloud providers and large enterprises to centrally manage and deliver virtual desktops.
He also noted that SMEs want to adopt desktop virtualisation for the same reasons large enterprises do - to reduce desktop management costs, improve security and increase business agility.
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