There is one company that we can’t overlook while discussing Workspace, virtualization, Cloud Desktops, or remote work, and that company is Citrix. For more than 30 years, Citrix has operated in this market. Throughout this time, a number of manufacturers attempted to fill the void left by Citrix, but Citrix’s expansion was backed by the technology’s developing maturity. Citrix is now a synonym of Remote Working and Citrix Cloud is the latest technology innovation which is taking the center stage.
How was Citrix evolved?
Citrix’s first product was ‘Citrix Multiuser’ which was developed using an evolving protocol, Independent Computing Architecture (ICA), which became the foundation of the ever-enhancing and highly optimized protocol. During the mid-90s the company picked popularity and became the leader in this industry. For a very long duration of time, Citrix products like MetaFrame were built and sold to enhance the value of Microsoft Terminal Server and the focus was on remote connectivity and security.
IaaS journey of Citrix
Citrix started its IaaS journey with the acquisition of cloud.com in 2011. Citrix started working on gradually providing most of the product line including XenMobile, XenApp, XenDesktop, ShareFile, etc as SaaS. This concept was the beginning of Citrix Cloud. The product line gradually became more power-packed with new enhancements and was getting adopted for the SaaS platform.
Evolution of Citrix Cloud
Currently, most of the newer developments are happening considering the Cloud as the first and go-to platform. However, there is a clear need for On-Prem versions as well, hence Citrix is taking calculated steps to gradually move its client base towards Citrix Cloud. Like other SaaS offerings, Citrix Cloud also provides some features which cannot be compared with On-Prem deployments. Some of the key additional advantages over traditional On-Prem setup are:
- Agility
- Time to market
- Evergreen, and
- Continuous innovation
Since most of the services are now available from Citrix Cloud, this article is planned to give you an introduction to what these services are. These services are evergreen and every quarter there is a completely new set of functionalities are being introduced, hence like any other cloud technology, it is essential to keep yourselves updated with what Citrix values are and how this could help your potential clients.
What is Citrix Cloud Services
The whole product line is spread into two major categories, which are Workspace and Networking, Analytics is the third product line, but it includes data from both the Workspace and Networking products. The below table would give you a summary of the few key product line which are more aligned for Workspace, we will be deep-diving into each one of these in due course of time.
| Citrix Cloud Service | What Citrix Cloud offers |
| DaaS (previously known as Virtual Apps and Desktop Services) | Possibly the most sought-after service is Citrix DaaS. It has seen huge interest in recent times. It empowers users by giving them access to all the applications or desktops they need, on any device from any Cloud. It helps with changing needs of a hybrid workforce while maintaining security and users get a unified experience whenever and wherever they need to work. |
| Citrix Endpoint Management | It is a solution for managing endpoints, offering mobile device management (MDM) and mobile application management (MAM) capabilities. With Endpoint Management, you manage device and app policies and deliver apps to users. In late 2021, Citrix announced that they are de-focusing the priority on this service, however very recently in Oct 2022, they made a comment that based on existing customer’s requirements, they are again going into the market with full throttle. |
| Content Collaboration Service (or Sharefile) | It provides unified access to files stored across multiple repositories of the customer’s choice. It ensures end users can easily access and collaborate on the document they need when they need it. It secures file sharing with Watermarking, download limits, and other DLP features. |
| Secure Private Access (SPA) Service | Access Control provides a security measure for your SaaS and Web Apps. It provides a single identity (saves you remembering multiple usernames and passwords for different SaaS), provides SSO, and advanced security measures like watermarking, disabled printing, downloads, etc. It also checks if the URLs embedded in the SaaS apps are safe to be opened. For example – if you open a safe site, then it should allow access, if there are some restricted sites, then it blocks those. You can also integrate this with the Secure browser service, which provides a disposable browser for accessing web content. |
| Gateway Service | It allows secure, contextual access to the apps and data you need to do your best work. Gateway service has multiple Points of Presence (Pops) that work on the Optimal Routing feature and ensure you get the gateway from your closest PoP. |
| Citrix Analytics | It collects data across Citrix portfolio products and generates actionable insights, enabling administrators to proactively handle user and application security threats, improve app performance, and support continuous operations. There are a few different capabilities in Analytics which are Security Analytics, Performance Analytics, and Usage Analytics. |
| ITSM Adapter | This service integrated the Citrix environment (more focussed on Citrix DaaS) with ServiceNow. There are multiple out-of-the-box workflows available, which provide a self-service option for end-users. Some of the noticeable workflows are the provision of a VDI, de-provisioning of the VDI, power management, etc. |
| Citrix Remote Browser Isolation (formally known as Secure Browser) | This service provides a disposable browser that is managed and hosted by Citrix in their data centers. As an end customer, you get a browser that runs remotely. The key benefit of this service is that it provides an air-gaped solution to prevent any data leakage or breaches. Since the browser is remote, end devices are not impacted by malicious sites, cookies, or any other such security vulnerability. |
Conclusion
As mentioned above, Citrix cloud provides simplicity, and ease of management and ensures an ever-green platform. This has been a clear choice for new deployments and for environments that are due to renewal/ refresh. The licensing model gives some flexibility and offers services as standalone or packages. More on this later. Please do let me know in the comments if you’d want to see any particular service covered in deep dive.