Citrix Online GoToMyPC Goes Mac, iPhone

May 11, 2009
Months after Webexs PCNow, Citrix is about to launch a Mac and iPhone version of its remote PC service

Months after Webex's PCNow, Citrix is about to launch a Mac and iPhone version of its remote access PC service

GoToMyPC is finally catching up to remote desktop service rival PCNow by Cisco/Webex.

Last week I met with Citrix Online’s general manager Bernardo de Albergaria at the Synergy conference in Las Vegas, where he showed the beta version of the GoToMyPC service for Mac.

And no, it will not be called GoToMyMac!

“I don’t think Mac users will mind our original name,” jokes De Albergaria.

The Santa Barbara, Calif.-independent division of Citrix also confirmed it is working on an iPhone version, as well as other platforms (perhaps Google’s Android).

“We’re working on an iPhone and other platforms. We have to make sure we do it with a great user experience in mind, and not because everybody is doing it. A lot of people are doing it just to say I have an iPhone app and put a “smack” on their homepage and it becomes the main value proposition versus what the product is. So we’ll have an iPhone application of our products whenever we are able to develop a great user experience,” added Albergaria.

Expect to see both the Mac and iPhone apps coming up this year, still 2-years after PCNow!

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Tech History 101: VMware CEO Is Citrix Godfather!

May 7, 2009
Citrix CEO Mark Templeton reflecting on VMware CEO Paul Maritz during a press conference at the Citrix Synergy press conference

Citrix CEO Mark Templeton reflecting on VMware CEO Paul Maritz during a press conference at the Citrix Synergy press conference

With all the bad blood happening between virtualization rivals, Citrix and VMware, it’s hard to imagine that both companies CEOs were actually friends and partners.

Answering a question about rival company VMware, Citrix CEO Mark Templeton revealed that his now staunch competitor Paul Maritz (VMware’s CEO) was actually Citrix’s best advocate when he was an executive at Microsoft.

If it was not for Maritz, who convinced Microsoft’s top brass to invest early in the company and later on, sign a licensing agreement that end up being a much needed lifeline for Citrix, the Florida-based company would not be here today admits Templeton.

“He’s really Citrix’s godfather,” reflects Templeton during a media conference at the Synergy conference this week in Las Vegas.

But despite the historical link, Templeton has not warmed to the idea of establishing closer relationships with his Palo Alto, Calif.-rival. “I’m not sure what we can bring to VMware at this point.”

What about a cheaper alternative to virtualization? :-)

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Citrix Demonstrates Windows 7 On iPhone, One Laptop Per Child

May 5, 2009
With the free Citrix Receiver application, one could run any Windows application, on any device

With the free Citrix Receiver application, one could run any Windows application, on any device, like the One Laptop per Child

The promise of running any software, on any device is not as far away as one would think.

Today, at Citrix’ Synergy conference, CEO Mark Templeton showed an iPhone and a One Laptop per child device running a full Windows 7 desktop.

To make this possible, the Fort Lauderdale, Fla.- company developed a piece of software, the Citrix Receiver, that displays a Windows desktop (XP, Vista or 7) stored on remote servers, in a datacentre for example.

The Citrix Receiver is available today free for a PC (Windows or Mac), the iPhone and soon for Blackberry and Android phones.

Although, it looks remarkable, this remote desktop feature is nothing new for Citrix and VMware customers.

“We could do that with VMware View since 2007,” responds Jerry Chen, senior director of desktop virtualization at VMware.

But it was a good opportunity for Templeton to show off the new “universal client” that includes all the company’s protocols (ICA, password…).

“We want to make things simple and what better way to show it then on a very simple machine like the OLPC,” said the Citrix CEO.

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IDC: IT Enjoys Renaissance In Current Economic Recession

May 5, 2009
IDC Chief Research Officer, John Gantz, believes enterprise computing is having a good time. But in which planet?

IDC Chief Research Officer, John Gantz, believes enterprise computing is having a good time. But in which planet?

Well that’s thinking way out of the box!

Speaking at the Citrix’s Synergy conference, IDC chief researcher John Gantz told an audience of IT executives that despite the economic meltdown, their line of work is enjoying a long period of growth.

“That’s about as good as it gets,” said Gantz.

For IT, the boom-bust cycle works this way: 5 years of exhuberance, a crash and a long period of growth until the next bubble.

And since the launch of the IBM 360 in 1964 there were only 3 technology crashes (70s, 85, 2000s), and today is just not one of them!

“We just had the IT bubble in 2000-2001,” Gantz recalls.

So what’s all the fuss about IT budgets shrinking and all that?

Well for Gantz, the economic recession is simply forcing companies to “do more with less,” and “sharpen their senses.”

The IDC chief researcher ended its presentation with another unbelievably optimistic line:

“The next four years are a once-a-career opportunity.”

I wonder for who! And with that, “good luck,” he ended!

IDCs point: the IT bust and boom cycles do not coincide with the worlds economys cycles

IDC's point: the IT bust and boom cycles do not coincide with the world economy's cycles

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