Cisco and Citrix Systems announced they are working together to deliver a new combined desktop virtualization solution that will make it easier and more cost effective for businesses to deploy high-definition virtual desktops and applications to all users across the enterprise. The new Cisco® Desktop Virtualization Solution with Citrix XenDesktop® combines Cisco unified computing and Citrix desktop virtualization technologies including FlexCast™ and HDX™, to deliver the most cost-effective, scalable and high-performance solution for hosting, securing and optimizing the delivery of virtual desktops and applications. Cisco Desktop Virtualization Solution with Citrix XenDesktop is available now through joint channel partners.

Desktop virtualization is rapidly growing in popularity as a more secure, flexible way to deliver Windows desktops and applications to business users in any location, using any device. As customers of all sizes move to desktop virtualization, they need simpler, more scalable solutions that integrate software, hardware and support. The new desktop virtualization solution from Cisco and Citrix is the first combined solution on the market to address this need, giving information technology (IT) organizations an easy way to accelerate the deployment of desktop virtualization with the best performance, user experience and cost savings.

Key Facts and Highlights:

The Cisco and Citrix desktop virtualization solution combines the Cisco Unified Computing System™ (UCS) with Citrix XenDesktop technologies to provide the following benefits to customers:

Accelerates Mainstream Adoption of Desktop Virtualization

• Service Profiles to Speed Set-Up Time – Preconfigured service profiles for hosted shared desktops and hosted VDI (virtual desktop infrastructure) based desktops drastically simplify adoption by cutting down the time required to install and configure XenDesktop with the Cisco UCS.

• Preconfigured Kits to Ease Deployment – Customized kits for XenDesktop user scenarios substantially ease operations by accelerating deployment times. The Starter Kit allows customers to easily get started with the first 300 virtual desktops. An Expansion Kit allows customers to scale to thousands of additional desktops and users in a plug-and-play modular fashion.

• Cisco Validated Design to Help Ensure Pretested Interoperability – To further simplify and accelerate customer implementations, a reference design architecture is now available based on extensive testing at scale conducted jointly by Cisco, Citrix and NetApp. The reference design architecture also features NetApp as the validated storage platform. This design architecture is a continuation of the open ecosystem strategy for supporting customer choice shared by both Cisco and Citrix.

• Combined Support Services – Combined support services are offered to customers for this solution via a single support number. Additionally, Cisco and Citrix service teams are collaborating and cross-training to provide an unparalleled customer experience.

• Open Architecture for Easy Integration – The solution is also designed to be open, making it easy for customers to take advantage of existing storage and hypervisor investments. It is validated with Citrix XenServer® and VMware vSphere™ today, with support for Microsoft Hyper-V™ planned in the near future.

Reduces Costs Through Industry-leading Scalability of Cisco Unified Computing System

• Greater Density and Performance – With traditional server platforms, memory can become a bottleneck as virtual desktops are scaled to meet the growing demands of the business. The Cisco UCS offers memory-extension technology that can deliver up to 60 percent greater virtual desktop density per server with no degradation in application performance when compared with other server platforms with standard memory configurations.

• 20 Percent Lower Data Center Infrastructure Cost per User – The combination of higher user density per system and the tight integration of networking computing and virtualization provided by the Cisco UCS leads to 20 percent lower cost of infrastructure per virtual desktop.

Supports Any Device in Any Location

• The combined solution makes it easy for end users to access their corporate desktops and applications from any combination of PCs, Macs, laptops, thin clients, smartphones and tablets using the universal Citrix Receiver™ software client.

• Wide-area network services from Cisco and Citrix extend an organization’s reach while providing an on-ramp for users to access their virtual desktops and applications more securely from the office, home or any on-the-road location.

Delivers Uncompromised User Experience with Citrix HDX Technology

• The combined solution delivers an uncompromised high-definition user experience driven by Citrix HDX technology and can be customized on a per-user basis.

• User experience is further enhanced through Cisco’s technology leadership in enterprise networking and computing.

Supports All Enterprise Users with Citrix FlexCast Technology

• Different types of workers across the enterprise need different types of virtual desktops and applications. The Citrix FlexCast technology in XenDesktop makes it easy for customers to choose the best virtual desktop and application technologies to meet the exact performance, security, mobility and personalization requirements of each individual user.

• The combined solution includes all the capabilities of Citrix XenApp™, including integration with Microsoft App-V, making it easy for customers to deliver Windows apps as an on-demand service to any device, across any type of physical or virtual desktop.

Increases Security and Simplifies Compliance

• Organizations can improve security and access control through the centralization of desktop infrastructure. Additionally, technologies like Cisco VN-Link increase network and virtual desktop visibility and control.

• Integrated Citrix SmartAuditor™ technology enhances data integrity and compliance requirements for all virtual sessions delivered by the combined solution.

Supporting Quotes:

Prem Jain, senior vice president of Server, Access and Virtualization Technology Group at Cisco

“By combining our innovations in unified computing with industry-leading desktop virtualization, from Citrix, we are delivering an integrated solution that drives down the cost and complexity of virtual desktop environments, while improving security and operational control.”

Gordon Payne, senior vice president and general manager, Desktop Division at Citrix

“The combined solution we’re announcing today represents a significant milestone in delivering on our vision to simplify desktop computing for enterprises around the world. The combination of industry leading technology from Citrix and Cisco will help further drive down the costs of desktop virtualization and speed deployments through a high-performance and scalable architecture.”

John Ryan, vice president and global portfolio executive for CSC’s Managed Services Sector (MSS)

“The combined Cisco and Citrix solution brings together industry-leading technology in a very powerful way to help drive mainstream adoption of desktop virtualization. We find this solution compelling for its ability to support large-scale implementations with lower cost and ability to scale. CSC plans to leverage and utilize Cisco Desktop Virtualization Solution with Citrix XenDesktop as a core element of our CSC Dynamic Desktop solution to implement large-scale desktop virtualization deployments for our customers.”

Patrick Rogers, vice president of Alliances and Solutions at NetApp

“NetApp worked together with Cisco and Citrix to define and test the Cisco Validated Design Architecture, which addresses our customers’ growing needs for desktop virtualization that is highly secure, flexible and drives down costs without impacting performance or scalability.”