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Cisco and Citrix are collaborating to accelerate application migration, enable mobility, and ease virtual desktop deployment.

Accelerating enterprise adoption of Citrix XenDesktop 7: Cisco and Citrix are developing prescriptive reference architectures or Cisco Validated Designs (CVD) for the Citrix XenDesktop 7 release to accelerate the adoption in the enterprise and commercial customer environments. These solutions are based on the Cisco Desktop Virtualization Architectures. Hosted on the Cisco UCS B-Series and C-series server platform with delivery models though XenDesktop 7, focuses on radical simplification through the automation and unification of both app and desktop delivery on either hosted-shared (RDS) Windows Server or Windows desktop OS-based VDI hosts with Citrix Provisioning Services (PVS).

Expanding the desktop use cases: Cisco in partnership with Nvidia, is supporting Nvidia GRID based GPU technology to complement the new GPU pass through and HDX 3D pro features in XenDesktop 7 to support power users and designers.The Nvidia GRID is supported on the Cisco UCS C240M3 rack server, which can be managed as part of UCS Manager domain, providing customers a cohesive single pane view of multiple use cases. The integrated architecture of XenDesktop 7 and Cisco UCS will enable enterprise customers more flexibility and manageability in delivering virtual desktops and virtual applications with the full range of Citrix FlexCast solutions all based on Cisco industry-leading data center solutions.

Focusing on desktop and application virtualization adoption in transformational accounts: Cisco and Citrix have jointly focused on driving the upgrade of the transitional XenApp install base and drive adoption of desktop virtualization particularly in transformational accounts where scale, resiliency and performance are key. Cisco and Citrix have jointly validated large scale 5000 user XenDeskop solution  as well as large scale heterogenous 4000 user desktop delivery solution with both hosted-shared (RDS) Windows Server and Windows desktop OS-based VDI hosts (including personal vdisk option).

For customers and partners to easily adopt these solutions, Cisco has targeted configurations for various deployment models defined through the Cisco UCS SmartPlay Configurations for Citrix XenDesktop.

As always for more details, please visit www.cisco.com/go/vdi and www.cisco.com/go/citrix



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Employees, and many businesses, want to allow personal devices to be used at work, and potentially for work. However, balancing that with corporate policies for information security, clear rights-of-use, liability, and then bounding it within an acceptable IT cost structure is no small feat. Cisco has joined forces with leading MDM vendors to link together a solution that starts at day zero – when an employee first buys a new device and tries to use it at work. It includes self-service onboarding to the network, offering a choice of using a device as a guest or work asset, and forced enrollment in (and compliance with) MDM when business policy must be enforced.

Citrix‘s new XenMobile product adds a top-tier MDM to their mobile workspace and application management solutions. Cisco and Citrix have been working together on integrating security features, starting with Zenprise before they were acquired. The tight linkage of Cisco’s Unified Access Solution, and the Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE), to Citrix XenMobile MDM, is a powerful combination for customers to deploy since it brings quite a bit more to the table than standalone MDM.

Cisco is demonstrating at Citrix Synergy LA 2013 this week a proof of concept version of Cisco Jabber for IOS and Android, integrated with XenMobile MDM and Enterprise.  As an early partner in Citrix’s MDX ecosystem, Cisco is working closely with Citrix, customers and partners to determine how best to integrate Cisco applications with XenMobile, and build upon the marketing leading virtual desktop and applications solutions Cisco and Citrix are delivering today.  Cisco Jabber is a Cisco Unified Communications (UC) client application that streamlines communications and enhances productivity. Cisco Jabber provides the best user experience across broadest range of platforms, browsers and devices.  When combined with XenMobile, Jabber can be deployed, managed and removed security, simply and efficiently by corporate IT, even on a personal device.

Blog Update:
Cisco Jabber for iPhone, iPad and Android are free to download from iTunes App Store and Google Play, respectively.  Companies can leverage an MDM solution to distribute the standard versions of Cisco Jabber, which will provide users with a pointer back to the App Store or Google Play to install the application.  Direct distribution of the application file through an MDM, including Citrix XenMobile, is not currently supported. 

 

Tags: citrix, Identity Services Engine, ISE, MDM, Mobile Device Management, mobile device security, mobile devices, unified access, Zenprise, XenMobile, Jabber



Authors

Kurt Spingman

Senior Manager Alliances

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“The farther back you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.”

 – Winston Churchill

It is nearly impossible – even foolish – to look ahead without looking back. Glimpses into the past can give us inspiration for new innovations and even teach us what not to do. Behind every great technological innovation is a solid legacy product or solution that inspired it or played an integral part in its development. Behind the printing press was paper and block printing. Behind the telephone was the telegraph. And behind the Internet of Everything (IoE)? Ethernet.Ethernet Turns 40

Today – May 22 – marks the 40th anniversary of Ethernet. In 1973, technologist and 3Com founder Robert Metcalfe designed the Ethernet to allow computer devices to communicate with each other using radio-like signals over an antenna cable. Long used for reliable and efficient access to information, its implications on the networking world reach far past the local area network (LAN).

Over the course of 40 years, our quest for connecting the unconnected continues. Our connections have become increasingly complex since Metcalfe was tasked with connecting several Xerox computers to a single printer, and we need to understand the possibilities in both the number and value of our modern-day connections.

In a previous blog post, How the Internet of Everything Will Change the World…for the Better, I referenced Metcalfe’s law: the power of the network is greater than the sum of its parts. True. But the parts need to be recognized and optimized in order to maximize this power. The Internet of Everything is a large-scale metaphor for Metcalfe’s law. The combined connections of people, processes, data, and things don’t just amount to a list of things that are connected. The actionable insights that exist with the power of networked connectivity exponentially create the Internet of Everything.

Ethernet has helped further the progress that these connections – and the insights gleaned from them – will have on the Internet of Everything. So, today we celebrate not only the introduction of Ethernet, but also the technologies it made possible.

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Learn more about Cisco’s Ethernet solutions.



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The immigration bill approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee last night represents a major step forward on high-skilled worker reform.  Our nation has a strong culture of immigration, and we need to do more to encourage, the best, the brightest, and the most ambitious minds from around the world to live and work in this nation, driving innovation and creating jobs.

The legislation will accomplish these goals by significantly reducing  the green card backlog and by providing a workable solution on H1B visas.

Great thanks to Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah and Senator Chuck  Schumer of New York for their perseverance in reaching this agreement. Cisco will continue to work with members of the Senate and House to ensure that the final legislation works for the high tech industry and our employees.”



Authors

Jeff Campbell

Senior Vice President & Chief Government Strategy Officer

Government Affairs and Public Policy

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Last week, Cisco employees, partners and customers joined forces to raise money forThe Special Olympics by enjoying the music of four live bands competing to be crowned winner of ‘Battle of the Bands 2013’.

As we’ve mentionedpreviously, Cisco is proud to partner with The Special Olympics to help raise money for the charity. The Special Olympics strives to create a better world, using the power of sport to foster the inclusion of all people, especially those living with an intellectual disability.

The live music event, held at Sydney’s Hard Rock Café, featured four bands from Cisco and its partners Alphawest, Dimension Data and UXC battling it out in front of a crowd of 300 people. Ticket sales for the evening, combined with a raffle and further donations, have helped to raise a mammoth $12,000 for The Special Olympics.

Continue reading “Battle of the Bands Night Unites Cisco Australia, Partners and Friends to Raise Money for The Special Olympics”



Authors

Linda Horiuchi

Senior Manager, Australia and New Zealand PR

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Over the past year or so, from time to time, I’ve blogged about what we in Cisco Services have been doing with our Management and Orchestration solutions – for example Cisco Intelligent Automation for cloud – which I discussed in the Automation domain in my Cisco Domain Ten series, and also here, when we introduced a new release.   Cisco’s Automation and Orchestration technology has applications beyond cloud Infrastructure as a Services (IaaS), so let me tell you over a few blogs what else our Cisco Services team can help you achieve with this flexible automation technology, where customer needs for simplicity, automation and end user productivity are in the driving seat.

I’ll start with Desktop Virtualization Automation – specifically in the provisioning process.  And while I’m at this, let me highlight our upcoming Bright Talk Webinar, scheduled for May 29th at 8am PST (5pm CET), where you can see a demonstration of our Desktop Virtualization Automation solution in action- you can register for this seminar here.

Continue reading “More on Management and Orchestration – Part 1 – Desktop Virtualization Automation”



Authors

Stephen Speirs

SP Product Management

Cisco Customer Experience (CX)

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The UTC TELECOM conference wraped recently and the Connected Grid team has had a great time on-site! It’s been exciting for us to demo key components of our product portfolio and connect with many of our core audiences. Centered on the theme of “delivering your future,” the sold-out event served as a great platform for us to discuss Cisco’s efforts within the utility industry and the migration of the grid into a fully IP-enabled world.   Continue reading “UTC Acceleration”



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This blog originally appeared on the HuffingtonPost

“We ask these men and women (veterans) to leave their families and their jobs and risk their lives to fight for our country. The last thing they should have to do is fight for a job when they get home.”

-President Obama

I can still remember the moment. I gazed out of my window at the beautifully lit Verrazano Bridge from my apartment in Brooklyn, N.Y. — one late evening in March 2003. A year and a half had passed since Sept. 11 and an address from President George W. Bush interjected the usual television programming. It was to announce the beginning of the war with Iraq.

beard

I enlisted into the military as soon as I could. While most high school seniors were applying to colleges all around the city, I headed to military recruiting offices. As part of a family that has served in the military since the Revolutionary War, it made sense why this was the only thing that felt right to me.

Continue reading “From Battlefield to the IT Field: My Story of Transition”



Authors

Courtney Beard

Network Consulting Engineer

Cisco’s Global Services Practice in New York, New York

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Over the past three years, Cisco has vaulted from the not only the leader in the networking industry, but they have become the number two blade vendor in the US and number three world-wide. This has caused some pause on the part of the top platform vendors in the industry.

Cisco is now making an impact on the application world as well. Last week at SAP Sapphire, the largest world-wide industry trade show for SAP in Orlando, Vishal Sikka, a member of the SAP Executive Board, specifically called out Cisco as a SAP HANA Server Platform Vendor in addition to their world-wide leadership role in the networking space. This was significant because this clearly puts Cisco in a different category as they gain market share in the SAP Application and SAP HANA space.

The result of this announcement was clearly visible at the Cisco booth at Sapphire. Cisco was an Onyx sponsor at Sapphire and demonstrated the many solutions that Cisco has with SAP. In the booth there was SAP HANA, SAP on Vblock, SAP on FlexPod, IT Process Automation, Afaria, and Precision Retail. The Cisco UCS Server Platform, Fabric Extender and Nexus are the basis for all these solutions with SAP. The result is Lower Total Cost of Ownership on a standardized x86 platform.



Authors

Rick Speyer

No Longer with Cisco