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).
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.
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.
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.
In April the largest conference for Oracle users, outside of Oracle OpenWorld, occurred in Denver. With 6000 attendees “Collaborate”, the annual Oracle user conference sponsored by IOUG (Independent Oracle User Group), OAUG (Oracle Application User Group) and Quest International, is one of the best events For Oracle users, whether it is Oracle Database or any of the other Oracle software products, to learn, network, share and teach. Oh, and have some fun too.
But for companies like Cisco who exhibit and sponsor Collaborate, it is also a great chance to informally “take the pulse” of the Oracle user community. The questions they ask and the sessions they attend provide a clear indicator of where Oracle users are headed, what the trends are and and where they are putting their efforts in the future. Here is what I discovered at this year’s Collaborate.
So unlike past conferences, the Oracle community is actively looking at
a) Virtualization for their Oracle infrastructure, including Databases and
b) Preconfigured/prevalidated hardware solutions (sometimes called converged infrastructure solutions) instead of just the old DIY custom system approach for hardware.
To me these are both major changes in the mindset of those using Oracle Database and applications. And the implications are significant. As virtualization permeates the large Oracle install-base (largest business software vendor), the hypervisor vendors will see significant growth and many operational aspects of Oracle infrastructures will change and improve. That virtualization push includes Oracle who is making inroads with their dramatically updated Oracle VM (virtual machine) product.
The move towards pretested hardware solutions is also a major directional shift which should drive an increased focus on reducing software and database upgrade/version cycle times and downplay the need to do extensive hardware testing. In today’s environment of “do more with less”, pretested hardware solutions may be a great way to help the Oracle IT team address that conundrum.
Can Cisco help with these trends towards more Oracle virtualization and pretested hardware configurations? The answer is a resounding YES! With our storage partners EMC and NetApp, and our software partners Oracle and VMware, we have developed an extensive array of pretested/prevalidated solutions with hypervisors (Oracle VM and vSphere), storage (EMC and NetApp) and software (Oracle Database and applications) all running on Cisco UCS servers and Cisco networking. For more information on Cisco’s Oracle solutions and to see the available Cisco Validated Designs (CVD) for Oracle, go to Cisco.com/go/oracle
Coming up in my next blog, more on the move to virtualize Oracle database and applications.
