Citrix has acquired app virtualisation company, Unidesk, for an undisclosed amount. The announcement was made at the company’s channel conference, Citrix Summit 2017, in California.
The purchase of Unidesk, the inventor of a Windows application packaging and management technology known as layering, further strengthens the existing relationship between Microsoft and Citrix as it makes it simpler and easier for partners and customers to securely deploy and manage apps and desktops through XenApp and XenDesktop.
The company will join the Citrix banner, but Citrix will continue to sell Unidesk as a standalone product for VMware Horizon and Microsoft virtual desktop deployment customers.
Citrix senior vice-president of engineering, Jeroen van Rotterdam, said customers will be able to leverage the "scalable and feature-rich app-layering solution that simplifies the transition to the cloud", with the need to only manage a single app image across both on-premises and cloud-based deployments.
“Unidesk has been recognised as the clear leader in application layering, offering multiple unique advantages that streamline secure app delivery and VDI deployments and make them easier to manage.
“By incorporating Unidesk technology into XenApp and XenDesktop, Citrix advances its industry leadership by offering the most powerful and easy to deploy application layering solution available for delivering and managing app and desktops in the cloud, on-premises and in hybrid deployment environments,” he said.
He also mentioned that application layering is one of the best ways to separate apps from the underlying operating system, so they can be managed once and delivered from any end user computing solution to any device.
“Citrix and Unidesk are a natural combination, and we see tremendous value for customers and partners, along with significant potential for growth for our solution," Unidesk president and CEO, Don Bulens, said.
“Citrix created the market for VDI and secure app and data delivery, so it makes the most sense to integrate our offerings into a comprehensive solution that makes deployment and management easy, while delivering an unbeatable user experience,” Bulens said.
A local Citrix spokesperson said incorporating Unidesk technology into XenApp and XenDesktop Citrix advances its industry leadership in delivering and managing app and desktops in the cloud, on-premises and in hybrid deployment environments.
“Subsequent versions of XenApp and XenDesktop will include Unidesk benefits," the spokesperson added.
In addition to the new purchase, Citrix has introduced new packages to transition from on-premises licenses to Citrix Cloud for existing customers, services that enable Citrix and Microsoft customers to deploy Windows 10 desktops on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform, services to deploy apps directly on Azure, and Smart Tools to simplify the deployment of new workspaces.
In addition, it has announced a new Citrix Ready partner initiative, targeting the mid-market, along with mobility and network management products and services that complement Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security (EMS).
“With these products and services, Citrix and Microsoft are meeting partners and customers wherever they are on their journey to the cloud, whether they continue to keep IT infrastructure on-premises, or they are moving to hybrid cloud or public cloud deployments,” Citrix product senior vice-president, PJ Hough, added.
