Citrix Takes Aim At SMB Market With VDI-In-A-Box 5

Desktop virtualisation specialist Citrix has announced a slew of products, solutions and programs designed to help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) move into the cloud.

In particular, Citrix has released a new version of its popular VDI-in-a-Box solution, developed together with Kaviza, the virtual desktop software company it bought last year.  VDI-in-a-Box runs on a single server and enables IT administrators to deliver centrally-managed virtual desktops to any user, on any device.

The latest version – VDI-in-a-Box 5 – adds new features aimed at simplifying virtual desktops, such as wizards for Windows administrators and an expanded open architecture to include support for the three major hypervisors (Microsoft Hyper-V, Citrix XenServer and VMware vSphere). Its simplified design also eliminates over 60 percent of traditional enterprise VDI infrastructure by creating a grid of off-the-shelf servers with direct-attached storage, said Citrix.

“There is pent-up demand among small and medium organisations who want to realise the benefits of desktop virtualisation but have been underserved by existing solutions,” said Krishna Subramanian, vice president of marketing and business development for Citrix’s SMB division.

“Together with our partners, Citrix is breaking down the barriers for smaller organisations wanting to realise the business agility and efficiency of virtual desktops but face tight budget and resource constraints.

Partner ecosystem eases VDI deployments

Dell is already offering a VDI-in-a-Box solution, combining validated Dell PowerEdge server configurations with Citrix VDI-in-a-Box software. The company said its offering would help to address implementation complexity and eliminate capital cost barriers.

Meanwhile, Wyse Technology will be the first company to offer zero-framework clients for VDI-in-a-Box. “Wyse is excited to deliver a flexible, secure, multiprotocol supported, no management required, SMB virtual desktop solution with VDI-in-a-Box,” said Param Desai, senior director of product management at Wyse.

The announcement is part of Citrix’s wider SMB initiative, which also includes a new version of its GoToManage cloud-based support offering, designed to help channel partners, managed service providers and IT administrators support SMB customers. GoToManage has new dashboards and alerts that make it easy to remotely monitor and support Citrix VDI-in-a-Box servers and virtual desktop deployments.

Citrix Synergy takes place in Barcelona from 25-27 October. We will be there, and you can read news from the event on eWEEK Europe UK.