How do you prevent the spread of flu, create happier, more productive employees and "inoculate" your organization against disruption? It starts with making technology simple and adding the right organizational support. Let me explain.

The other day my eight-year-old boy, Alex, woke up complaining vaguely that he was not feeling well. He didn't have a fever, and he really didn't have other specific symptoms. At that point, I had a choice. I could send him to school and see if it went away, or I could keep him home.

Since my husband and I both work, the temptation could be to send the kids to school unless they're clearly ill. Only I didn't. At this point it's finally gotten so easy for me to seamlessly work from home at a moment's notice, there's no need to take the risk of exposing our germs to anyone else.

After getting my son to work on his homework, I logged into GoToMyPC which lets me securely view and control my office computer and work on my documents and programs as if I were sitting there in the office. I reviewed my meetings for the day, and informed the organizers I would join remotely via GoToMeeting.

Over the years, I have seen firsthand how these remote work tools have empowered myself and my husband - as well as co-workers, friends and customers who have shared their stories - to keep up with demanding jobs while balancing the rest of their lives. I helped launch GoToMyPC in 2001 then used it to work from home with a new baby. My husband could take the kids to soccer practice in the afternoon, and finish work from home at night. We're not tempted to bring our cold germs to work, and we always know we can get things done even if we're not in the office. It's no wonder work flexibility tops the list of most desired employee benefits.

Not everyone must get a vaccine for the general population to be protected so I imagine the same is true of remote work. Not everyone needs to be able to do it, but those of us "inoculated" with the ability to do so easily, at a moments notice, protect a much larger group. In so doing, we help prevent flu contagion, get work done when traffic or other disruptions threaten business, take better care of our families, and generally increase our well-being and productivity.

For organizations wanting to see these benefits, there are two potential pitfalls:

1. The key to adoption is making technology simple. For instance, I rely on GoToMyPC and GoToMeeting because they are easy-to-use and dependable. The more I use them, the more I benefit my employer with increased productivity - even when I might otherwise be unavailable. Some organizations think putting the tools in place is enough. However, they must also be easy and convenient before they will be widely adopted.

2. Work flexibility is a privilege. Organizations must provide remote work tools and encourage employees to make use of them in a responsible way. This requires a results-oriented culture of accountability. Measure task completion, not hours logged at a particular place. Plan for a future of increased work mobility and family-friendly policies. You may not want sick employees in the office, traveling employees to be out of touch, or new parents to quit, but if you don't publicly and frequently encourage remote work as a solution, that's what you may get.

My son, incidentally, was fine and back to school the next day. Perhaps I was overly cautious, but I'm sure glad it's easy for me to make that choice...

See Workshifting for more on working from anywhere.

There has been a lively discussion going on in the VDI related Blogosphere kicked off here by Dan Feller and Brian Madden here. This issue of whether or not to allow "User Installed apps "exemplifies the dichotomy that IT Pros struggle with architecting a system that meets the business challenges of security, cost, and compliance plus at the same time satisfying the needs of knowledge workers with high demands and expectations.

As VDI expands from task oriented deployments to broader general purpose PC replacement scenarios this issue is likely to gain more attention. Most companies don't condone user installed apps but many do allow users to have administrator rights to their work PC and may look the other way regarding what an individual installs on their own. When it comes time to virtualize everything for VDI however now they need to pay attention. But how big an issues it ?

Dan indicates from an IT best practice standpoint it is better to develop an effective workflow that speeds and automates the IT approval, packaging, and delivery of new apps that individuals need to be productive. Will knowledge workers accept this solution ? As the commenter's indicate, this works for some but not all situations. Brian Madden proposed another alternative, just give the power users a second VM for unique/personal apps. Keep the corporate VM pristine under IT control and let users have their own separate sandbox if warranted. This may be a bit of a brute force solution but would work If the costs are justified. I like it because I do it myself now, although I use lab VM's as a sandbox vs IT delivered VM's. The commenter's however also found issues with this solution due to costs plus compliance issues about what SW/data gets installed into those user VM's. Some offered up BYOC as a solution if users really needed their own environment. There are many 3rd parties looking to enable User Installed apps as well, however even if the technical challenges are solved will IT support/endorse/allow this? Let me put forth another option/proposal, sometimes when I'm on a system thats not mine or a thin client I connect to my home PC via GoToMyPC and keep it running as long as I need it. This gives me access to apps that are not provided by IT, I have all the freedom to install what ever I want and IT doesn't need to deal with infrastructure costs or compliance issues. Yes this assumes that the power user has their own powered on PC and GoToMyPC does not currently have all of the features I might want for this solution, but you get the idea.

Let us know what you situations you face, is it a problem and do you see a solution for it? If you have another idea or comments on the above, please share it.

Don't miss this webcast as our Systems Engineers discuss the new technical features and benefits of XenDesktop 4. Find out why XenDesktop is the most flexible way to centralise and deliver your desktops.

In this webinar you will learn:

• What's new in the latest version of XenDesktop 4
• Best practices for upgrading to the latest release

Click below to learn more:
http://www.citrix.com/English/NE/events/event.asp?eventID=1857244

In this session you will learn about the key improvements in Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, and new license bundles from Microsoft in addition to how Citrix and Microsoft continue to innovate together to further develop and enhance desktop virtualisation.

In this webinar you will learn:

• What's new in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2
• About new virtual desktop licensing bundles from Microsoft
• How Microsoft and Citrix work together to deliver virtual desktops

Click below to learn more:
http://www.citrix.com/English/NE/events/event.asp?eventID=1857900

You are invited to the next meeting of the New York Metro Citrix Users Group.

The User Group provides members with an opportunity to share and learn about common issues and utilization of Citrix® technology. Additional discussions include technology design and infrastructure, enterprise solutions and ideas, trends, and upcoming activities of interest.

Agenda:
4:00 Opening Remarks - Mediator
4:05 Citrix Announcements - Citrix
• Product Updates
• Beta Announcements
• Tech Releases
4:30 Application Virtualization - Streaming
• Citrix
• Symantec
• Microsoft
4:45 Citrix VPX - Citrix
5:15 Open Discussion - ALL
• Feature Requests
6:00 Next Meeting - Agenda Requests

This event will be hosted by Ivan Carrasco, Corporate Network, Depository Trust Clearing Company and supported by Citrix Systems.

Click below to learn more:
http://www.citrix.com/English/NE/events/event.asp?eventID=1857032

You are invited to the next meeting of the New York Metro Citrix Users Group.

The User Group provides members with an opportunity to share and learn about common issues and utilization of Citrix® technology. Additional discussions include technology design and infrastructure, enterprise solutions and ideas, trends, and upcoming activities of interest.

Agenda:
4:00 Opening Remarks - Mediator
4:05 Citrix Announcements - Citrix
• Product Updates
• Beta Announcements
• Tech Releases
4:30 Application Virtualization - Streaming
• Citrix
• Symantec
• Microsoft
4:45 Citrix VPX - Citrix
5:15 Open Discussion - ALL
• Feature Requests
6:00 Next Meeting - Agenda Requests

This event will be hosted by Ivan Carrasco, Corporate Network, Depository Trust Clearing Company and supported by Citrix Systems.

Click below to learn more:
http://www.citrix.com/English/NE/events/event.asp?eventID=1857031

You are invited to the next meeting of the New Jersey Citrix User Group

Twitter: http://twitter.com/nycctxusrgroup

The User Group provides members with an opportunity to share and learn about common issues and utilization of CITRIX technology. Additional discussions include technology design and infrastructure, enterprise solutions and ideas, trends, and upcoming activities of interest.

Agenda

• 9:00AM Opening Remarks - Mediator 9:15AM Citrix Announcements - Citrix Product Updates
• Beta Announcements
• Tech Releases 9:45AM Scheduled Presentation - TBD
• Feature Requests 10:30AM Open Discussion - ALL

Click below to learn more:
http://www.citrix.com/English/NE/events/event.asp?eventID=1858386

Citrix Geek Speak is an event format that allows Citrix, Citrix partners, other IT resellers and customers to exchange their know-how in free discussions following a defined subject around the main subject "Desktop Virtualization".

Date: 11/12/2009
Time: 14.30 CET - 21.00 CET
Location:
Europaplatz 1
CH-6005 Luzern
Switzerland
Hosted by: Citrix Central Europe
Venue: KKL Luzern / Kultur- und Kongresszentrum

Click below to learn more:
http://www.citrix-eventservice.de/geek-speak/termine-und-orte/#2009-11-12

Citrix Geek Speak is an event format that allows Citrix, Citrix partners, other IT resellers and customers to exchange their know-how in free discussions following a defined subject around the main subject "Desktop Virtualization".

Date: 11/2/2009
Time: 14.30 CET - 21.00 CET
Location:
Karlsplatz 13/011
A-1040 Wien
Austria
Hosted by: Citrix Central Europe
Venue: Technische Universität Wien / Hörsaal 6

Click below to learn more:
http://www.citrix-eventservice.de/geek-speak/termine-und-orte/#2009-11-02

Citrix Geek Speak is an event format that allows Citrix, Citrix partners, other IT resellers and customers to exchange their know-how in free discussions following a defined subject around the main subject "Desktop Virtualization".

Date: 10/27/2009
Time: 14.30 CET - 21.00 CET
Location:
Kurfürsten-Anlage 52-60
69115 Heidelberg
Germany
Hosted by: Citrix Central Europe
Venue: Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG / Print Media Academy

Click below to learn more:
http://www.citrix-eventservice.de/geek-speak/termine-und-orte/#2009-10-27

Prepare your calendar for another one of those great meeting of the minds events that brings together the best presenters and attendees for collaboration on all things Citrix. The next bi-annual DocForum event is going to be held on December 5, 2009 at seines highs in Courbevoie, France. I've included information about the event below in both English and French

About DocForum

The meetings at DocForum are non-commercial and all about technologies around Citrix, Terminal Server and SBC in general.
The goal of these meetings is to bring together the best in the French IT sector together to exchange experiences and know-how.
DocForum meetings are held bi-annually in June and December, with free registration.
The next DocForum event is on December 5, 2009

À propos de DocForum

Les DocForum sont des rencontres non commerciales autour des technologies Citrix, Terminal server et SBC en général.
Le but de ces journées est de réunir les meilleurs IT Francais du secteur, pour échanger leurs expériences et leurs savoir-faire.
Nos rencontres sont bi-annuelles, en Juin et Décembre, libre d'inscription.
Prochain DocForum le 5 Décembre

About the Event

The second bi-annual DocForum event registrations are open. As for the first opus, this happen a Saturday, December 5 at Courbevoie in seines highs.

For the second DocForum we will have a true Hall with 40 seats with all the equipment due to this day. This will always be a day without sponsor, so of technical presentations without trade.

Given the number of registered persons, first DocForum that do are not come (unfortunately without warning). We will ask you a symbolic contribution from 5 € per person*. Such participation will be used to validate your subscription, so it is best that you use the same e-mail between PayPal and the form below.

A propos de l'événement

Les inscriptions au deuxième DocForum sont ouvertes. Comme pour le premier opus, cela se passera un samedi, le 5 décembre à Courbevoie dans les hauts de seines.

Pour le deuxième DocForum nous aurons une vraie salle de 40 places, avec tout l'équipement dû à cette journée. Ce sera toujours une journée sans Sponsor, donc que des présentations techniques sans commerce.

Vu le nombre de personnes inscrites, au premier DocForum, qui ne sont pas venu (malheureusement sans prévenir). Nous allons vous demander une participation symbolique de 5€ par personne*. Cette participation servira à valider votre inscription, il est donc préférable que vous utilisiez la même adresse email entre Paypal et le formulaire ci-dessous.

For more information about the event click below:
http://www.docforum.fr/

I just returned home from attending this year's CUGtech Autumn 2009 event in Geilo, Norway hosted by Citrix User Group Norway. It was my first time attending this event, and even with hearing all the great things about this event, I don't think I was even remotely prepared to experience at how truly impressive of an event our friends in Norway put together.

One has to keep in mind that this is a Citrix User Group run event, but this is no ordinary users group, they are at the top their game in every respect. Yes they hold regular users group meetings in the traditional sense of what one would expect to be a users group, but they also hold bi-annual CUGtech events, which one could say are on par with or one could say even compete with some of the other corporate run industry events. I think that it is great to see a users group evolve from being a local community to become a global community that attracts people from all over the world.
To get a better understanding of why I was really impressed by this event and Citrix User Group Norway, I guess I have to start off with talking about what they put into the making of this event happen from the planning to the execution.

We all need an identity and or something to represent. Having a logo is a good start, and I've got to say that Citrix User Group Norway has got to have one the snazziest logo's yet for a users group. Being one who loves visuals I think that a visual identity is very important aspect of any group or organization.

They have also taken this identity and applied it to documentation, banners, singage, and swag for the event, like any major industry would do.

But where would we be if everything was just dressing, we need a little substance to that eye candy right. Well, it was very interesting to see how much substance there was at this event. The planners of this event like so many others these days have also had to come to terms with the fact that we can no longer have a single track event. There are just so many products and technologies to talk about, and not to mention the focus, such as being technical or operational in perspective, that it is not possible to hold an event these days without running dual tracks to cover it all. If you have ever had the pleasure of trying to organize any type of event you can certainly appreciate all the planning of that goes into making a schedule like this.

CUG Agenda

Choosing where to hold an event is always an interesting challenge. One has to try and choose a location that is something more than a place to hold and event, as we all want a venue that has a little something more to offer than just a conference hall, or is a place that is easy to travel to while keeping cost to a minimum. I think that at first glance some people, and I could be wrong about this, would view traveling into the mountains of Norway as not being the easy part to travel to. But you have to remember that this is Europe, and they have the whole train thing down very well. The event was held in Geilo, Norway which is one the major Ski resort areas in Norway, and is only about a three hour train ride from Oslo.

For me the train ride was part of the whole event, as we traveled there with many of the attendees of the event, and it gave all of us an opportunity to get know each other a little better, Oh and did I mention there was bar on this train.

Usually most events are held in places rich in night life, but don't let the location fool you, as I soon learned that this played into the events favor, as it didn't suffer from the usual disbursement of attendees being side-tracked to other attractions. If you take a look at the schedule you notice that this event goes very far into making sure it is a great time for all, the actual schedule for the first day's events go from 8:00 AM until 2:00AM, and let me tell you what a day that was, the first word that come to mind is WOW! The event planners really outdid themselves, as we went from a day of sessions to having a grand dinner together, to having a Ski party where everyone dressed up in the favorite Ski gear, to having a Geek Speak session at 1AM. They even had a kicking band playing for pretty much the entire night, to along with the pinball machines, and arcade skiing machines.

The Citrix User Group Norway would not be possible if weren't for the dedication of its members, leaders, and sponsors that over the years have grown this community to where it is today.
I would like to thank Kenneth Beck, Bjørn Uddal, and all of the many great people from Citrix User Group Norway for putting together such a great event. It was great to be a part of it all, and to meet so many people who are truly passionate about Citrix Technologies.

I would also like to thank the many sponsors that have also given their support like Atea, Commaxx, Logica, RES Software, and Steria.

Well its time to catch a plane, but I hope I have given you enough of a slice of what CUGtech is all about, and if you ever get the opportunity to attend one, I wouldn't hesitate on doing so.

Sometimes I wonder if people really connect the fact that Citrix Systems and Citrix Online are the same company.  I also wonder if people understand that the same company that completely dominates the hosted application and desktop market also is the dominant player in online collaborative services.  In fact Citrix Online products rank top 4 in the world among Software as a Service (SaaS) vendors.  Next time you see a GoToMeeting advertisement on Fox News, Discovery or whatever your favorite TV channel is... take a good look.  You'll notice at the end of each commercial a tie-in to Citrix.

Maybe one of the reasons that this connection is not readily understood is the market dynamic.  Could it be organizations using GoToMeeting or GoToMyPC may not be using XenApp or XenDesktop?  In fact the Online products are so easy to use, IT is rarely involved.  You merely sign up for the service and start to use the meetings, webinars, and other collaborative tools. 

So while I'm musing I also wondered how many service providers (or hosting companies) out there understand the value they would bring to one of their customers if they could bundle a collaboration service with other application/desktop hosting solutions.  Did you know that according to many analysts collaboration is the #2 revenue generator in an $8+ Billion Market?  It's just behind business grade email in terms of demand. 

The service from Citrix Online is so easy that I used it the other day to give a presentation to a customer in China.  That's right... I used my Internet connection from home (East Coast time was 10:00 P.M. - too late to be in the office) to do the presentation.  But what was really cool was pulling my PowerPoint up using XenApp, making changes securely over the Internet 5 minutes before the meeting and then firing up GoToMeeting in four different locations on three different continents.  What a business case in this new economy...Just think of all the applications your customers (SMB) have while they continue to grapple with shrinking travel budgets.

If you're in the hosting business and want to enhance your ability to service your customer, why aren't you in the Citrix Online Affiliate Program?  All you have to do is sign up, plaster one of the best brands in the world on your web site and begin to collect revenues for it.  Not quite ready to take the full steps to being an Affiliate but still want to make some cash?  Citrix Online also pays for referrals.  Sounds easy enough, doesn't it?  Now you can take your million dollar business and add another couple of hundred thousand to it.  Why would you not do this?  I dunno?

Seems like a pretty good idea to me.

One of the new exclusive Windows 7 feature is the use of search connectors. Users have the ability to search remote file repositories on the local network or web using Windows Explorer. I've created a Windows 7 search connector to search content into the Citrix Knowledgebase.

Download the CitrixKB CitrixKB.zip search Connector and add http://support.citrix.com and http://api.bing.com to your trusted sites in your Internet Explorer. (Tools -> Internet Options -> Security)

Now you can start your Windows Explorer, click Citrix on the left favorite pane and enter your search string.

In order to connect Unified Communications (UC) with Cloud we first need to start from a model for business integration that includes the processes and data models defining how a business operates. The best representation I've found of this is a work by Paul R. Smith as shown in the diagram below (redrawn by Marcel Douwe Dekker). Note that there are two distinct areas that define the Business Model, namely Processes and Data.  Business Process Integration is the sum of converging Data and Processes and results in the requirements that define the total operations of each business. This is important because without the analysis of both sides of the business, critical requirements are often missed and a comprehensive Information Technology approach becomes difficult.
 

In the world of UC, elements of each (processes and data), are merged to "provide a consistent unified user interface and user experience across multiple devices and media types", including but not limited to "communication services such as instant messaging (chat), presence information, IP telephony, video conferencing, call control and speech control with non real-time communication services such as unified messaging (integrated voicemail, e-mail, SMS and fax)".  As shown in the diagram (above right) both real-time and non real-time communications flow up into the Business Model Integration schema to round out the entire business operations definition.

Unified Communications has been the 'holy grail' for large service providers looking to bridge the gap between IP and voice services over the past 15 years.  Now, with the emergence of Software as a Service and Platforms as a Service, Cloud Providers have the ability to virtualize a solution to fill the requirements of Business Model Integration, but many are not bridging the gap to communications. As depicted in the diagram below, by delivering VMs, Desktops and Applications as well as real-time and non real-time communications in a PaaS model, a foundation for automation can be built for the next generation of Information Technology and Business Model Integration.  The missing link in a complete service offering has been the integration of UC and SaaS.

                                         
 
Unfortunately, Cloud Providers have not been able to grasp the idea of Holistic Cloud Computing yet and therefore have largely been focused on Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS).  Alternatively, Incumbent Service Providers (AT&T, BT, Telefonica, Unicom, etc) are mainly concentrating on the UC portion of the model, and are not providing SaaS but have relegated this offering to companies such as Saleforce.com, WebEx/Cisco and CitrixOnline.  SaaS providers tend to be monolithic in their offerings providing software applications but do not offer IaaS or PaaS.

The demand is growing for a more holistic approach to providing ubiquitous service.  Incumbent Services Providers have the means (cash, network, and brand) but no sense of urgency and a misunderstanding of their role in PaaS.  Cloud Providers have the technology, but not the UC implementations.  Although beginning to move into the collaboration portion of UC, most SaaS providers tend to focus on a silo of applications and are growing so rapidly they have little desire to broaden their offerings. This creates a tremendous opportunity for Tier 2 and Tier 3 Cloud Providers to quickly gain market share as the demand is left unmet by larger players (i.e. Tier 1 Service Providers and Tier 1 Cloud Providers).  The key to capturing this market is to understand the emerging SaaS model that includes both Web and Windows based applications as well as incorporating UC offerings into subscription services.

Citrix enables IaaS/PaaS with our C3 technology. Microsoft enables a UC suite of applications. Once the redefinition of SaaS is embraced (both Web and Windows apps) Service Providers will enable services through the hosted desktop using the Citrix Service Provider program.

Registration is now open for this years Autumn 2009 CUGtech event in Geilo, Norway on Oct 7th through Oct 9th. It looks like there might also be a discount for the event by registering as a member.

Register here to participate at CUGtech Autumn 2009

• You will have to pay directly to the hotel when checking out Friday, using creditcard or cash.
• Register as a member now and get 50% discount for the membership valid thru 31/12-09.
• Only members can attend Master Classes, and get the special member price for the conference.

Click below to continue to registration:
http://cug.no/cugtech-autumn-2009/register/

Here is a nice view of the Geek Wonderland where the event will be hosted.

Geilo, Norway

Click below to learn more about the event:

CUGtech Autumn 2009: http://cug.no/cugtech-autumn-2009/
Location: http://cug.no/cugtech-autumn-2009/location/
Transport: http://cug.no/cugtech-autumn-2009/transport/
Speakers: http://cug.no/cugtech-autumn-2009/speakers/
Agenda: http://cug.no/cugtech-autumn-2009/agenda/
Master Classes: http://cug.no/cugtech-autumn-2009/master-classes/
Register: http://cug.no/cugtech-autumn-2009/register

Get ready for another European Geek Out event at this year's CUGtech event being hosted by Citrix Users Group Norway on Oct 7 through Oct 9 at the Dr. Holms Hotel in Geilo, Norway

This will be HARDCORE technical stuff with some of the best geeks in the world!
Shawn Bass and Benny Tritsch are coming! So are Alex Yushchenko, the founder and master of PubForum! We also have our danish friend Rene Vester from DKCUG on the speakers list! From Citrix we will have speakers from Citrix Support and Citrix Consulting, and from US our dear friends Rich Crusco and Rick Dehlinger are coming.

If you don't know about Citrix Users Group Norway, climb out from under that rock you have been living under, and come and join us at one of Europe's premier independently run Citrix Users Group events.

Click below to learn more:

CUGtech Autumn 2009: http://cug.no/cugtech-autumn-2009/
Location: http://cug.no/cugtech-autumn-2009/location/
Transport: http://cug.no/cugtech-autumn-2009/transport/
Speakers: http://cug.no/cugtech-autumn-2009/speakers/
Agenda: http://cug.no/cugtech-autumn-2009/agenda/
Master Classes: http://cug.no/cugtech-autumn-2009/master-classes/
Register: http://cug.no/cugtech-autumn-2009/register/

Stay tuned for more announcements about when registration will be made avaialble