Citrix teams up with Dell to deliver VDI Appliance

Citrix Systems announced that it has teamed up with Dell to deliver a new VDI appliance that simplifies and accelerates desktop virtualization deployments for the mass market. As per the company’s media release, Dell DVS Simplified solution with Citrix VDI-in-a-Box is an easy, repeatable solution. The solution will be sold through Dell’s global sales team and channels, reaching millions of customers who want to take advantage of the significant business benefits that desktop virtualization offers, such as enhanced mobility and streamlined IT management.

Leveraging the all-in-one Citrix VDI-in-a-Box software, Dell and Citrix have created a simple integrated hardware VDI appliance that is pre-certified to support defined numbers of desktops. Based on the unique VDI-in-a-Box grid architecture running on Dell servers, the Dell DVS Simplified VDI appliance can be installed to create and rapidly scale a virtual desktop deployment in response to business needs, making VDI easily consumable by light IT organizations that may have previously lacked the resources and data center infrastructure needed for desktop virtualization.

The industry is moving rapidly from the PC era to the cloud era, and small and medium businesses want to capitalize on the business benefits of desktop virtualization, including driving efficiencies, enabling mobility and improving business continuity, but typically have much tighter budgets and far fewer resources. Citrix VDI-in-a-Box claims to address these needs head-on. Chris Wolf, Research VP, Gartner, said, “We have seen strong interest in virtual desktop technology among our client base. However, cost and complexity have been barriers to entry in certain use cases, namely with small businesses and branch office environments. Virtual desktop appliances represent an emerging virtual desktop solution that delivers desktop virtualization’s flexibility and TCO benefits at a reasonable cost and simplicity that many organizations demand.”

The VDI appliance is backed by a full Citrix Ready verified ecosystem, providing customers with workforce mobility solutions, supporting over one billion devices, including PCs, Macs, thin clients, tablets, smartphones, along with peripherals such as web cams, printers, mice and keyboards.

The VDI appliance works “out-of-the-box” with existing end-user technology. The VDI-in-a-Box design eliminates multiple moving parts that can potentially result in higher costs and complexity of infrastructure. “We are seeing tremendous customer and partner momentum with Citrix VDI-in-a-Box as SMBs and departments within enterprises seek to capitalize on the benefits of delivering IT services from the cloud by virtualizing desktops. Our relationship with Dell and the new integrated VDI appliance is aimed at making the transition to the cloud a no-brainer for our mutual customers, ultimately breaking down the barriers to VDI adoption for this very important customer segment through a repeatable, simple, affordable and predictable hardware VDI solution,” said Krishna Subramanian, Vice President, Marketing & Business Development, SMB Solutions, Citrix.