What’s next after the end-of-life for XenApp fundamentals?
end-of-Life Challenges & Opportunities
On Mar 03, 2015, Citrix reviewed the lifecycle for XenApp and Presentation Server, confirming that the end of extended support for Windows Server 2003 will be on August 24 2016. For businesses, the subsequent mandatory migration has the potential to cause a disruptive wholesale change in their IT environment.
However, Citrix’s end-of-life announcement also gives companies the opportunity to re-evaluate their needs and investigate the options provided by other vendors. As businesses face this rapidly approaching deadline, planning a migration strategy is a high priority. 2X Software has supported many companies in the migration process from Citrix. 2X Remote Application Server (RAS) is easy to implement and provides enterprise scalability and integrates powerful universal printing & scanning functionality. 2X also supports all major hypervisors from Microsoft, VMware and Citrix.
To manage the migration effectively, it is necessary to understand performance and gain visibility throughout all IT tiers including: users, applications, OS, virtualization, data and networks. Businesses need a solution that can correlate performance, availability, ‘fault’ and capacity data. Having this clarity can help identify infrastructure weaknesses both before and after the upgrade to ensure optimum performance and end-user satisfaction.
The 2X Philosophy: simple, flexible solutions
Analyzing 2X and Citrix solutions, you can notice a substantial difference in the company philosophy.
The approach of 2X is to simplify the management of the product. For instance, the installation and configuration of 2X RAS takes less than five minutes. Publishing an application on any device or remote desktop it is just a matter of few clicks. Furthermore, unlike Citrix, 2X solution is fully scalable, giving businesses greater flexibility. 2X’s straightforward approach is present also in the licensing- all the features are available from the first installation at no additional cost.
On the other hand, with Citrix the installation and configuration requires specialised training and the process itself can be long and complex. The configuration of any module, often needs to be completed manually, and requires several steps to get the environment up and running. The laborious set-up process can jeopardize the overall performance of the solution as human error is more likely with a manual setup. With regard to the licensing, additional modules need to be purchased to deliver even a standard solution. For businesses, this results in increased costs and more time spent on IT administration.
2X Offers a High Quality Solution to SMBs
It is quite clear that Citrix is not the best solution for the small and medium business. At 2X we understand that running a small and medium business is hard enough without also having to worry about the IT infrastructure.
2X Remote Application Server focuses on security, reliability, performance and usability. 2X RAS, unlike Citrix, is one solution that covers all your needs without having to constantly monitor statuses. If one feature is upgraded or the status changes it won’t affect your whole network and the IT Administrator will automatically be informed. To top it all off 2X RAS is easy to install, manage, configure, maintain and at a very competitive price.
- A default 2x Remote Application Server installation only takes a couple of minutes to complete (standard MSI package).
- All components needed to publish applications and desktops over the internet etc (i.e. 2X SecureGateway) are installed by default, therefore all functionality is available in an out of the box configuration within minutes.
- All 2x Remote Application Server components run (and are installed) on a single server. Various components can be added or migrated to additional servers to support larger scale networks.
- 2x Remote Application Server does not have any specific requirements.
- 2x Remote Application Server is very easy to configure and manage; Administrators do not need to be specialized..
- High-capacity, resource-based load balancing and management features.
2X Software helps you make sure that your your employees are getting the tools and resources that your company needs. With Citrix’s end-of-life announcement, now is the right time to switch to 2X RAS and escape Citrix’s monopolistic approach.
About 2X Software
2X has been acquired by Parallels in February 2015. The synergy between the two companies will ensure provision of the best technology and expertise to businesses and individuals, enabling access and use of any applications and files on any device, at any time, wherever the user is located. 2X Software by Parallels is a global leader in virtual application and mobile device management solutions. Thousands of organizations worldwide trust in the reliability and scalability of 2X products. 2X, together with Parallels, offers a range of solutions to make every organization’s shift to cloud computing simple and affordable. The company’s products solve complex engineering and user-experience problems, making it simple and cost-effective for businesses and individual customers to use applications wherever these might be located – locally, in a private data center, or in the cloud. The company’s portfolio includes the award-winning 2X Remote Application Server (2X RAS), providing platform-independent virtual desktop, application delivery, and integrated Windows client management from a single software package to any modern operating system, as well as to mobile devices including smartphones and tablets. 2X Mobile Device Management (2X MDM) offers a complementary (or standalone) solution that enables 2X Software’s customers to monitor and manage corporate and employee-owned mobile devices. With 2X MDM, customers can track their devices and remotely lock or delete data if a device is lost or stolen. In addition, organizations can monitor mobile devices for malware and remove inappropriate apps. For additional information, visit www.2x.com or contact Giorgio Bonuccelli by email at Giorgio.Bonuccelli@2x.com or by phone at (+356) 2258 3800.