Monthly Archives: March 2007

My Favourites (Best of)

Posted on March 30, 2007 | Leave a comment

I’ve been meaning to do this for some time but not sure what was the best way. And then the idea appeared. Why not collect all the posts I liked the most in one place. Why not add a page that could always be accessed from the tabs at the top of the posts (like About).

The idea has become real. You can either click on “My Favourites” or you can click http://citrite.org/blogs/jeffreymuir/my-favourites/. Hopefully this will give new interest to older posts and also collect the best content in one place.

Some posts, when left alone for long enough, seem much different when I re-read them. In some cases I wonder what I was thinking. In other cases I can’t believe I figured out how to explain it that way. It’s a roller coaster ride as usual.

I’d like to hear back from the community to fine tune this list. I don’t expect feedback but I do promise to adjust the list based on what I hear back from you. The intent is to give the most concentrated source of information.

I’ve just realized that it would be wise to mark these as a category. I’m creating the “Favourite” category to track these posts and make it easy to find.

PS I’ve adopted the English UK spelling for words from time to time. I’m a bit inconsistent usually based on which spell checker I have installed.

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Posted in Announcements

Citrix Desktop Server (Trinity) Interview with Brian, Brian, and Sumit

Posted on March 30, 2007 | Leave a comment

Sumit Dhawan (taken by Brian Madden)Brian Nason (taken by Brian Madden)

Brian Madden interview of Brian Nason and Sumit Dhawan about Trinity

Brian Madden was on an interviewing roll when he came to Citrix headquarters late last year. I’ve already covered two of these interviews in previous blogs (Mark Templeton and Brad Pedersen) and now it’s time to cover the interview with Brian Nason and Sumit Dhawan.

The personal value of this is that I work on PortICA which is an important component of the Citrix Desktop Server strategy. Our team has already invested about a year and a half working on PortICA and things are looking good. Please understand that I can’t get too detailed about what is currently going on based on the typical worries of keeping things confidential.

Sometimes when you work on projects it is easy to lose touch with the bigger picture of what is going on.  That’s why it’s good to hear the story from those that are directly influencing how things are going to turn out in the long run.  Both Sumit and Brian are very knowledgeable about Citrix’s future offering in the desktop space.  These interviews with Brian Madden are really good for both Citrix and its customers and channel partners.  The message comes through that Citrix is listening to customer and channel feedback and is planning on a future that would not have been possible if it continued to be isolated from decent involvement.

Even though this interview was performed in late December of last year, it is largely matching with what the current statements are.  The most obvious difference is that Trinity is now publicly called Citrix Desktop Server.

Internally and externally there has been quite a buzz around this new field for Citrix.  It is becoming clear that the desktop market is largely untapped by Citrix and that Citrix can add much value based on its experience with delivering applications from a server-based environment.  The essential shift here is that PortICA makes it possible to support distributing Windows applications from workstation class machines (real and virtual).  Also of note is that PortICA, which is part of CDS (Citrix Desktop Server), has split out work that would normally reside on CPS (Citrix Presentation Server).  Like Brian and Sumit talk about in the interview, IMA does not reside on the PortICA workstation.  The configuration and support has been greatly simplified for the machine that does the work of running applications.  The concept is that the management pieces have been split to another machine so that the PortICA machine can focus on doing what it does best.  It also makes it possible to apply the PortICA model to other problems and create other solutions.  The management machine (which internally has been called the controller) can manage a great number of workstations based on the idea of splitting the work.  Potentially it also allows for greater scalability with a CDS deployment.

It is fairly safe to say these kind of things at this point but I’m still sensitive to confessing things that are considered confidential for the sake of the project and the company.

The overall intent is to give you data you won’t hear anywhere else and still remain within the boundaries of what the company does not want to be public knowledge.  It’s silly that I’m even focusing on this but I wanted to let you know that I’m trying to say as much as I can to help create a better understanding of PortICA and CDS in the field.

With that, I hope you have some time to listen to the interview over at the Brian Madden site based on the links at the top of this post.  It’s about 40 minutes long and does a fairly good job of explaining why Citrix thinks it is important and why customers have been asking for Citrix to pursue it.

Thanks!

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Posted in Citrix Desktop Server, Interview, PortICA

Too Clever

Posted on March 30, 2007 | 7 Comments

When do things become too clever?  When is it time to stop being too clever?  Most places that have cultures that embrace progress also fully believe in becoming more clever.  This usually is through encouraging further education and rewarding intelligence by paying more for elite positions.  It is obviously a great thing in our civilization to be incredibly smart.  The progression of the centuries shows that civilization is built upon the backs of incredibly smart people.
There is another way of looking at this however.  In some Eastern traditions (like Tao) cleverness is seen as a trait that will only invite hardship.  From a Western traditional view, this doesn’t make any sense.  How can being smarter be bad?  How can new inventions possibly lead to trouble?  I’m sure someone that fully believes in Tao wouldn’t even bother to discuss this.  Fortunately (or unfortunately for you), I’m more the willing to try.

My own personal view on intelligence is that too much can be harmful to the individual.  This is based on the general observation and some more direct experiences with really smart people.  The consensus of these experiences is that while that person may possess a great deal of smarts, they are usually really lacking in other areas.  My uncle, said to be incredibly smart by everyone that knew him, died because a small boat he was in tipped over.   He didn’t know how to swim and he didn’t think to put on a life preserver.  My Dad has told me several times that he was so smart but had no “common sense”.  Not having common sense is what I have observed of others as well.  Or perhaps their social skills were incredibly bad.  The point is that it is very rare that a genius is going to be well balanced.  Too much focus on one thing leads to other things falling apart.

Yin and Yang at Wikipedia WikiPedia image (yin and yang article)
This brings us to the bigger picture.  In the “Tao” way of looking at things (based on my interpretation), cleverness brings lots of negative things with it.  In the world view of balance, any positive is going to cause a negative.  Any push to control something is going to force that thing to push back.  Cause and effect are directly linked and going in both directions.  Hence the classic image of yin and yang come to mind.  Two sides always fighting each other trying to find balance.  The more one side moves, the more the other side moves as well.

So, for example if you use cleverness to suppress the evil in the world, it will only become that much more evil.  There is no way to find a balance until the realization hits that every action is going to cause an equal and opposite reaction.  Sounds a bit scientific that.

The more complicated we make our world, the more likely it will eventually collapse.  This is true both at a micro and macroscopic view.

So what advice can you possibly derive if you deem that things have become too clever?

Be still
Take no action
Action will take care of itself
Try not to think about things being separate
Think of everything being the same
Think of it being just you
And then you will see
Nothing needs to be done
Because it is already being done
Wait for the cue
And play your role

That’s my attempt at capturing something that cannot be captured.  It’s like a slippery fish.  A wiser man would let the fish go straight off.

I like this kind of stuff.  I’ve been into it since around 1999 and its made a big difference with how I look at things.  I don’t really expect that this is going to help you.  That’s where I’m being selfish.  Or am I? :)

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Posted in Observations

Citrix Acquisition – NetScaler 2005

Posted on March 28, 2007 | Leave a comment

NetScaler logo

Citrix acquired NetScaler in June 2005. For $300 million dollars, Citrix bought the company that specializes in improving the performance of applications across remote networks. The NetScaler acquisition filled a gap related to guaranteeing decent throughput between the users and the servers providing the applications.

I didn’t go to this due dilligence but I did hear some news about the company. This was our first acquisition that had engineers in India. In fact, it is a fairly large group and is the basis of doing more work based out of the India workplace. NetScaler is now tied to other acquisitions that happened after it. Both Teros and Orbital Data products have been bundled with the NetScaler product family line to form the Citrix NetScaler and WanScaler line.

The overall strategy of acquiring NetScaler fits with the vision of providing an end-to-end solution for customers that provides a unified experience with the best results across the board (performance, reliability, and cost). Like the press release says, Citrix is providing this from an application point of view and therefore provides a better integration than the typical hardware based companies that are competing with this solution.

The investment in NetScaler and Orbital Data proved to be highly strategic for Citrix in a very short period of time. Microsoft and Citrix have announced that they will collaborate on a product destined to make branch offices more manageable from a computing point of view. Termed “Evergreen”, Citrix will provide the infrastructure for Microsoft to provide a solution for its customers with the current branch office issues. Have a look at the Microsoft and Citrix press releases. It’s becoming more obvious that typical software providers are moving into the networking space. This is good since the future is all about getting the applications to live anywhere on the network.

Finally, I wanted to add my own twists to this subject. Citrix has fully embraced the concept of doing more to bring all the pieces together. This was originally driven by the desire to diversify away from just having one product years ago. Now, it is about trying to find the right balance of what customers want versus what it currently technically possible. The acquisitions in this space have been very positive and have strengthened the position for Citrix to provide a framework for customers to do their work without having to worry about things not working well together. Think of it like getting an operating system to span the Internet. That’s what is coming. Distributed computing is on the horizon and Citrix is getting ready for that by investing heavily in the network that is going to provide the life blood for the applications that are going to flow between the users and the servers that provide them. Believe it or not this is not marketing speak. This is the future. And it is starting to happen now. :)

Earth

Here is the Citrix press release about the NetScaler acquisition:

Citrix To Expand Access Platform with Acquisition of NetScaler

Citrix Aggressively Driving Its Strategy to Enable the Best Access Experience for Every User and Every Application — Everywhere

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla — 6/2/2005 — Citrix Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: CTXS), the global leader in access infrastructure solutions, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire privately held NetScaler, Inc., a global leader in high-performance application networking. The transaction is valued at approximately $300 million in cash and stock, plus the assumption of approximately $23 million in unvested stock options. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2005 subject to customary closing conditions including shareholder and regulatory approvals.

NetScaler, founded in 1998, is based in San Jose, Calif., and has approximately 200 employees, with research and development teams in Silicon Valley and India. The company pioneered the market for next-generation application networking acceleration and initially rose to prominence in the Internet market, delivering technology to top companies such as Google, Amazon, Dow Jones, Earthlink, E*Trade, MSN and Ticketmaster. Today, NetScaler estimates that up to 75 percent of all Internet users go through a NetScaler system each day. NetScaler now has more than 500 enterprise customers and over 3,000 deployments of its award-winning products, including Fortune 500 leaders Merrill Lynch, JC Penney, 7-Eleven, Blue Cross, Ford and United Airlines, and is consistently ranked number one in both performance and customer satisfaction.

“This is an exciting acquisition for Citrix,” said Mark Templeton, president and chief executive officer for Citrix. “We’re aggressively pursuing the strategy we outlined in early 2003 to expand into high-growth markets adjacent to the access infrastructure market through building and acquiring best of breed access infrastructure technologies.”

“With this acquisition, our existing customers will further lower costs and increase the performance of their Citrix Presentation Server systems, and we’ll be able to offer greater performance and lower costs for customers deploying Web-based applications and services.”

“NetScaler extends our best access experience value for the entire range of Web-based applications, including enterprise, browser-based, XML Web services, and others. And, with NetScaler accelerators, Citrix customers can significantly optimize their entire set of legacy, client/server, or three-tier applications delivered on our Presentation Server system,” said Templeton.

“By adding NetScaler products to the Citrix Access Platform, we are the only company offering a complete system that provides end users with the best access experience and delivers cost-saving benefits to IT staffs through reduced overhead, enhanced security and increased manageability of all enterprise applications and resources.”

Bringing a New Level of Intelligence to OSI (Open System Interconnection) Layers 4-7
NetScaler products will extend the Citrix Access Platform and provide a range of application networking solutions. Application networking is a fast-growing, emerging segment of the overall networking market expected to grow to about $3 billion by 2007 according to market research. Unlike traditional networking products that focus on the underlying connectivity between systems and networks, application networking solutions provide application layer intelligence called “application fluency.” This ensures that every user receives the best possible access experience based on their role, device, network and location, as well as the specific application or service being accessed. And IT organizations can reduce the overall costs in their data centers by reducing network overhead and the number of servers needed to run enterprise applications.

While some traditional networking products may be “application-aware,” only application networking products can make networks truly “application-fluent.”

In addition, with NetScaler adding to the built-in intelligence of the system, the Citrix Access Platform will dynamically choose the best possible delivery method for each access session, automatically sensing and responding appropriately to each user’s access scenario to deliver the best access experience.

Strong Execution on Citrix’s Growth Strategy
In 2004, Citrix completed two acquisitions as part of its strategy to drive growth by offering the industry’s most complete, integrated access platform. In the first quarter, Citrix acquired Expertcity, now the Citrix Online division, moving the company into the real-time collaboration, desktop access and on-demand assistance markets. In the fourth quarter, Citrix acquired Net6, now the Citrix Gateways division, extending Citrix’s reach in the SSL VPN (secure socket layer virtual private network) and IP (internet protocol) telephony markets.

“This is a great move for Citrix and a great fit for NetScaler. Both companies are committed to making customers successful and improving the experience for end users accessing any application,” said B.V. Jagadeesh, president and chief executive officer for NetScaler. “Our combined teams will be a powerful force in providing the infrastructure required for intelligently controlling access and delivery of any application or resource based on the end-user’s scenario. Further, we expect that the demand for NetScaler products will grow significantly as we leverage Citrix’s 5,000 plus resellers in more than 100 countries – one of the most loyal and well developed channels in the industry.”

“NetScaler will bring to Citrix key leadership, award-winning products and critical competencies in the areas of networking and security,” added Templeton. “Further, the NetScaler business culture is a great fit with Citrix in terms of shared values, a passion for customer success and a desire to deliver complete end-to-end access solutions for on-demand computing. The NetScaler team will give Citrix increased presence in Silicon Valley and the ability to attract top industry talent in the Bay Area to keep pace with our plans for continued rapid growth.”

Terms of the Deal
Under terms of the definitive agreement, Citrix will acquire NetScaler for approximately $300 million, payable in approximately 45 percent cash and 55 percent stock. Citrix will also assume approximately $23 million in unvested options. Assuming the transaction closes as expected, the transaction is expected to result in approximately a $5 million to $6 million expense charge for in-process research and development (IPR&D) in the third quarter, which equates to approximately $0.02 to $0.03 per share on a GAAP basis. The remaining purchase consideration will be allocated among acquired net tangible and intangible assets and goodwill.

For the three months ended September 30, 2005, the transaction is expected to add $5 million to $6 million in revenue and is expected to be $0.06 to $0.07 dilutive to Citrix’s earnings per share on a GAAP basis, and $0.02 to $0.03 on an adjusted basis to exclude the effects of amortization of intangible assets, write-off of IPR&D and compensation expense.

For the three months ended December 31, 2005, the transaction is expected to add $10 million to $12 million in revenue and is expected to be $0.05 to $0.06 dilutive to Citrix’s earnings per share on a GAAP basis, and $0.02 to $0.03 on an adjusted basis to exclude the effects of amortization of intangible assets and compensation expense.

For 2006, the transaction is expected to add between $58 million and $60 million in revenue. In the first half of 2006, the transaction is expected to be $0.11 to $0.12 dilutive to Citrix’s earnings per share on a GAAP basis, and $0.05 to $0.06 dilutive to earnings on an adjusted basis to exclude the effects of amortization of intangible assets and compensation expense. In the second half of 2006, we expect the acquisition to be dilutive on a GAAP basis and neutral to accretive to earnings on an adjusted basis.

The acquisition has been unanimously approved by the board of directors of each company. The acquisition is expected to close during the third quarter of 2005 and is subject to closing conditions including regulatory review and approval under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, approval by the stockholders of NetScaler and other customary conditions.

NetScaler will continue to operate in San Jose, Calif. as the Application Networking Group, and will be led by B.V. Jagadeesh, reporting to Citrix CEO Mark Templeton.

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Posted in Acquisition, Citrix History, Observations

Creative Business Bliss

Posted on March 28, 2007 | 2 Comments

You never know where business is going to take you. You always hope that things are going to get better and that problems will not be difficult but they don’t always turn out that way.

Creative Leadership Forum

In a strange twist of events, the business world and the artistic world are forming some bonds. It appears that business wants more information about how to be creative and the artistic world wants more respect and expression of ideas. Of course, it isn’t that simple. Now that I have your attention, it’s time to share with you an interview that I received recently as a podcast from the Creative Leadership Forum blog. The podcast is from a recent TV interview on the ABC in Australia. I didn’t see this interview but I do watch a fair amount of ABC since it is the government sponsored channel and tends to have the most thought provoking shows (along with SBS). The interview makes many interesting points about bringing more creativity into the business world. I’ll make some quick summary points from what I remember:

  1. Business people tend to fear making mistakes which makes it harder to be creative and take chances
  2. Businesses tend to be focused on results instead of the process of creating something new
  3. Artists focus on the process of creation more than the desired end result
  4. Improvisation is key to adjusting to different environments quickly
  5. Allowing creativity to happen is largely based on letting go of old ways
  6. Outsiders are more likely to capture the essence of the company story because employees feel free to talk
  7. Ideas are becoming more important for trade than the actual end results in a post industrial era

That’s really just a personal perspective on the interview. Here’s the link to the interview so you can make up your own mind.

Ralph Kerle, CEO the Creative Laedership Forum joined Elisabeth Ann MacGregor, Executive Director, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney and Simon Longhurst CEO, the St James Ethic Centre, Sydney on a recent ABC Evening Show compered byJames O’Loughlin Evening Show, ABC, Sydney on the topic of Creativity and Business

MP3 Podcast of ABC Evening Show with James O’Loughlin

I respect this venture. Anything that uses more of the potential of the mind is obviously a great thing. It is also amusing that artists and business people actually are learning to like and respect each other. They have always needed each other but they just haven’t gotten to the point where they like to admit it.

Seattle at Night Van Gogh Starry Night

That’s easy. We all need each other. Very few people are truly islands to themselves. We might be a bit lost, but at least we are lost together. It brings a bit of light to what would otherwise be a fairly dark experience.

On a lighter note, it’s very wise to just remember to have fun. It’s easy to get wrapped up in problems and predict ugly futures. It’s that much more difficult to realize that it is a miracle just to be alive and that so many things are positive. Family, friends, and more than enough time to ponder such things. A paradox is that it is often the poorest of people that are also the happiest. They don’t appear to have much but really they have everything they need. Why aren’t we that happy?

Bliss is better.

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Posted in Favourite, Media, Observations

Citrix Revenue Chart 1989-2006

Posted on March 27, 2007 | Leave a comment

Here is a chart of Citrix revenue from 1989 to 2006 since I couldn’t find one on the web. Maybe some pay service has this kind of charting but I could not find it.The data was already tucked away in the Citrix timeline history produced by Citrix except for the years 2002 and 2006.

The chart is logarithmic scale which means each Y-axis increment is by a factor of ten. The normal scale didn’t give much value since it pretty much appeared to stay at zero until recent years. It also gives more of an indication of growth in a more linear fashion.

Citrix hit past the $1 billion dollar mark last year. The actual figure was $1.134 billion. Based on the chart, the $10 billion dollar mark looks a ways off. Of course, I’m not going to be tempted to project it even though I’d have fun doing so.

1989 and 1990 were zero income years. It wasn’t until 1991 that Multiuser started to sell and generate income.

Here are the raw numbers I used for the chart for those of you that would like to build your own fancy charts. 1989 and 1990 are showing as $1 just to keep the chart happy.

The revenue is recorded in thousands.

1989     $1
1990     $1
1991     $300
1992     $1,800
1993     $5,000
1994     $10,000
1995     $14,500
1996     $44,000
1997     $123,900
1998     $248,600
1999     $403,300
2000     $470,400
2001     $591,600
2002     $527,400
2003     $588,600
2004     $741,000
2005     $909,000
2006     $1,134,000

Enjoy! It’s free.

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Posted in Citrix History

Another Angle on 1997 Citrix/Microsoft

Posted on March 26, 2007 | Leave a comment

Found this while looking for other things on the net. It’s an article from the South Florida “The Business Journal”.

The article was intended to highlight Citrix’s commitment to South Florida but also managed to capture elements of the dilemma between Citrix and Micosoft in early 1997.

Citrix rebounds — after a close call with Bill Gates
South Florida Business Journal – June 20, 1997 by Jim Freer
Talk about dodging a bullet, Bill Gates-style. After strengthening its ties with Microsoft Corp., Citrix Systems Inc. is preparing for significant expansion, including an overseas push and possibly doubling its 190 employee-work force.

“The biggest and most important software company in the world has endorsed our technology as the way to deploy Windows-based applications,” said Roger Roberts, Citrix president and CEO.

On May 12, Microsoft agreed to include Citrix’s software technology in new versions of its Windows NT servers, which enable computer users to share one server for business software. Citrix software allows businesses to use Windows on computers and networks not designed for that technology.

Under the 2.5-year agreement, Citrix received an initial $75 million fee. It will get as much as $100 million in royalties tied to sales of Microsoft products that use Citrix technology.

Nearly gobbled by Gates
The endorsement ended three months of concern among investors and industry officials. They feared Microsoft might reduce its business with Citrix, undoubtedly curbing Citrix’s fast growth.

Microsoft owns 6 percent of Citrix, which develops its software under license and strategic agreement with Microsoft. With those links, Citrix has rapidly added clients that need to adapt older computers to Windows. In 1996, Citrix revenues tripled to $44.5 million, and its net income grew 10-fold to $18.7 million.

But last February, Microsoft told Citrix it was prepared to develop its own versions of Citrix’s software if the companies could not reach a joint development agreement.

That led to a sell-off in Citrix stock (CTXS-NASD). After reaching $50.75 on Jan. 22, Citrix hit a low of $10.63 on Feb. 27. Citrix rose from $19.25 to $32.63 on May 12, and was trading in the $35 to $40 range early this month.

Meanwhile, Citrix added another major distributor for its products, and several new clients are ready to come on board, Roberts said.

Chris Galvin, senior technology analyst at Hambrecht & Quist in San Francisco, last month issued a “strong buy” recommendation on Citrix. “If someone want to go to Windows NT, they also will be going to Citrix,” Galvin said.

Galvin said last month’s agreement makes Citrix software “the de facto standard” for bringing Windows to computers not designed for that technology. But he isn’t ruling out the prospect of Microsoft developing its own version after the Citrix arrangement expires.

Strong cash position
Citrix does not make public revenue and earnings projections. But Galvin anticipates that Citrix will post revenues of $94.5 million and net income of $32.4 million this year, growing to $170 million and $46.1 million in 1998.

Citrix has assets of $163 million and no debt. Galvin said that situation could lead to acquisitions of companies with complementary technologies.

Citrix was founded in 1989 by former IBM executive Edward Iacobucci. During 11 years at IBM, he was responsible for design and architecture of operating systems for the IBM Personal Computer Division in Boca Raton.

Roberts, a former strategic product management official at Texas Instruments, joined Citrix in 1990 and raised $15 million from three venture capital firms, along with equity investments from Microsoft and Intel.

Citrix has built its operations around WinFrame, its client-server software. Citrix customers include FPL Corp., GE Capital, Chevron, Citicorp, AT&T, Bristol-Myers Squibb and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

About 160 of Citrix’s employees work at the Cypress Creek area headquarters. A dozen employees are in offices in eight U.S. cities, along with about a dozen others in international offices.

Citrix has subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, France and Germany, employees stationed in Canada and an employee who travels around South America. It also plans operations in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region, Roberts said.

“At our annual meeting in May, I said we could be twice our size within a year,” he said.

Roberts added that many new hires would be in South Florida.

“We look forward to continuing to thrive in the South Florida community,” Roberts said. “I would encourage any efforts to market the region as a high-tech beachhead.”

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Posted in Citrix History

Citrix Acquistion – Net6

Posted on March 24, 2007 | Leave a comment

Net6 Logo
Net6 was a company based out of San Jose, California that Citrix acquired in November 2004. I was part of the due diligence team that was sent to analyse the company from a technical point of view. This is a job that certain members from Citrix Advanced Products are requested to do from time to time. Citrix had already looked at two other SSL VPN companies by this time and there was a keen need to enter the market. Net6′s product was based on using appliance rack hardware to host Linux along with their software to provide SSL VPN access. One of the first things I hadn’t expected was that their product was not based on any custom hardware. The actual mechanism seemed sound. The company was fairly small with perhaps around 50 employees. The company was founded around 2000 by Murli Thirumale and was originally called something like “Web Unwired”. Feel free to correct me since I’m not sure. I’m doing this from memory so some of this bound to be wrong.

The company was purchased for 50 million dollars and eventually the product emerged as the Secure Access Gateway. The product line has been very popular with Citrix customers since it makes it easier to single source SSL VPN with the applications that will be remoted over these links. This was Citrix’s first venture into the appliance market which would be followed by NetScaler a few months later.

Previous to doing SSL VPN, Net6 had specialized in doing VOIP and digital PBX work with their Application Gateway product. They had a number of projects with Cisco, Avaya, and Nortel to provide access to IP phones and develop software solutions to drive them.

For the most part Citrix has underestimated the value of this work in its own product lines. Citrix still hasn’t engaged the VOIP market fully and perhaps that is fine given the focus on application delivery.

One last note to mention. Murli Thirumale has since left Citrix as of a couple of months ago.

The original press release from Citrix is included:

Citrix Completes Acquisition of Net6; Extends Leadership Role in Access Infrastructure Market

Acquisition Will Simplify Secure On-demand Access to Voice, Data and Applications from Any Device, Location or Scenario

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — 12/9/2004 — Citrix Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CTXS), the global leader in access infrastructure solutions, today announced it has completed the acquisition of privately held Net6 Inc., a leader in providing secure access gateways. The acquisition extends Citrix’s ability to provide easy and secure access to any resource, both data and voice, on-demand.

The combination of Net6™ products and Citrix’s existing access infrastructure solutions will enable Citrix to offer an unrivaled end-to-end access infrastructure system for voice, data and applications on a single, common gateway that can be accessed securely from a wide range of devices.

“This is another step for Citrix in our strategy to address the access infrastructure market through growth and acquisition,” said Mark Templeton, president and chief executive officer for Citrix.

“Net6 technology will help us secure the last mile of computing, simplify access for users, and allow enterprises to manage and accommodate more end user access scenarios.”

This acquisition accelerates, in four key ways, Citrix’s strategy to define and lead the access infrastructure market:

  • Net6’s SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) Access Gateway will allow Citrix to offer a secure, always-on, simple and cost-effective single point-of-access that is complementary to existing Citrix® MetaFrame® solutions.
  • Net6’s Application Gateway™ product will allow Citrix to enter the market for accessing IP (Internet protocol) voice and data applications from IP screen phones, from IP-based soft phones and from small screen-factor devices like PDAs.
  • Citrix gains new competencies in IP telephony, application user interface transformation and packaging of “software-as-an-appliance.”
  • Citrix will be able to give Net6’s products broader customer exposure, international reach and the powerful Citrix brand.

On Nov. 23, 2004, Citrix announced a definitive agreement to purchase Net6 Inc. for approximately $50 million in cash. Net6 will continue to operate in San Jose, Calif., as the Citrix Gateways Division. Murli Thirumale, president and chief executive officer for Net6, will report to Mark Templeton as vice president and general manager of the division.

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Posted in Acquisition, Citrix History

Microsoft Press Release 1997 – Joint Development Agreement

Posted on March 24, 2007 | Leave a comment

I was searching the web for some old Citrix pictures and came across this Microsoft press release from 1997.  Given the circumstances of what happened, this is certainly positive spin.  It is also interesting that Prologue is mentioned in the same press release.  For those of you who haven’t heard about Prologue, they were an alternative to Citrix that Microsoft was considering.  For a more in depth analysis of what happened from Citrix’s point of view, please read the article by Kevin Maney from around the same time.

Microsoft and Citrix Sign Technology Cross-Licensing and Development Agreement

Microsoft Signs Agreements With Citrix and Prologue Software

REDMOND, Wash., May 12, 1997 — Microsoft Corp. today announced a joint development agreement with Citrix Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:CTXS) to provide Windows® based terminal support for the Microsoft ® Windows NT® Server network operating system. Under the agreement, Microsoft will license Citrix multiuser technology and the companies will cooperate on the development of advanced multiuser capabilities for both Windows NT Server 4.0 generation servers and Windows NT Server 5.0 generation servers. These advanced multiuser capabilities allow applications to be executed from the server and support the concept of “Windows-based terminals.”

A Windows-based terminal is a true “thin client” that launches and runs Windows NT-based applications from the server. These Windows-based terminals can be used by task-based workers who only need a limited-function device on their desktop. The Windows-based terminal is 100 percent Windows-compatible across a full range of solutions. This means customers will be able to deploy a combination of Windows-based terminals, NetPCs and PCs, depending upon user requirements, and will know that their applications will run across all types of Windows-based systems. The Windows-based terminal completes the broad range of Windows family solutions, from handheld PCs running Windows CE to NetPCs to PCs to high-end Windows NT Workstation-based systems.

“Customers have told us that reducing total cost of ownership is a critical issue,” said Paul Maritz, group vice president of platform and applications at Microsoft. “We are evolving the Windows platform with key hardware and software initiatives to aggressively address this fundamental issue for our customers.”

With Microsoft’s Zero Administration for Windows initiative, businesses can reduce the cost of managing users, software and hardware. In addition, Microsoft is addressing the fundamental cost of computing hardware by endorsing two new corporate Windows-based devices, the NetPC and the Windows-based terminal. The NetPC is a redefined personal computer providing all of the power of a normal PC while providing hardware-related management features, such as a sealed case, to reduce end-user support costs. The Windows-based terminal will round out the Windows product family, providing the “thinnest” and most manageable of the Windows-based clients and will provide the lowest cost of ownership. The Zero Administration initiative improvements will apply to all PC devices, not just these two new members of the hardware family.

Microsoft and Citrix will cooperate on the development of base multiuser capabilities. These base capabilities will be marketed by Microsoft as part of its Windows NT Server 4.0 and 5.0 generations of server products. Citrix and Microsoft will each develop and market additional components, built upon these base services, to support their ICA and T.Share protocols, respectively. These protocols are used to remotely display the user interface of applications running on the server on the client device. Microsoft will support the T.Share protocol, which is currently used in products such as NetMeeting TM conferencing software, for support of clients running Windows-family operating systems such as Windows CE. ICA is the protocol that has been developed by Citrix, and will be the preferred protocol for heterogeneous devices and clients. The Citrix environment will include full support for features and functions currently supported by its existing WinFrame servers, and Citrix will continue to provide support to its customer base.

Citrix is a leader in multiuser Windows-based application server software with an installed base of more than 500,000 concurrent user connections to its WinFrame servers. WinFrame is a proven solution for thousands of organizations across a broad range of industries worldwide.

“This is the next logical step in the close relationship we’ve enjoyed with Microsoft since Citrix was founded over eight years ago,” said Edward Iacobucci, Citrix chairman and chief technical officer. “This joint development agreement will result in a Windows NT Server platform on which we can continue to address growing customer demand for innovative thin client solutions through our Independent Computing Architecture.”

Microsoft also announced today an agreement with Prologue Software to license its multiuser technology and for Prologue to cooperate in the development and deployment of multiuser capabilities for Windows NT Server. Prologue engineers will cooperate to further enhance these efforts. Prologue Software, a leading supplier of multiuser operating systems in Europe, has more than 20 years experience in multiuser operating systems and more than four years experience developing terminal support for Windows NT Server.

“Prologue Software looks forward to helping Microsoft produce a great product and assisting its customers in the deployment of Windows-based terminals,” said Georges Seban, chairman of the board and president at Prologue Software. “Prologue Software plans to provide Windows NT-based multiuser administration tools along with consulting and training services for Windows NT Server multiuser solutions.”

Citrix’s Windows NT Server-based WinFrame enterprise software will continue to be available for customers deploying solutions today and Citrix will offer a smooth migration to the future Windows NT Server-based multiuser solutions. More details on the product availability and beta test time line will be announced in the future. Information for Windows NT Server can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/ntserver/

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Posted in Citrix History

Cubicle Reality

Posted on March 23, 2007 | 4 Comments

That which is not an office is a cubicle. That which is a cubicle is not really a cube. It can get quite confusing really. It makes me wonder where the concept of cubicle came from? Was it some manager’s way of cutting costs? Was it some kind of symbolic reference to a caste system where upper class employees have an office and those who don’t have real power at all? Could it really be that simple? Of course not, but it does make you wonder.

I’ve discovered that Wikipedia has an article about cubicles that reveals some key history points. The conclusion is that cubicles were first created around 1965 and that it is possible that Intel was the first major user of them.

Here’s a sample from Wikipedia of the typical cube:

Cubicle Heaven

The experience with cubicles seem to be universal. A large part of cubicle culture has been openly ridiculed by movies and comic strips alike. It’s a very easy target. There are so many things wrong with cubicle life that most employees would quickly select an office even if it was smaller and in a bad location.

From a designer point of view, cubicles are very efficient since they use less materials, cost less, and can fit more employees into a given space. Walls are expensive and are difficult to rearrange based on changes in the work space. Walls also make it more difficult to manage employees, or at least that seems to be the hidden message.

Ghastly short Cubicle with bounds of particle board

Most fish bowl residents of cubicles have no sense of space. Nothing is done without potential observation by practically anyone. You never know when someone might pop through through your “door” or maybe a neighbour will pop over the wall to have a peep and a brief chat. Either way, you are exposed in a big way. You might as well install a few web cameras around your office pointed in your direction and declare yourself the next candidate for eviction from Big Brother.

The point is that being in a cubicle is a comical affair. You have to pretend that you can do things that you just can’t. For example, you really don’t want to listen to the argument your neighbour is having with his wife over the colour selection for the new house but you can’t help yourself. You really want to check the stats on you latest fantasy football league but you are afraid someone walking by might see it. Instead you wait for lunch in the hope that everyone will be gone so that you can quickly switch screens to see if you are winning against Frank in the cubicle down the hall. When the tables turn and you really need to do some serious work and you pretend that you can fully concentrate when various noises and voices fire around you like some kind of off beat pinball machine yelling out for attention. You simply can’t win. You must assimilate and become one with the cubicle reality. You must accept that you will never win this battle and it is far better to make fun of it and just enjoy.

I’ve seen this cubicle world in action over a number of years in cubicles myself. The dynamics of it are just so amazing that you just have to appreciate the shear genius of the existence of cubicles in the first place. I mean, if no one in the workplace really wants them, then who does? I think that is the whole point. You and I don’t want them and I’m sure if I did a poll that most employees would respond with a big NO! So, what is this? Is this some kind dictatorship? Is this some kind of over sanctioned fever of the use of cubicles even when they don’t make sense? Well, that is an easy yes.

The master plan - Compress the heck out of them

So, why do people put up with them? The answer is also simple. Either become important enough to justify having a office or just stay there in your pseudo office. If you can’t achieve the position you need to get a real office with a door and you hate your cubicle, well I’m sure there is an assortment of companies that would be willing to hire you… and place you in a cubicle as well. If you find that company that gives you an office as a grunt then appreciate it because most likely they will go out of business having spent too much money on nice offices for their employees. They went broke simply because they just cared too much!

What the heck is this? Only two walls.. wide open!

So, what do I say to you comrade? Walk right into your manager’s office and declare your affinity to having his or her office for your own. State that Jeff Muir thought it would be a good idea to declare your democratic right to say that you want better and that “I’m sick and tired of being treated like someone that belongs in a cell”. Well, I’m hoping you aren’t taking this advice to heart but I do hope that you are inspired to imagine what life would be like outside your cube and in your office “cave”.

Now, for the confession. I don’t reside in a cubicle. I have my own office and I can keep it as messy as I want. In fact, if I wanted to I could move to a bigger office without difficulty assuming that building an extension could be expensed. I work from home which means that a room that would have been a bedroom is now an office with the full office support. So, why do I bother to write about cubicles? I don’t know. Oh, I wasn’t sure what to write about and then my wife suggested writing about cubicles. True story!

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Posted in Favourite, Observations