Archive
#AzureAD a leader in the 2016 Gartner IDaaS MQ! – #EnvokeIT
This is really cool and I love Everything about Azure!
Great work Microsoft! đ
Gartner released their Magic Quadrant for Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) for 2016 and Azure Active Directory was placed in the âleadersâ quadrant, and positioned very strongly for our completeness of vision. We have worked with Gartner to make complimentary copies available, which you can access here.
Read more about this here!
If you have any queries or need help with your identity and access management strategy or Azure AD implementation contact us at EnvokeIT, we’re ready to assist you!
//Richard
Citrix releases Linux based XenDesktop VDA – #Citrix, #Linux, #XenDesktop
This is really cool! đ
Finally there is something totally new released from Citrix, and I must say that there must be many enterprises out there that will like this new addition to Citrix XenDesktop.
If everything is based on standard ICA/HDX and full support through the whole of the Citrix end-to-end offering with NetScaler and integration with the Windows XenDesktop site/controller this will be really neat!
Citrix Offers Technology Preview of Linux Virtual Apps and Desktops Delivered from XenApp and XenDesktop
Customers Can Register Immediately to Request Exclusive Early Access to Test and Provide Feedback on the Citrix Linux VDA Project
SANTA CLARA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Citrix today announced a limited technology preview of virtualized Linux apps and desktops that integrates with XenApp and XenDesktop and extends the FlexCast Management Architecture (FMA) to enable additional use cases in industries such as automotive, manufacturing, oil and gas and financial services. When used with Citrix HDX, the company’s market-leading user experience technology, customers will get unmatched performance and bandwidth efficiency for people accessing Linux desktops from any device, over any network. In the future, the HDX technology for hosted Linux apps will continue to evolve to enable even the most demanding GPU-based graphics applications. People interested in participating in the Citrix Linux Virtual Delivery Agent (VDA) Tech Preview to test and provide feedback on this project may submit an application athttp://now.citrix.com/LinuxPreview.
With this new Linux support, customers can simply deploy the Citrix VDA on each server or desktop hosted in the data center. Administrators can use a single configuration and monitoring console for their Linux apps and their Windows apps to have a single view to deliver virtual apps to people such as engineers, designers, scientists and developers.
Many of the requirements around Linux applications relate to mission-critical research and development work that includes chip design, high-performance computing projects, and numerical computation done in financial and scientific modeling, big data analysis, and engineering tools. In addition, Citrixcustomers are asking for virtual desktop support for specialized 3D applications built exclusively for Linux, particularly in the oil and gas industry, manufacturing, and digital media and entertainment industries. These customers need to offer secure, global access to employees using a wide variety of mobile and desktop devices, while maintaining centralized control of business-critical intellectual property.
Availability
Citrix is currently taking applications to participate in the Linux VDA Tech Preview at http://now.citrix.com/LinuxPreview. The Tech Preview program offers a unique look into the development and innovation process at Citrix, and does not in any way represent a commitment to release, support or productize this technology.
VMware acquires AirWatch! – #EMM, #MDM, #BYOD, #VMware, #AirWatch
This is really interesting! I’m not that surprised though, it was about time VMware did something!
I must agree with a lot of people who have written about this, they are really going for a leader! So they mean business! Will be fun to see how well the can integrate this into their offerings and how that will look like.
VMware buys AirWatch for $1.54 billion, acquires mobility strategy
VMware will acquire AirWatch, a mobile device management company, in a $1.17 billion cash deal that will give the virtualization software provider a play in mobility. VMware will also pay $365 million in installment payments and unvested stock options.
Mobile device management has been a hot sector desperately in need of consolidation given there are more than 100 vendors. Large enterprises increasingly want mobile device management put together with content management and collaboration. VMware’s acquisition follows IBM’s purchase of FiberLink and Citrix’s acquisition of Xenprise in 2013.
VMware’s spin is that AirWatch will give it a foothold in mobility as well as its end-user computing strategy, which revolves around desktop virtualization and delivering enterprise apps to tablets and smartphones.
Here’s Gartner’s Magic Quadrant on the sector.
According to VMware, AirWatch will continue to be led by CEO John Marshall. AirWatch will be lumped into VMware’s end-user computing group, which… continue reading here!
VMWare Announces Definitive Agreement to Acquire AirWatch
Acquisition will Provide Customers with the Most Complete Solution to Manage Users, Devices and Applications across Desktop and Mobile Environments.
PALO ALTO, Calif., January 22, 2014Â â VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW), the global leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure, and AirWatch today announced that they have signed a definitive agreement under which VMware will acquire AirWatch, the leading provider of enterprise mobile management and security solutions. VMware will acquire AirWatch for approximately $1.175B in cash and approximately $365M of installment payments and assumed unvested equity. The AirWatch team will continue to report to founder and chief executive officer John Marshall as part of VMwareâs End-User Computing group, led by Sanjay Poonen, EVP and GM. Alan Dabbiere, AirWatchâs cofounder and chairman, will be overseeing a new AirWatch operating board which will report to Pat Gelsinger, VMware chief executive officer.
âAirWatch provides best-in-class, secure, enterprise-mobile management to thousands of businesses around the world,â said Pat Gelsinger, chief executive officer, VMware. âWith this acquisition VMware will add a foundational element to our end-user computing portfolio that will… continue reading here!
//Richard
Host checks/EPA scans are not for everyone – #Citrix, #NetScaler, #AccessGateway
This is an interesting blog post from Citrix… It captures a scenario that I know one of my previous customers was thinking of, so have a look at it!
The main thing that think of when reading this though is that EPA scans are NOT for everyone, I agree. And please also read my earlier posts on why it cannot be done with todays products from Citrix.
#Citrix #SmartAccess = A complete story or not? â #NetScaler #AGEEÂ #EPA
Even though the latest Receiver Receivers changed some scenarios and enables host checks/EPA scans it still doesn’t provide the full picture. But I’ll be publishing a more detailed picture on why later, some late night I’ll be able to complete it! đ
Here you have the blog post from Tobias Frigger:
A customer of one of my Citrix Consulting colleagues recently came up with an interesting request.
Like many others they are using Citrix NetScalerâs Access Gateway Enterprise Edition module to grant remote secure remote access to applications and desktops.
Additionally, they use a client management and software distribution solution to deploy the EPA plugin to client computers and therefore wanted to suppress Access Gateway offering the EPA scan plugin for download through the browser. This introduces some additional level of control over which client is entitled to connect through Access Gateway.
An approach restricting certain user groups from logging in by using group memberships is a more common scenario, but in this case the customer intended to restrict the end points and not the users. When end users lack administrative permissions to install custom software, preventing the download is indeed an effective measure.
A job for Citrix Consulting!
As you know, Access Gateway Enterprise Edition offers two ways of running Endpoint Analysis (EPA) scans â before and after authentication. Consequently, there are two procedures.
The formal requirements
- Remove the download button displayed when accessing the AGEE virtual server and the plugin is not detected by the browser or if the plugin is outdated
- Alter the message text such that it refers user to contact their system administrator if they think the plugin should be installed.
- When using a post-authentication EPA scan, add a âlogoutâ button.
Backup
As a precaution, we want to make backup copies…
Continue reading here!
//Richard
#Ericsson Shows New Volvo Touchscreen Interface with #Spotify – #Ericsson, #Volvo
Current Volvo infotainment systems require users to twist a control knob and push multiple buttons, but Ericsson showed off a new touchscreen interface for future Volvo models. The system, displayed at the Consumer Electronics Show in an XC60 crossover, will be offered as a dealer-installed add-on and will later become standard across the Volvo lineup.
The touchscreen runs on a version of the Android operating system and connects to Ericssonâs âcloudâ software through the driverâs Bluetooth-paired smartphone. Starting in May, it will be offered as a dealer-installed add-on for any Volvo with a seven-inch Sensus infotainment screen. The upgrade consists of adding an interface box in the glovebox and adding a special infrared screen overlay that makes it touch sensitive. By the end of 2013, the new touchscreen interface will become standard or optional on all new Volvos, replacing todayâs button-based Sensus.
The softwareâs home page simply shows the time, weather conditions, and the currently playing
 song. You âswipeâ the screen left and right to access more apps. In addition to the carâs built-in iPod connection and CD player, Ericssonâs software features Deezer, Spotify, and TuneIn internet radio â and users can search for new artists or songs by speaking aloud. There are also various other built-in apps, and the system will link to the Parrot Asteroid app store so owners can download more features.
There are two navigation options. The Google Maps option has pinch-to-zoom functions like a smartphone, and can also display satellite images from Google Earth. The other option, iGo, looks remarkably like the current Volvo navigation system and has clear 3D-style graphics…
Continue reading here!
//Richard
Time-slice your day… this was my mine…
Ok, today was a really hectic day!
I have the pleasure as some of you already may know, I have a work that I love and a family that I love. But most of all I must say that I have a customer and work-style that is really neat! I get to balance my life both personally- and work-wise and it’s something that I value a lot!
I woke up early (as usual with young kids) and got ready for work, got up and sat down with my morning coffee and checked email and did some changes to a PPT that I thought of yesterday and before I fell asleep. It didn’t take me that much time though I just started the Macbook Air and quickly got logged into the Hosted Shared Desktop session (that by the way still was running with PowerPoint running and the PPT just where I left it), and I made some changes and saved it as a new version. Perfect and ready for a meeting I have! Then off to work (still early and I was at the office at 07:15) though I knew that I had to do some special planning to ensure that todays schedule would work.
Read more…
The IT Melting Pot! 