Archive
#Citrix #Receiver for Win 8 and RT 1.3 now on the Windows Store
Blog post from Citrix on Windows RT and Win 8 pro devices and Receiver!
Our first official update for our touch-enabled Receiver for Windows RT and Windows 8 Pro devices! This version adds the ability to use multiple sessions as well as a number of usability improvements. It can be used with StoreFront or Web Interface deployments. Connections can be direct or through Access Gateway Enterprise Edition version 10.
Click here to try this version. It is still a good idea to ask your IT department if it can be used in your environment. IT managers can find details on configurations supported and settings at Citrix eDocs.
What’s new?
- Users can run multiple apps within a single session, switching between them with the in-session app bar.
- Sessions now use the keyboard layout and input language in effect on the device (as configured on the Windows 8 Language bar) whether its a physical and touch keyboard.
- A Refresh button on the My Apps and All Apps pages enables users to easily refresh the apps list.
- A default icon appears in My Apps, All Apps, and Search results until the correct app icon downloads.
And we have even more great things planned for the next update, including support for Access Gateway Enterprise 9.3 with…
Continue reading here!
//Richard
Report: Android malware doubled in 2012, infecting 33M devices
Malware attacks on devices running Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) open-source Android mobile operating system more than doubled in 2012, security solutions firm NQ Mobile reports.
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| NQ Mobile saw a year-over-year increase of malware of 163 percent. |
NQ Mobile discovered 65,227 new pieces of mobile malware in 2012 compared to 24,794 in 2011, a year-over-year increase of 163 percent. Among all new malware discovered last year, 94.8 percent of threats were designed to attack Android, compared to just 4 percent targeting rival open-source platform Symbian. In all, more than 32.8 million Android devices were infected in 2012, up from 10.8 million in 2011, representing an increase of more than 200 percent.
Chinese devices accounted for 25.5 percent of infected Android devices, followed by India (19.4 percent), Russia (17.9 percent), the United States (9.8 percent) and Saudi Arabia (9.6 percent). Fifty-three percent of U.S. Android owners have installed a mobile security app on their device, NQ Mobile adds.
Sixty-five percent of mobile malware discovered in 2012 falls into the category of Potentially Unwanted Programs–e.g., root exploits, spyware, pervasive adware and Trojans (surveillance hacks). Twenty-eight percent was designed to collect and profit from a user’s personal data, and 7 percent was built to prevent the user’s device from functioning properly.
The primary methods for delivering malware in 2012 included App Repackaging (adding lines of malicious code into a legitimate app and reloading it onto a third-party marketplace), Smishing (asking consumers to click on a fraudulent link, triggering a malicious app download or directing their browser to a rogue website) and Malicious URLs (redirecting the browser from genuine websites to clone sites intended to collect personal data).
Critics maintain Google has failed to sufficiently police its Google Play digital storefront, making it easy for attackers to distribute malware via Android applications. Google has made strides to reduce Android threats, however: In early 2012, it unveiled Bouncer, which scans Google Play for malicious apps, and its Android 4.2 OS update, a.k.a. Jelly Bean, bakes in application verification tools.
The NQ Mobile report…
Continue reading here!
//Richard
Do you develop your own mobile apps? – #Mobility
Ok, this is a pretty hot topic! Mobility is here to stay for a while, everyone speaks about Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM), MDM, MAM, MIM etc….
But how are business tackling this need to support business processes and functions for todays mobile workforce? And how do you out there build your mobile apps that are to support your users and business?
Do you outsource your app development, or do you do it in-house? Do you use any of the “cloud services” to build your apps like the following examples?
Here are some really interesting blog posts/articles on the subject!
THE BEST WAY TO DEVELOP MOBILE APPS? DON’T DEVELOP MOBILE APPS! – via Jeffrey Hammond
Mobile app dev: Outsource or in-house?
This is an interesting mobile world we live in, but how shall all business adopt to it the best way? 😉
Please share your view if you want!
//Richard
Enterprise Mobility Report – Lessons from the Mobile Cloud – #Citrix, #BYOD
Here is a good report done by Citrix, not that much that I didn’t expect but great to get some input!
We just released our quarterly enterprise mobility cloud report. Every quarter, we look out across our enterprise mobility customers deployed in the cloud and try to understand common practices by reviewing aggregate data on deployed apps, app blacklisting and whitelisting practices, policy deployments, and OS deployments by region and vertical industry. So here’s a small taste of what we saw in Q412.
Things we expected:
- iOS led in the enterprise. Definitely something we already knew.
- Industries like retail and restaurants – whose use cases involve direct one-on-one customer engagement, were iOS- (and iPad-) heavy. Makes sense.
- Industries with mobile field service organizations went for Android. Given the platform’s lower replacement cost, control-ability, and ubiquity, that makes sense.
- Facebook and Dropbox made the blacklist. Productivity and data security are major concerns, especially for corporate-issued devices.
Things we didn’t expect:
- Android gained in EMEA. Android gained eleven percentage points in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa in a quarter. Anecdotally, we know several organizations there that deployed big Android-based mobile line-of-business initiatives last quarter, but is there a bigger trend? Tell us what you think!
- Healthcare went for Android. 85% of deployed devices in our cloud in healthcare were Android. But healthcare organizations we talk to are standardizing on iOS, so it doesn’t add up! But remember: this is the cloud report. Most of our large healthcare customers have deployed our solution on-premise and those seem to be mostly iOS today. The cloud healthcare companies are really mobile themselves – usually home healthcare organizations like traveling nurses and therapists and hospice care workers who deliver end of life care to patients in their homes. It makes sense that these organizations would be big users of the cloud given the highly distributed nature of the business and the fact that there are some common HIPAA-compliant mobile apps that have developed for the Android platform.
- Dropbox was on the blacklist, but was also one of the most heavily-recommended apps from enterprise IT (in the enterprise app catalog). This juxtaposition speaks to Dropbox’s simultaneous usefulness and risk! Organizations can’t decide! Many of our customers talk to us about the “Dropbox dilemma” and most agree that if they could provide data sharing in a secure, enterprise-grade way, users would go for it.
Download the complete report here!
//Richard
XenMobile product overview… and It’s nice! via @BasvanKaam – #BYOD, #MDM, #Citrix
Wow! I must say that Bas van Kaam has done a great wrap-up here! I highly recommend you to read this blog post!!! 🙂
It was only about a month ago when I was writing my Blog about the CloudGateway that I wondered which route Citrix would take now that they acquired Zenprise, well… here it is… XenMobile, another Xen sibling sees the light! Lets jump right in…
I had the opportunity to make use of one of Citrix’s demo environments to have a closer look at MDM, which is an awesome way to explore new and existing products by the way, if your company is a Citrix partner and has access I definitely recommend having a look. Besides that I used the Citrix E-Docs website as well as Citrix.com to find as much information as possible.
The main focus of this article will be on XenMobile MDM as the Mobile Solutions Bundle (one of the two editions available) focuses primarily on the CloudGateway which I already discussed in one of my previous blogs.
MDM?
MDM stand for Mobile Device Management and it’s just that! Here’s what Citrix has to say about it: As per Citrix: XenMobile MDM is a robust mobile device management solution that delivers role-based management, configuration, and security for both corporate and employee-owned devices. Upon user device enrollment, IT can provision policies and apps to devices automatically, blacklist or whitelist apps, detect and protect against jailbroken or rooted devices, and selectively wipe a device that is lost, stolen, or out of compliance. Users can use any device they choose, while IT can ensure compliance of corporate assets and secure corporate content on the device.
Editions
There are two editions: XenMobile MDM and the Mobile Solutions Bundle. XenMobile MDM primarily focuses on (hardware) device management, more on it’s extensive feature set shortly. Every major platform is supported including: iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry, Symbian and Microsoft Windows 8. It includes the XenMobile Secure Mobile Gateway (SMG) and XenMobile SharePoint Data Leak Prevention (DLP) as well as the XenMobile Mobile Service Provider (ZSM) and the XenMobile Remote Support Application Toolset.
VDI Smackdown: Head-to-head analysis of Citrix XenDesktop, Microsoft etc… via @rpruijt
Great work!!!! 🙂 Continue reading!!!
Are you looking for an independent overview of desktop virtualization solutions and curious about the different strategy questions? Do you want detailed information about the features and functions each desktop virtualization vendor is offering!? If so the VDI Smackdown you definitely must read!
In the current market there is an increasing demand for unbiased information about desktop virtualization solutions. This white paper is focused on solutions that are anticipated to have an important role in desktop virtualization deployments. An overview of available features of each solution has been created to allow an understanding and comparison of capabilities.
The latest solutions included in the feature matrix are: Citrix XenDesktop 5.6FP1, Citrix VDI-in-a-Box 5.2, Dell vWorkspace 7.6, Microsoft RDVH Windows8/Server 2012 and VMware View 5.2; The English whitepaper can be downloaded here. The Japanese version will be available as soon as possible.
Empowering the end-user by giving access to Windows, Web and Mobile applications so he can access data and information systems from both private and public datacenters regardless of the device or location is the ultimate strategic objective.
The delivery of the classic (Windows) desktop interface can be divided in two segments:
- the classic desktop and laptop, running Windows, Linux or Mac OS X;
- the virtual desktop running in the datacenter or local on the classic workstation.
In essence “desktop virtualization” is the de-coupling of the desktop, operating system and the applications from the underlying endpoint or device. This kind of virtualization can be subdivided into two types:
- With the first type applications are executed remotely, server hosted, and presented at the endpoint via a remote display protocol.
- With the second type applications are executed at the endpoint, client-side and presented locally.
Making Windows, Web and Mobile applications available to the end-user, regardless of the technology being used, is an important strategic objective of an advanced IT infrastructure. The Virtual Desktop (vDesktop) is an essential component in the range of Application and Desktop delivery solutions and in essence, it provides the following functions:
- Flexibility: Detach the vDesktop from the endpoint; Several vDesktops can be used next to one another
- BYO: enables delivery of applications and desktops for BYO scenario’s;
- Access: vDesktop works independently of location, endpoint and network;
- Security: Server Hosted – VDI; data in the computing center;
- Freedom: Every user can have his own desktop with administrator privileges when needed;
- Management: Centrally managed and hardware independent;
- Legacy: It is simple to offer legacy applications on a state-of-the-art platform;
- Sustainability: Power Management, handling the necessary resources in an efficient manner
The transition to a dynamic and optimized desktop is causing many IT organizations to reevaluate traditional IT operations, deployment, delivery, packaging, support, and management methods.
Desktop virtualization is a key component in the optimized desktop. It’s important to have a Vision and Strategy around application and desktop delivery and enterprise mobility. Designing, building, managing and maintaining the desktop virtualization…
Continue reading here!
//Richard
#Citrix Nails Its Enterprise Mobility Strategy – #XenMobile, #BYOD – via @ekhnaser
Read this great article and see if you agree! 😉
Citrix Nails Its Enterprise Mobility Strategy
I have been very pleased with the strategy, execution and the road map that Citrix has developed around Enterprise Mobility. With the announcement of XenMobile MDM and the Mobile Solutions bundle, I can very easily say that the Citrix solution is the most complete and feature-rich offering on the market today.
XenMobile MDM is simply a name change for Zenprise, which Citrix acquired a few months earlier. I expected Citrix to simply change the “Z” to “X” and keep the name, but I guess Citrix marketing did not find that as amusing. That is not the only change that occurred: A new version of “Zenprise” also accompanies this release, and XenMobile MDM now brings it to version 8.0.1.
Many customers and colleagues have asked me why Citrix acquired an MDM provider — what are the value-adds and isn’t the world moving towards MAM anyway? To answer, we have to make a clear distinction between the use cases. I agree and concur that for BYOD initiatives, MAM is a better, cleaner way of doing this things and that MDM is not the ideal solution.
That being said, there are plenty of use cases where MDM is the only solution that makes sense and I will give you real-world examples. Have you heard of the “Belly” card? It is a customer recognition and rewards program from a company HQ’ed in Chicago that offers merchants a locked down iPad for display in their place of business. Customers can come in and scan their mobile phones on the iPad provided and after a certain number of check-ins they are offered a reward for their loyalty. In this case, belly would have very little use for MAM; they need an MDM solution to manage the thousands of iPads they have deployed.
Another example: United Airlines and American Airlines allow customers to use mobile devices in the cabin to purchase goods in-flight. Obviously, the airlines don’t want the flight attendants to use their own device for this, MDM shines again here.
Finally, what about financial institutions that want to continue to issue corporate-managed devices of different flavors? It’d be for security reasons, obviously. In this case, MDM shines.
When I see bloggers and analysts disqualify MDM, they are not thinking beyond BYOD, where the business world could have a use case built around an application they issue on a mobile device.
Did Citrix strike gold with its acquisition of Zenprise? I will say this much: It was one of the best acquisitions the company has ever made. The natural follow-up question is, what about CloudGateway? And my answer is, it is the glue that holds everything together and is the most important product in the Citrix solution today. Everything will go through CloudGateway moving forward and at version 2.5 has the following features:
- Enterprise app store with identity management capabilities for a single sign-on like experience
- Windows Applications and Desktops through XenApp and XenDesktop
- Mobile applications integration, provisioning, etc.
- SaaS applications integration, provisioning, etc
- Integration with Citrix ShareFile for enterprise DropBox functionality
CloudGateway also has a connector for Citrix Podio, and here I’ll be critical of Citrix the same way I’m critical of VMware for not integrating SocialCast. Why Citrix doesn’t make Podio…
Continue reading here!
//Richard
Surprising Stats About Mobile Security
Another good article!!
Surprising Stats About Mobile Security
IT security and data protection are the top ranked challenges faced by many mobile IT asset managers. This was certainly brought to light in Mobile Enterprise’s IT headaches executive survey, and recent research from the International Association of IT Asset Managers (IAITAM) brings this to light as well.
Lost/Stolen Devices Covered
Asset Tracking?
BYOD
Future Workplace Formula = 1 person x 6 devices @ two-thirds of a desk
This was an interesting news/announcement from Citrix, and I must agree with it! We’re moving into a new workplace era!
Get ready for redesigned offices that reduce real estate through fewer desks, redesigned space, increased mobility and use of BYO devices
SANTA CLARA, Calif. » By 2020 organizations are set to reduce office space by almost a fifth (17 percent) according to a new study by Citrix, a leader in mobile and cloud technology. The workplace of the future will provide just seven desks for every ten office workers, with each person accessing the corporate IT network from an average of six different computing devices. The figure for 2020 is as low as six desks for every ten workers in Singapore, the Netherlands, the USA and the UK. Some of the highest desk to worker ratios in 2020 will be in Japan (8.77), South Korea (7.95) and Germany (7.90).
Almost every organization says they will redesign office space to be more appealing. The workplace of the future will foster creativity, be inspiring and encourage collaboration by enabling people to work from wherever, whenever and on whatever device so that work becomes something people do, not a place people go.
The Citrix Workplace of the Future report, which polled 1,900 senior IT decision-makers across 19 countries, shows that a third of people (29 percent) will no longer work from their traditional office. Instead employees will base themselves from various semi-permanent locations including the home (64 percent), field and project sites (60 percent), and customer or partner premises (50 percent). People are also expected to access corporate applications, data and services from locations such as hotels, airports, coffee shops and while in transit.
The trend towards fewer office-based employees – who use multiple computing devices to access corporate apps, data and services from a range of locations outside of the traditional office – is part of a global trend called mobile workstyles. Globally, a quarter (24 percent) of organizations have already fully adopted mobile workstyles. By the middle of 2014, 83 percent of organizations will have embraced mobile workstyles.
Mobile workstyles have been adopted widely and rapidly because it offers a number of benefits.
- For organizations, workshifting – where people move work to more optimal times and locations – creates a more flexible, agile workplace (73 percent), lower employee-related costs (53 percent), reduce real estate costs (48 percent) and help attract (47 percent) and retain (44 percent) top talent.
- Employees benefit from workshifting with more flexibility (65 percent), increased personal productivity (62 percent), less commuting time (61 percent), and abetter work/life balance (55 percent). It also…
Continue reading here!
//Richard
#Citrix #BYOD Architecture overview – #XenMobile, #Mobility
I must say that this blog post is of course Citrix “twisted”, but I really like it! And it shows how Citrix provides a pretty complete offering in order to deliver Mobility- and BYO-compliant services.
The Citrix blog written by Christopher Campbell makes sense and I also agree that a picture is worth a thousand words! 🙂
I’m going to make this real easy and simple. As my grandfather would say “A picture is worth a thousand words”.
If you’re a XenDesktop or XenApp customer this is what your environment probably looks like.
Now this is what you need to enable BYOD and add that MAM, MDM, MIM (Data) and overall EMM functionality you’re looking for.
This is what your environment looks like after you enable BYOD.
Didn’t get that? OK, here is what BYOD looks like with multiple vendors.
Now, here is what BYOD looks like with Citrix.
Got it?
Read the whole blog post here!
//Richard
The IT Melting Pot! 