Chapter 1. Why Citrix XenApp^® – Making the Case for App Virtualization

Whether we like it or not, change is upon us. The evolution in technology has changed the way we work, learn, and live. In fact, the world has become so data driven that we can subscribe to any type of data we want and receive it through our laptop or mobile device at any given location and time. In order to make all of this possible, something else had to be transformed—information technology. Nothing amazes me more than the change we've experienced in IT over the past 15 years. With the advancement of wireless communications, virtualization, cloud computing, and software-defined networking, IT organizations have had to adapt faster than ever to new demands from end users and management teams alike, while getting accustomed to a permanently steep learning curve. Amidst all these changes experienced in the technology sector, a company called Citrix (formerly known as Xitrix in the early 90s) took a simple and very intuitive concept and transformed it into an industry standard—and this is the mobile workstyle. Enabling companies to allow their employees to work from anywhere (and eventually on any device they want), while saving big on hardware and without compromising security—sounds too good to be true? Well, it's here to stay. The big question is how you transform your existing IT infrastructure that has no Citrix software installed on it into a complete and production-ready Citrix solution that will boost the productivity of your users, save unnecessary expense for your management team, and minimize administration efforts for the IT department. Hopefully, you will find the answer you are looking for in this book, and you will enjoy the journey in the meantime.

In this chapter, you will learn about the following topics related to Citrix virtualization:

• Hardware and application virtualization
• Introduction to Microsoft Remote Desktop Services and Citrix XenApp
• Design changes and feature enhancements in XenApp 7.x
• Application delivery methodologies in XenApp 7.x
• Microsoft and Citrix licensing models
• Citrix components used for networking and web access
• The XenApp supportability matrix and important product lifecycle dates
• Citrix certifications needed to advance your career