Citrix

Citrix buys Framehawk, ramping up virtual desktop wars

http://www.infoworld.com/d/the-industry-standard/citrix-buys-framehawk-give-virtual-desktops-boost-233751 Citrix Systems(s ctrx)  is buying Framehawk to boost the performance of virtual desktops and applications over wireless networks, a key issue…

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Forecast: sizing the software-defined networking market

There is no question that the software-defined networking (SDN) arena is a hotbed of new ideas, well-funded startups, and established vendor SDN architectures. However, there is a significant question about how much future revenue the SDN market can create. VMware’s $1.2 billion acquisition of Nicira (an SDN startup with minimal current revenues) speaks volumes about the potential market size. Relatively small revenue streams in 2012 show that SDN needs to increase its acceptance to truly impact the broad IT market.

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IT spending update, fourth quarter 2012

IT spending grew 3.6 percent between 2011 and 2012. Many factors have driven this demand for IT products and services. However, relentless global economic weakness and uncertainty have resulted in a deterioration of worldwide IT spending through the third quarter and will continue to be an anchor in the fourth quarter. Next year, 2013, can only be characterized as uncertain. We think that the looming fourth-quarter major product refreshes will provide some uplift for 2013. And if the uncertainty abates sufficiently to allow enterprises to open their wallets, there will be a real upside to 2013.

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The dark side of OpenStack

Buyer beware when it comes to adopting OpenStack — or any open-source cloud — according to a newly released Gartner report. Long story short: evaluate OpenStack just like you’d assess a commercial offering, cautions analyst Lydia Leong.

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VMware will have to wait a little longer to join OpenStack

It’s hurry up and wait when it comes to VMware’s bid to become part of OpenStack’s inner circle. Its application for Gold membership status — along with applications from Intel and NEC — will have to wait for the next Open Stack Foundation meeting.

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VMworld shows a VMware in flux

Nearly all the news out of VMworld 2012 shows a company in flux. With a new CEO and its core server virtualization market commoditizing, VMware continues to push into new areas — end user computing, open source — where it is not a leader.

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VMware to join OpenStack: Now what?

VMware’s decision to join the OpenStack Foundation could be a huge or not-so-huge deal. Some see the move as a way to outflank Citrix, others say VMware’s Nicira, DynamicOps buys signaled a desire to at least appear more open in the era of cloud computing.

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Virtualization trends, 2012–2013

The virtualization market is a fast-moving one right now. New players are rising, acquisitions are plenty, and boatloads of announcements are expected next week at VMware’s annual VMworld show in San Francisco. And as virtualization becomes more ubiquitous, even those IT managers who haven’t yet implemented it within their data centers should be interested. With this market’s rapid growth in mind, this piece looks at some of the issues, the leading vendors, and the remaining deployment obstacles at hand.

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Software-defined networking: the third epoch in computer networking

The software-defined networking (SDN) market is expected to soar in size to $2 billion by 2016. Growth this fast may very well signify that SDN is the third epoch of computer networking, which will change everything. Large and small firms will be able to compete with established players like Cisco and Alcatel-Lucent by rapidly adding software features to low-cost merchant-silicon-based network products. And there is the promise of Stanford University’s OpenFlow protocol. This report provides the big ideas motivating a systemic change of the computer-networking industry, and it includes 10 observations and assessments that will guide readers toward open networking.

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Citrix plans LEED Gold facility in Raleigh

Citrix aims to remake an old steel warehouse in Raleigh, N.C. into a LEED Gold certified headquarters for its Data Sharing Product Group. The group, rooted in Citrix’s purchase of ShareFile, will also add 337 new jobs, said GM and VP Jesse Lipson.

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If AWS is the Walmart of cloud, is OpenStack the Soviet Union?

The stage was set for a lively debate between public cloud rivals at GigaOM’s Structure conference. OpenStack co-founder Chris Kemp challenged his Citrix and Eucalyptus on their “closed” cloud implementations and embrace of Amazon Web Services’ API, which he compared to the Walmart of infrastructure.

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Citrix buys Bytemobile, targets mobile operators

Desktop virtualization and cloud computing vendor Citrix Systems is expanding into the mobile infrastructure market, announcing on Thursday it plans to acquire mobile traffic optimization company Bytemobile. The companies didn’t disclose the terms of the deal, but they expect it to close in the third quarter.

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Is it the year of desktop virtualization yet?

For the last two, three maybe more years, various pundits have said that the year of desktop virtualization is just around the corner. And each year, they were wrong. Still, we gotta ask, will 2012 be the year of desktop virtualization?

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Is it too late for OpenStack?

Amid all the OpenStack news this week, there is a feeling in some quarters that two years after Rackspace and NASA launched this attempt to counter Amazon Web Services and VMware, it may be too late for the effort to take hold.

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It’s official: IBM and Red Hat get with OpenStack

OpenStack filled in some important checkmarks this week by adding IBM and Red Hat to its roster of corporate backers. Eighteen companies are slated to become members of the evolving OpenStack Foundation which is expected to come online in the third quarter.

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HP ups its cloud bet on OpenStack — and KVM

Hewlett-Packard is putting more of its chips on OpenStack as a key foundation for its upcoming public, private and hybrid cloud implementations. HP says its Converged Cloud will amalgamate existing HP technologies and OpenStack so applications can be managed uniformly across cloud types.

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True or false: Citrix is more compatible with AWS

In the wake of CloudStack’s announcement, Cloudscaling’s CTO, Randy Bias, takes issue with its claims of “AWS compatibility” and “true Amazon-style architecture.” According to Bias, “no one should be under the illusion that CloudStack is more AWS/Amazon compatible than any other open source cloud software.”

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5 takeaways from the CloudStack-OpenStack dustup

Now that at least some of the smoke has cleared from the blockbuster news that Citrix is putting its CloudStack technology into the Apache process to compete with former partner OpenStack, here are 5 takeaways emerging from the latest cloud kerfuffle.

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Proposed spec aims to nix cloud lock-in

A group of tech companies led by IBM and including CA, Cisco, Citrix, EMC, NetApp, Red Hat, SAP — is throwing its weight behind a proposed standard to assure that applications can move between clouds. Amazon, RackSpace, Microsoft? They’re not on board, at least not yet.

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Citrix and Cotendo team up to accelerate enterprise SaaS apps

Citrix Systems has partnered with Cotendo to introduce a product to add more speed and security to enterprise applications that need remote availability with LAN-like reliability. The NetScaler CloudConnector, which the companies announced today, combines the Citrix NetScaler infrastructure with Cotendo’s web and mobile acceleration services.

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BlueStacks raises $6.4M to bring Android apps to PCs

A little over a week after releasing its App Player for Windows software that lets computer users run Android apps, BlueStacks now says that it has raised a strategic investment from AMD and Citrix Systems along with funding from existing investors.

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OpenStack wish list: More documentation, better feedback loop

As the OpenStack project moves into its second year and more companies evaluate the open-source cloud technology, prospective users have some requests. Documentation, for one. A longer-term roadmap, for another. A more formal process for submitting and receiving feedback, for yet another.

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Ex-NASA CTO builds cloud dream team, launches Nebula

Former NASA CTO Chris Kemp left his post in the spring to pursue a startup venture, and on Wednesday morning he introduced his new company, Nebula. It’s selling an OpenStack-based appliance for managing scale-out cloud deployments, and is backed by premier talent and investors.

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Dell wants to make OpenStack as easy as 1-2-3

On Tuesday Dell announced a reference architecture, open-source software and services offering designed to make deploying an OpenStack-based cloud as easy as following directions. Called the Dell OpenStack Cloud solution, the collection of tools shows that OpenStack will be a driving force in the private-cloud space.

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OpenStack turns 1. What’s next?

OpenStack, the open-source cloud-computing software project founded by Rackspace and NASA, launched a year ago today. It has been a busy year for the project, which appears to have grown much faster than even its founders expected it would, and it’s only picking up steam.

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The cloud is like MMA; VMware, Citrix in main event

The sport of mixed martial arts combines the multiple disciplines of wrestling, boxing, and jiu jitsu into one combat sport. The cloud battle between VMware and Citrix is a metaphor for two highly trained MMA fighters stepping into the ring after a two-year training camp.

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Memo to I.T.: Don’t fight the public cloud; embrace it

Citrix CTO, Simon Crosby, today explained how enterprise workers will use the public cloud even if it breaks the rules. And the “cloud in your pocket” on a smartphone is changing the I.T. segment faster than anything else. He has a solution for the security though.

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Simon Crosby leaving Citrix to tackle cloud security

Simon Crosby is leaving his post as data center and virtualization CTO at Citrix Systems to launch a new company called Bromium that will utilize virtualization technology to tackle cloud computing security. The company raised $9.2 million from Andreessen Horowitz, Ignition Partners and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

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Citrix Founder Gets $8.5M to Break Down Data Silos

VirtualWorks, a Boca-Raton, Fla.-based startup from Citrix Systems founder Ed Iacobucci, has raised $8.5 million from Florida’s New World Angels investment group to tackle the problem of corporate data dispersed across servers, devices and clouds. It could also help with data portability between clouds.

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Citrix Commercializes OpenStack & Takes on VMware

Citrix today announced the first commercial distribution of the open source OpenStack cloud-computing software, which Citrix ix calling Project Olympus. It’s a bold move to announce an OpenStack distribution so early into the project’s existence, but Citrix must to something to combat bitter rival VMware.

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Rackspace Does Hosted Virtual Desktops

Rackspace has added virtual desktops to its collection of cloud services, a move that could prove very lucrative as the worlds of cloud computing and next-generation mobile devices converge. The new offering, called Hosted Virtual Desktop, pairs Citrix’s XenApp and XenDesktop products with Rackspace infrastructure.

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The Structure 50: The Top 50 Cloud Innovators

In five short years, cloud computing has gone from being a quaint technology to a major catchphrase. Amazon and others are now moving at Internet speed, trying to offer better security, faster networking, more compliance and a host of other products that are attempting to meet the demands of startups, consumers and enterprises alike. On GigaOM’s Structure channel, we cover the gear and software that comprises the cloud, the services and the people who are changing the industry. Now for the first time, we’ve decided to condense that knowledge into the Structure 50, a list of the 50 companies that are influencing how the cloud and infrastructure evolves. All of these players, big or small, have people, technology or strategies that will help shape the way the cloud market is developing and where it will eventually end up. Companies mentioned in this report include Amazon, Rackspace, Cloudera, China Telecom and SeaMicro. For a full list of companies, and to see the Structure 50 as one full report, sign up for a free trial.

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Oct. 22: What We’re Reading About Infrastructure

Any way you slice it, cloud providers and vendors are doing alright. Microsoft won its big NYC deal, rPath got $7 million, IBM is selling customers on mainframe clouds, pharma firms are snatching up cloud resources and Citrix’s cloud business is growing by the quarter.

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Defining Internal Cloud Options: From Appistry to VMware

Internal clouds are real and they’re here, but many efforts are still in their early days. The problem is that transitioning to a cloud-enabled environment can involve large degrees of technical, cultural and budgetary evolution, and it is of utmost importance that organizations deploy the right solution.

With this in mind, customers need to consider many things, and we profiled numerous solutions and companies to create a guide for deploying the right cloud solution to the right enterprise. We examined cloud application platforms, hypervisor-based clouds, internal infrastructure-as-a-service clouds, and high-performance computing clouds, in addition to looking at hybrid cloud solutions and underlying server architecture. Companies profiled include Appistry, Red Hat, Microsoft, VMware and CA Technologies, among others.

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Are You Empowering Your Mobile Workforce?

With technology changing so fast and mobile enterprises often moving slow, it’s easy to be a revision or two behind. Here we examine current and on-the-horizon solutions you might want to watch for, so your mobile workforce so can do more with less in a wider range of locations.

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CA’s Cloud Computing Plans Explained

It’s taken a full year and upward of $700 million in acquisitions, but CA Technologies (yes, it’s a new moniker) finally delivered on its cloud-computing strategy with several major product announcements. The Cloud-Connected Management Suite — the centerpiece of CA’s announcements — leverages pieces of technology it acquired from Cassatt, Oblicore, NetQoS, 3Tera and Nimsoft over the last year, as well as, no doubt, large amounts of internal innovation within CA.

However, the Cloud-Connected suite merely manages services within what’s available; it’s the infrastructure-management products that are responsible for creating and controlling an organization’s IT infrastructure. Therefore, CA also released a new suite of products designed to optimize management of virtualized environments by making them more cloud-like.

With these new products, CA has set the bar for how management software must act within cloud-connected organizations: it must recognize resources of all types, understand that some services will be hosted elsewhere, and somehow enable users to make sense of it all.

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iPhone Informer — Touching the iPhone This Week

In the weekly iPhone roundup there’s actually a good reason to reconsider the iPad if it looks like a meager performer upon first glance. Virtualization software on a large display could meet the needs of those wanting a full-fledged operating system.

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What’s Next for the Cloud? Distributed Architectures

Every so often, computing architecture swings from centralized to distributed and then back again. It started with centralized mainframes, which gave way to distributed client/server systems, which in turn were displaced by centralized SaaS models and cloud computing. History has shown us that not much can stop this slow tectonic oscillation between central and distributed, not even the cloud, which is slowly dissipating across the Internet and its connected devices.

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VMware’s vSphere4 Announcement: A Critical Perspective

VMware just announced a major refresh of its server virtualization product line, renamed vSphere4. VMware vSphere 4 aims to aggregate and manage large pools of infrastructure — processors, memory, storage and networking — as a seamless, flexible and dynamic operating environment. As the company’s biggest announcement in almost three years, vSphere4 marks a big step forward. This note examines the primary objectives of the relaunch, as well as the implications for VMware’s market position relative to competitors Microsoft and Citrix.

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