Working Together - Application Virtualization from Citrix & Microsoft

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There must have been some love in the air when Tim Graf wrote his post on the two companies Microsoft and Citrix working together! The fact that it was valentines day added some sentiment!

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Since the acquisition of Softricity by Microsoft, Citrix and Microsoft have continued to enjoy a close strategic partnership. Citrix has created a billion dollar business building value on top of Microsoft platforms like Terminal Services and this symbiotic relationship remains strong. Citrix is committed to finding innovative ways to add value to the Microsoft Application Virtualization (the new name for SoftGrid) platform and is actively working with Microsoft on this important technology.

The first step in this cooperative effort is to understand how the two application virtualization technologies work together. There are several scenarios in which the application virtualization capabilities of both Citrix and Microsoft work together:
1.     Complementary in the XenApp Server farm - Prior to its acquisition by Microsoft, Softricity was a Citrix Partner. In fact, a significant number of customers still use SoftGrid in conjunction with their XenApp server farms for application delivery.  The acquisition and name change to Microsoft Application Virtualization, does not change how well the two solutions work together.
2.     Simultaneous coexistence on the same platform - Customers can use both XenApp and Microsoft Application Virtualization on the same machine at the same time. Both clients will co-exist in the same environment so that customers can use both solutions simultaneously.
3.     Publish MS App Virtualization sequences in XenApp - In addition, it is possible for Citrix XenApp and Microsoft Application Virtualization to work together. Microsoft Application Virtualization packages can be published in XenApp.
4.     Apply XenApp policies to Microsoft Application Virtualization packages - This interoperability can be taken a step further. Existing Microsoft Application Virtualization sequences can interoperate with the XenApp policy features like SmartAccess and the XenApp Profiler, further extending the overall manageability of the joint solution.

Joe Nord the Citrix Architect of Application Virtualization has written a definitive account of how to make options 3 & 4 work.  Read about it here.

The inter-operability of the two technologies makes it easier for customers to leverage their existing investments in both Citrix XenApp and Microsoft Application Virtualization. Customers who have already expended the effort to sequence applications for Microsoft Application Virtualization can use these same packages in a XenApp environment. This allows customers to take advantage of the management capabilities built-in to XenApp which seamlessly switches between Microsoft Application Virtualization on the local desktop and in Terminal Services via the granular access control policies of SmartAccess.

Supporting Microsoft Application Virtualization makes it easier for customers to fully leverage their XenApp environments and reinforces our commitment to working closely with Microsoft to help customers realize the value in application virtualization.