Citrix Approaches MDM from Workspace Perspective

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ORLANDO, Fla. – Among the many updates and products announced during today’s Citrix Synergy conference, the company’s CEO, Mark Templeton, floated a vision of a “software-defined workspace” featuring a suite of integrated virtual and mobile application services.

A key piece of Citrix’s mobile-enabled workspaces initiative is XenMobile. “Most customers are choosing the enterprise edition that has three huge capabilities: full mobile lifecycle management, full capabilities around mobile apps and data for business in terms of security, and integration with developer tools and an app ecosystem,” said Templeton during his keynote address to attendees.

XenMobile takes a surgical approach to mobile application security, according to Templeton. He explained that “on a single device, I can have personal apps and I can have business apps, but the business apps are containerized with Citrix MDX technology,” which provides organizations with control over app behaviors, including inter-app communications. To date, there are “well over 10 million devices under management,” Templeton said.

Citrix announced today that the company had enhanced its XenMobile mobile device management (MDM) offering with a new secure productivity applications in its bid to bring more devices into the XenMobile fold. And soon, a cloud-based version of the technology will help power the upcoming Citrix Workspace Cloud offering, available now to conference goers (in-person and virtual).

New updates include Microsoft Outlook tasks integration in the WorxTasks app, allowing users to manage and sync their to-do lists on any device. Citrix for SalesForce includes a new security wrapper that allows organizations to set policies and better incorporate the popular business cloud app into their enterprise mobility management environments.

Lastly, the company is dipping its toes into the wearables arena with the SlideStream app. The software projects presentations on an external monitor and can be linked to an Apple Watch, providing users with a wrist-worn controller that advances slides with a quick swipe.

XenMobile technology will also power the upcoming Mobility Management Service from Citrix Workspace Cloud. The product serves as a platform for the rapid deployment of secure and remotely accessible applications that run at high fidelity, even in a Web browser.

The company has also lined up new partners to help extend XenMobile. Participants include mobile application development platform provider Kony and secure app development specialist AnyPresence. Aternity will be integrating its application performance and user experience monitoring tech.

Pedro Hernandez is a contributing editor at Datamation. Follow him on Twitter @ecoINSITE.

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.