In the all-encompassing journey to so-called digital transformation, Citrix reinforced its long-term strategic relationship (can’t call it a partnership, there are legal issues involved if one does that) with Google on July 20.
As a result of this extended agreement, Citrix customers now will be able to use Citrix Cloud to provision and manage secure digital workspaces, including Citrix Workspace Service, on Google Cloud Platform.
Citrix and Google are working together to bring cloud delivery of applications, virtual desktops and secure cloud-optimized endpoints to their enterprise customers, who are increasingly using combinations of public and hybrid clouds to solve their business requirements for secure digital workspaces.
Along with these new cloud packages, Citrix and Google also announced new integrations, which also became available July 20, between Citrix ShareFile and Google G Suite that enable so-called “follow-me-data” when using Citrix workspace solutions.
Follow-me-data, according to Citrix, is business data accessed using Citrix Receiver that connects all Citrix applications and desktop infrastructures from any device, anywhere. Thus, users can find their business data wherever it is stored.
A new ShareFile plug-in that allows the secure sharing of files via Gmail and a ShareFile connector to Google Drive provides users with one place to find all their documents. In addition, Citrix NetScaler CPX is available now on Google Cloud and is targeted for availability in the Google Cloud Launcher marketplace by the end of the quarter, Citrix said.
This Citrix-Google deal looks like a useful one for developers. Google Cloud’s emphasis on containers and the Kubernetes orchestration system will allow the developer community to use NetScaler CPX to build and scale secure applications in the cloud, the company said.
There are other options in this mix. With Citrix Cloud services integrated with Google Cloud, Google customers will have the ability to add virtual apps and desktops that run on Google Cloud and use them alongside the G Suite productivity suite.
Citrix and Google continue to work on delivering secure end point solutions for accessing digital workspaces with the recently announced Citrix Receiver for Chrome 2.4, which offers true multi-monitor support on Chromebooks. Google recently announced official Chrome Browser support for Citrix along with graphics optimizations available only on XenApp.
Google and Citrix product teams also are continuing their collaboration to enhance and optimize XenApp delivery to Chrome OS based devices for enterprise customers with ongoing Receiver for Chrome updates.