New Stuff: Citrix XenApp Parra and Essentials 5.5

2010 is right around the corner & the next decade is destined to bring major improvements to the IT world through improved application delivery techniques and cost-effective business continuity tools.  Citrix Systems is making huge strides to protect business information and enhance the end-user experience.  Last week Citrix released two updates about how they are going to help us protect our Microsoft applications and information. 

Citrix Releases Tech Preview for XenApp Parra Sneak Peak  Brian Madden Article

The newest release of Citrix XenApp (formerly known as Presentation Server) is slated for release during the first half of 2010.  It will leverage Microsoft’s Windows Server 2008 R2 platform and will feature some major improvements, including:

 1.  Simplified management tools

2.  Enhanced integration with Active Directory

3.  Increased hardware utilization ability (20% more users per server!)

4.  Real time audio support for Microsoft Office Communicator and other VOIP soft phones

Citrix, Microsoft Partner to Offer Disaster Recovery for Virtual Environments Citrix Essentials Official Site StorageLink Official Site  eWeek Article

Available for download today is Citrix Essentials 5.5 for Microsoft Hyper-V, which integrates the StorageLink Site Recovery feature into the management suite.  This update delivers the ability of a single management platform to ensure failover capabilities of Microsoft Hyper-V servers.  StorageLink enables organizations to test multiple different disaster recovery scenarios effectively and integrate with the other advanced management capabilities of Citrix Essentials, including: 

• Storage management
• Provisioning services
• Lab automation
• Workflow orchestration

We have Citrix-certified design and implementation specialists on our staff to answer any questions you might have about these developments and I would greatly appreciate an opportunity to introduce them to you if you are trying to improve your ability to deliver applications to your end-user community.

11/3/2009

By now you have probably heard something about The New Efficiency from Microsoft & you know that you will have to address these changes in the coming years.  If you find yourself wondering what the best strategy for the future is, know that you already have a partner for your Microsoft planning needs in Lewan & Associates.   Here are a few ways we can help you plan for the future.

Executive Briefing Sessions

Our team of sales, management & engineering professionals keep a close eye on every update from our 30+ major technology partners.  If you have specific questions about how your environment will be changing in the future, it is likely we have seen reference architectures, attended manufacturer trainings & tested beta versions of the latest technologies.  Let us help you create a roadmap & help you focus your research efforts on workable solutions.  

Microsoft Health Checks

We can help you maintain maximum efficiency & ideal performance goals, reduce support costs, increase up-time or prepare for upgrades with our Microsoft health check services.  Whether your project involves Windows, Active Directory, Exchange, SharePoint, SQL, System Center, etc. know that you have a local partner in Lewan to help you reach your goals.  

Unify Communications

Microsoft Exchange 2010 is going to change the way our communications services are managed & delivered to end-users.  This is very apparent if you follow the Unified Communications Blog on Microsoft’s TechNet.  Our experts are ready to help you develop a strategy to integrate Microsoft’s unified communications environment using Microsoft Exchange 2010.  Be aware that Exchange 2010 uses the Active Directory directory service to store and share directory information with Microsoft Windows, meaning the health of your AD environment will be a critical component of your future communications services.  For more information about Active Directory forest design for your Exchange organization, see the Exchange Server Team Blog article.  

Enterprise Social Computing

Improve collaboration, content management, business process, form management and strengthen business intelligence with Microsoft SharePoint Server.  Our engineering resources can help you design, configure & implement a SharePoint site that is custom-tailored for your business’ needs.  Our engineers will work hand-in-hand with your team to ensure complete knowledge transfer and documentation specific to your solution.  To experience the power of SharePoint first hand, check out the SharePoint Community Portal.

9/21/2009

Are you challenged by the end user community to deliver more flexibility, mobility, consistency, dependability, scalability, etc.?  How can you address this requirement, while maintaining our security, management, availability & quality of service requirements? 

 

Lewan can help & this week I would like to highlight a few areas we are watching to help local companies address these topics. 

 

Citrix XenApp Update  Official Site  Reuters  Network Computing

Citrix announces major changes to delivering applications by updating VM-based delivery, terminal services, power consumption, HDX, Flash, video, Microsoft integration, and more.  These updates will become available on September 29th, so get ready for Citrix to make a big splash.  

 

LifeSize HD Video to the Desktop  Official Site  NBC News  Local Event

Our video conferencing partner LifeSize is truly revolutionizing the way businesses use video to communicate.  We can now connect conference rooms, desktops & remote workers with HD voice, video & content with minimal bandwidth requirements.

 

Local Event - Microsoft’s The New Efficiency Party – September 24th Registration

This is a local event for Microsoft’s new web site, launch of Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Exchange Server 2010. You can even get a free copy of Windows 7 if you attend!  Hope to see you there.

8/24/2009

We all know that change is the only constant and therefore it always important to be informed of updates from about the products we use.  This week Microsoft released a major update for Windows Server which will have an immediate impact on the agility of your Microsoft virtual servers and integration with Windows 7.  We also know that as our communication (voice, video, email, text, chat, etc.) applications are becoming business critical and that we must be able to ensure high availability for these ever-changing technologies.

 

Hot Headline - Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Released – Byte And Switch Official Product Information Download the Eval Copy

Microsoft’s latest service pack for Windows Server includes features to improve the versatility of the server platform, the integration with Windows 7 and the experience for remote workers and branch offices.  Among others, there is also a new feature called the AD Recycle Bin, making restoration of users or groups a cinch.  If you have software assurance, then these updates are available now.

 

Featured Webinar – September 9th, 2009 – Protecting Your Exchange Environment & 2010 Overview - Register

Our partners DoubleTake and Microsoft are holding a Webinar discussing the newest release of Exchange 2010 & strategies to integrate with your overall business continuity requirements.  This webinar will touch on the following points:

• Complete messaging infrastructure availability
• HA for SQL, SharePoint, Unified Messaging & Edge servers
• Rapid recovery for lost servers
• Exchange 2010 feature overview

We have dedicated a great deal of resources to ensure we have one of the strongest local Microsoft support organizations, so please let me know if you would like to learn more about how we can help with your current Microsoft Windows, Unified Communications, Exchange, SharePoint, SQL, .NET, System Center, etc. projects.