Conditions in the technology industry are finally set to improve, with IT spend expected to increase from -4pc in 2009 to +4pc towards the end of 2010.
This was the view of James Stevenson, area vice-president for Citrix Systems Ireland, UK and South Africa, speaking at the annual Citrix Partner Accelerator event in Dublin.
He also announced that the strongest area for growth will be in desktop virtualisation, with the market in Ireland looking set to grow by 9.4pc in 2010 and 27.4pc in 2011.
Citrix today announced new enhancements to its application virtualistion offering, XenApp 6. Available as either as a standalone offering or as an integrated feature of XenDesktop, XenApp6 offers new enhancements that simplify computing for IT.
Through XenDesktop, with integrated XenApp, Citrix is aiming to redefine the desktop, transforming it into an on-demand service that can be delivered to any user, on any device, anywhere.
“Our vision is for a world where anyone can work and play from anywhere,” said Stevenson.
“Citrix is assisting business across Ireland to break free from traditional complex and costly computing models, giving them greater flexibility to change as their business and IT needs evolve. (The year) 2009 was a difficult year for our customers, characterised by cost savings and workforce reductions.
“This year we are seeing a shift towards cost avoidance and deferred ROI, enabling workforce productivity, simplification of the core and consolidation of markets. These goals can be realised through desktop virtualisation,” Stevenson added.
Speaking of the new enhancements of XenApp 6, Niall Gilmore, country manager at Citrix Ireland, said that Citrix XenApp 6 delivers an entirely new level of IT simplification and user experience that goes beyond anything done before with XenApp.
“The new simplified management capabilities and increased scalability reduce the cost of application management by up to 50pc. Customers can now deliver apps as an on-demand service to any user in any location at a fraction of the cost of traditional application management.”
Stevenson believes that Microsoft’s Windows 7 will be the catalyst for change, with desktop virtualisation being the method of choice for migrating to the operating system.
Other reasons to accelerate adoption of the technology will be to reduce or eliminate the need for hardware refreshes, improve business continuity programmes and green initiatives.
“Through XenDesktop, we have realised a flexible technology that addresses the needs of all users across the business whilst meeting the security and performance requirements that IT departments demand,” he said.
“Through our relationships with partners such as Microsoft and Intel, we are driving the business case for desktop virtualisation, and with them we can develop the right solutions and services for our customers to help them best utilise their IT infrastructure and employees,” Stevenson concluded.
By John Kennedy
