New XenApp and XenDesktop Servicing Options Balance Long-Term Planning
Citrix is joining this movement by announcing two new Servicing Options for XenApp and XenDesktop: ‘Long Term Service Release’ (LTSR) and ‘Current Release’ (CR).
Citrix has been releasing innovations and feature enhancements for the XenApp and XenDesktop product lines at a rapid pace. Throughout 2015, Citrix introduced new product releases on a quarterly basis, and you can learn more about their 7.7 release in December 2015. This rapid pace of innovation enhances the use cases for XenApp and XenDesktop while keeping the industry-leading Citrix solutions ahead of the competition.
To help balance these rapid, feature-rich release cycles with the needs of some organizations for long-term enterprise planning schedules, a software industry trend has emerged to establish ‘long term’ or ‘extended support’ releases. Citrix is joining this movement by announcing two new Servicing Options for XenApp and XenDesktop: ‘Long Term Service Release’ (LTSR) and ‘Current Release’ (CR).
Long Term Service Release
As a benefit of Software Maintenance, Long Term Service Releases of XenApp and XenDesktop enable enterprises to retain a particular release for an extended period of time while receiving minor updates that provide fixes, typically void of new functionality. This provides customers with greater predictability and simplified on-going maintenance. Citrix is announcing their first-ever Long Term Service Release of XenApp and XenDesktop 7.6 available for download on Citrix.com.
The benefits of a Long Term Service Release include:
· Extended Lifecycle: For each Long Term Service Release, the clock restarts, giving you 5 years of mainstream support and 5 years of extended support (separate contract required).
· Predictable Maintenance: On a regular schedule, Citrix will release cumulative updates for each Long Term Service Release. These updates will typically contain just the fixes for that release void of new features to simplify on-going maintenance.
· Reduced IT Costs: By opting to implement a Long Term Service Release, you will have access to the highest quality releases with the most predictable maintenance schedule to streamline your management efforts, which can lower your total cost of ownership.
Current Release
For agile environments keen to stay on the cutting edge of XenApp and XenDesktop technology and eager to implement the newest features and functionality, Citrix is offering Current Releases (CR) of XenApp and XenDesktop. In many ways, Current Releases continue the rapid release cycles that you are now accustomed to today, an version 7.7 and 7.8 offer the latest examples of Citrix innovation. Implementing a Current Release will help your organization stay competitive by providing the latest app and desktop virtualization features as soon as they are released to market.
The benefits of a Current Release include:
· Rapid innovation: The IT world changes quickly and Current Releases will provide access to the latest security, productivity and collaboration features to help keep your workforce competitive.
· Address new business challenges: Current releases will extend the flexibility of the XenApp and XenDesktop architecture to address more use cases, giving you more value out of your current investment.
· Faster delivery of enhancements: Citrix welcomes your enhancement requests to further improve our app and desktop delivery technology, and the faster release cycles of Current Releases will help expedite your enhancement request.
Based on feedback from numerous IT organizations about these new Servicing Options, Citrix expects many customers to have a Long Term Service Release for mission-critical apps and desktops alongside a Current Release environment with the latest cutting-edge productivity and collaboration features. With this side-by-side approach, you can install and configure the latest XenApp or XenDesktop release in your development and test environment to thoroughly vet the newest features against your day-to-day business operations and provide Citrix with feedback on those features before they are incorporated into a Long Term Service Release, giving you greater control and predictability over the future of your Citrix environment. Compare both Servicing Options via the following table:
The new Citrix Servicing Options provide you with new options to better align your long-term XenApp and XenDesktop deployment strategy with your individual business goals. Please visit the Servicing Options page on Citrix.com for more information.