by Stephanie Roper, Citrix

Hot Topics Round Tables @ Citrix Synergy 2017 Were a Great Success!

Our Hot Topics leaders did an amazing job fielding all the questions from our Citrix Synergy 2017 attendees. Hot Topics Round Tables (formerly known as Lunch Table Tech Chats) was an informal peer to peer conversation with Citrix Experts from the community to network and share valuable insights to customers. It was a first-come first-serve open seating agenda with topics of Apps & Desktops, Security, Mobility, Networking, Data Sharing, and Cloud Services.

Networking sessions discussed MFA with Netscaler and their configurations. One of the attendees was having issues with latency, and during discussion, our Citrix Technology Advocate (CTA) member was able to introduce and talk about how to implement Framehawk with XenDesktop or even SD-Wan to optimize packet transfers. GSLB and Vcenter rewrites for logins were also a topic for discussion and the leader suggested capturing those rewrites and recreating them with the URL rewrite module so that GSLB could work across datacenters. These conversations gave the attendees another view on how to address their issues.

During our Application Delivery round table discussions, a topic of keen interest this year was of course the recent acquisition of Unidesk.  A lot of our time together was spent discussing how various workloads may respond to being delivered as part of a layer. The potential reductions in the number and complexity of MCS/PVS images is very exciting. We discussed the potential of utilizing App Layering to improve the end-user experience by creating layers for users containing their specific settings and end user installed software. Another topic that received a lot of discussion was Hypervisor choice. The switch to Windows 10 / Server 2016 has been driving interest vGPU technology. With Citrix’s leadership in the space, some the organizations that have been using VMware have been exploring the idea of moving their VDI workloads to XenServer.

The Cloud round table included talks about what others are doing and discussing Citrix’s cloud offerings. The keynote sessions provided insights on the cloud era, but many are still looking for clarification in those offerings. Some cloud concerns were legacy apps with data on-prem and workloads to the datacenter. Customers are concerned about the user experience being seamless. How would licensing work for the cloud? And of course the biggest question is, how do you move back from the cloud if needed. We had a good discussion on some of their questions, but we suggested some of the breakout sessions that were going to take place to get more in depth cloud answers and to watch for future blogs and release notes about cloud after Synergy.

Mobility conversations included thoughts on what devices will be like in the next five years. The current device offerings are superb and features are getting more secure. Encryption tactics with XenMobile will easily make managing BYO devices easier. Do we think XenMobile offerings will change in the next 5 years? Anything is possible, but we look at strategy and reasoning before making decisions. Many customers were relieved about the MAM and MDM unified console–an administrators blessing now.

Security was discussed throughout all topics at the roundtables, but there was also a good customer base that came from the healthcare industry that spoke about the huge advantages of ShareFile in hospitals. The seamless and secure data dump, file sharing, and workflows all make the shift of a doctor/nurse a little more easier

I would like to personally like to thank all of the hot topic round table leaders who took their time during Synergy to share their expertise with Synergy attendees. This is what community is all about! Most of the topics and questions mentioned here have been made into webinars, blogs, or topics for local CUGC meetings across the globe, so keep an eye out for your CUGC local group meetings to follow up and hear more about the Hot Topic Round Table discussions.

See you all again next year in Anaheim, CA for Citrix Synergy 2018!

Stephanie Roper

Community Manager, CUGC