Citrix Listened and Citrix Delivered - XenDesktop 4.0 License Changes

Citrix recently announced XenDesktop 4.0, which in our opinion is set to be a game changer and drive virtual desktop projects into businesses who to date have been sceptical about the performance, price point and flexibility to deliver relevant content on demand to authenticated in users in the way THEY want to receive it.

Amidst all the positive conversations we have had with customers there has been one area which was not as well received - the new Citrix licensing framework which was set to per user, well Citrix have been gauging the general feeling about this and understand that they need to be more flexible in their approach to virtual desktops, and have delivered three new options for XenDesktop adopters:

• NEW device-based licensing option.
• NEW VDI Edition available in both user/device and CCU licensing
• NEW Campus-wide Licensing Program for customers in the education industry

Flexible licensing based on user or device

Customers in some industries have scenarios where multiple users share the same device. To help with these situations, Citrix decided to enhance XenDesktop 4 licensing to offer more flexibility by adding a new device license option - available at the exact same price as the user-based license.

This means that users can access their XenDesktop from an unlimited number of devices with the user-based license option, and devices powered by XenDesktop can be used by an unlimited number of users with the device-based license option. As a result, your XenDesktop 4 product license can now be assigned to either a user or a device.

VDI-only solution for people getting started with virtual desktops available in user, device or CCU licensing

This option is based upon customers who only want to deliver VDI desktops without the ability to use Flexcast technology and be flexible in the approach to content delivery and a cost effective way to trial in a wide variety of VDI use-cases.

In response, Citrix are creating the new XenDesktop 4, VDI Edition available for $95 per user/device, or $195 per concurrent user (CCU). XenDesktop 4, VDI Edition gives customers the ability to deliver VDI-based desktops with a true HDX experience, and scale them up with built-in provisioning services, profile management, and StorageLink™ technology.

As with all the XenDesktop editions, the new VDI edition lets customers use any hypervisor, including XenServer or Hyper-V (both of which ship with all XenDesktop editions) as well as VMware ESX or vSphere.

Desktop Virtualisation in Education is ready to go Campus-Wide

University users have highlighted they need the ability to deliver desktops and applications to a wide range of users and faculties. They also want the flexibility to deliver either the full Windows desktop, or just some applications to a wide variety of use cases, including enabling access from smart phones, etc.

To address this customer requirement, Citrix are adding the Citrix Campus-wide Licensing Program. This program, available starting November 16th, will offer extremely compelling prices to accredited educational institutions in K-12 and university campuses who adopt XenDesktop 4 for campus-wide use.

Putting it all together

Citrix XenDesktop™ 4, VDI Edition - VDI-only solution available at $95 per user or device, or $195 per CCU
Citrix XenDesktop™ 4, Enterprise Edition - Enterprise-class desktop virtualisation solution available at $225 per user or device
Citrix XenDesktop™ 4, Platinum Edition - Best-value comprehensive desktop virtualisation solution available at $350 per user or device