Microsoft, Citrix in server virtualisation pact

24 February 2009

Boston: Citrix Systems Inc., a global leader in application delivery infrastructure, on Monday announced 'Project Encore', extending its collaboration with Microsoft into the adjacent server virtualisation market.

As part of this strategic alliance, Citrix's new solution called 'Citrix Essentials' will be available for Microsoft Hyper-V, offering advanced virtualisation management capabilities for Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V. This will help customers create highly scalable, manageable and agile virtual infrastructures.

Citrix Essentials' pact with Microsoft reflects Citrix's intention to position the company as the main challenger to market leader VMware.

The new solution will extend the enterprise management capabilities of Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V and System Center in the areas of storage management, provisioning services, and lab automation.  To accelerate broad availability to Microsoft Hyper-V customers, Citrix will make Essentials for Microsoft Hyper-V available to both Citrix and Microsoft resellers worldwide and collaborate with Microsoft on marketing and training activities.

''Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V will enable Microsoft customers to obtain even more value from their investments in the Windows platform and Microsoft virtualisation solutions,'' said Mike Neil, general manager, virtualisation strategy at Microsoft Corp.

''We see Citrix Essentials as a powerful extension that enables customers to accelerate their Hyper-V adoption in the enterprise in much the same way Citrix XenApp has extended the Windows Server platform for nearly 20 years in the application delivery arena.  Microsoft also will work to ensure that a future release of Microsoft System Center will support Citrix XenServer for customers with mixed Hyper-V and XenServer environments,'' he continued.

Citrix Essentials provides customers with a powerful set of advanced virtualisation management capabilities that extend the enterprise management capabilities of Hyper-V and System Center to help make virtualised environments more scalable, more manageable and more agile.