Citrix and Microsoft expand partnership to accelerate 'workplace of the future'

Citrix and Microsoft are joining forces to help organisations embrace more flexible working models, as the global COVID-19 pandemic changes the way both employees and companies think of the workplace.

"The workplace of the future will look a lot different than it did just a few months ago. The global pandemic has caused both employees and companies to rethink how and where work gets done," the companies said.

The multi-year agreement builds upon and expands one of the industry's longest strategic partnerships. Under the terms of the deal, Microsoft will select Citrix Workspace as a preferred digital workspace solution, and Citrix will select Microsoft Azure as a preferred cloud platform to move existing on-premises Citrix customers to Microsoft Azure and enable people to work anywhere across devices.

Citrix and Microsoft will provide joint tools and services to simplify and speed the transition of on-premises Citrix customers to Microsoft Azure. The companies will also devise a connected roadmap to enable a consistent and optimal flexible work experience that will include joint offerings comprised of Citrix Workspace, Citrix SD-WAN, Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365 sold through their direct sales forces via the Azure Marketplace and a robust community of channel partners. Microsoft will lead sales with Citrix Cloud to move existing on-premises Citrix customers to Azure.

Both Citrix and Microsoft will maintain their long-standing policies of supporting choice for those customers who request alternatives to meet their business requirements.

"More organisations will make remote work a permanent part of their cost and workforce management strategies. They will also re-examine the structure and role of their office environments to keep employees safe and productive and enable greater agility across the enterprise.

"To drive business continuity and growth, organisations will need to embrace more flexible work models that accommodate these new priorities. Citrix and Microsoft are joining forces to reimagine this new, flexible workplace.

"Employees need a consistent experience and seamless access to the applications and insights vital to doing their best work wherever work needs to get done. To address this challenge, the technology leaders today announced they will partner to help organisations accelerate the move to the cloud and speed adoption of digital workspaces and virtual desktops."

David Henshall, President and CEO, Citrix, says the COVID-19 pandemic has forced businesses around the world to change the way that employees work, while still meeting the speed and security requirements that todays uncertain business environment demands.

"Looking forward, hybrid-work models will become the standard for many customers, requiring a flexible infrastructure to support, secure and empower their teams," he says.

"Together, Citrix and Microsoft can deliver a powerful digital workspace in a trusted and secure public cloud where employees can access everything they need to engage and be productive whether they are at home, in the office or on the road."

Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft, says through the deepening of this partnership, Citrix and Microsoft are helping CIOs to minimise the risk, cost, and complexity in accelerating their transformation to cloud and enable greater agility, productivity, and security.

"Combining the power of the cloud with Microsoft Azure, Microsoft 365 and Citrix Workspace provides a platform for flexible work by giving employees unified access to all of the applications, content, and business services they need to be productive and secure wherever and whenever work needs to get done.

 "As organisations everywhere adapt to new ways of work, they will need to reimagine how and where work gets done," he says.

"Together with Citrix, we will apply the power of Azure to this challenge, helping our customers seamlessly and securely connect their employees to their applications, so they can be more agile and productive wherever they are."

 As part of the new agreement, Citrix and Microsoft will develop a connected roadmap to simplify and accelerate the transition of application workloads to Azure and enhance the performance of Windows Virtual Desktops.

"Together, Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops, Citrix Managed Desktops and Windows Virtual Desktops will provide a complete and seamless way for customers to run all their application workloads on Azure and access Windows-based applications across devices or platforms," the companies say.

Citrix will also invest in building a Microsoft-centric Citrix Workspace, providing deep integrations to optimise performance, functionality, and micro-apps for Windows Virtual Desktop and Microsoft 365, including Microsoft Teams.