Microsoft, Citrix renew ties for Longhorn

Computerworld - Citrix Systems Inc. and Microsoft Corp. this week announced an extension to their long-standing partnership that will allow Citrix to support the next version of Windows Server -- code-named Longhorn -- in its popular access products.
The five-year agreement will provide Citrix continued access to Microsoft Windows Server code while providing for patent cross-licensing between both companies. In addition, the agreement details new technology collaboration to enhance the extensibility of the Windows Terminal Server.
The Citrix MetaFrame Access Suite runs on Microsoft's Terminal Server, which is designed to deliver Windows-based applications or the Windows desktop itself to any computing device, including those that cannot run Windows. Citrix provides remote access technology to allow about 50 million users access to Windows-based computers, said Nabeel Youakim, area vice president of the Microsoft global relationship for Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Citrix.
Because Citrix focuses its access products on extending the functionality of Terminal Server with security, management and other features, this agreement will allay any uncertainty from its customers that Microsoft may compete with Citrix with the Longhorn release, Youakim said.
"We're assuring our customers that we will have a very strong, stable platform for years to come on the Windows platform," he said. "If our customer base moves to Longhorn, they can do so smoothly."
This agreement extends a 2002 agreement between the two companies to provide Citrix source-code access to the Windows Server.
The first formal ties between the pair date to 1997 when Citrix licensed code to Microsoft that served as the foundation for Terminal Server, said Dwight Davis, an analyst at Summit Strategies Inc. in Boston. At the time, Microsoft was considering crafting its own solution from scratch, he added.
The new agreement is beneficial both to Citrix users and to Microsoft, Davis said. For users, "it gives them assurance that there is a road map to stay on the [Citrix] platform and the assurance that it should keep pace with the evolution of the Windows platform itself."
In addition, the new technical collaboration piece of the agreement may lead to enhanced features to the Longhorn server, he added, noting that while Citrix has 600-plus engineers working on Terminal Server, Microsoft has only about 40.
Alan Kauffman, vice president and CIO of White Plains, N.Y.-based March of Dimes, said knowing that Microsoft and Citrix will continue their relationship was a relief to his organization. The March of Dimes has completed a pilot project and is now planning to deploy Citrix technology enterprisewide to 1,500 users at 250 offices nationwide tocentrally manage Windows applications.
"We are going to have nothing on the desktop," Kauffman said. "It does require very tight integration between Microsoft server products and Citrix. This is a big investment for us. Knowing that Citrix and Microsoft are going to continue, and in fact strengthen, their relationship ... is critical to us."
For its part, Microsoft will continue to benefit from the significant revenue Citrix drives its way -- currently projected by Citrix to be about $300 million for fiscal 2005 -- from Citrix users who also purchase Windows licenses.
"It's really that cold, hard cash number that I think has made Microsoft appreciate Citrix more than it had in the past," Davis said.
Microsoft plans to release the beta version of the Longhorn server during the second half of 2005.