Citrix
Citrix Systems is an enterprise application vendor, known best for their metaframe product. This product is used to deliver standardized desktop environments to thin clients and PCs alike. Citrix has additional product lines including remote control and web meeting software under the "GoTo" brand.
The Citrix application
Citrix can be used in a variety of ways. Citrix is basically a tunnel that enables a user at a terminal to access and function within an application, but the application is running off of a server other than the user's workstation. When well maintained, Citrix offers performance that is equal to or even greater than running the application off of a local drive. Citrix can publish an entire desktop (providing different classes of users the tools they need) or just a single application (giving the user icon like access to the application).
Benefits of Citrix
- Central application hosting, allowing for simple maintenance and support
- When well-managed, better performance is possible
Downsides of Citrix
- Costly (required hardware and licensing)
- May require the user to go through multiple log ins