On April 8th we released Automation Manager SR4. Below you'll find a list of the most important changes in this release. Please download the release notes from our support portal to read the full list of new features and enhancements.    New features: PowerShell 3.0. support: Automation Manager now fully supports Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 and enables administrators to copy paste existing Powershell 3.0 scripts into a secure, efficient and controllable Module that can be delegated to virtually anybody within or outside of IT. Support for Windows Authentication when using Microsoft SQL Server: To support environments with high security requirements Automation Manager now support Windows Authentication when connecting to the Microsoft SQL ... READ MORE>>

I just wrapped up a webinar with two great partners of mine, Ntersect and X-IO technologies, on why some companies struggle with their XenApp migrations. Now, I’ve blogged on the end of life for XenApp 4.5 before but this webi was a comprehensive case study on a healthcare organization in Texas and the process they went through to achieve success and the lessons they learned.

First and foremost, even though this is a real customer, I will change the names to maintain privacy rules. So, let’s call this hospital “Rampart.” At “Rampart” they were faced with the need to move off of their existing Presentation Server 4.5 ... READ MORE>>

XenApp connector for SCCM

Today Microsoft and Citrix announced the release of the new XenApp connector for System Center Configuration Manager 2012 (a.k.a Project Thor). When I was at Microsoft I was part of the team that brought the original connector to market (f.k.a Project Titan). These releases are great steps forward in the user centric computing model. In their blog (which you can find here)…Citrix told us a story about “Ann”, as part of their news release on a XenApp connector for Microsoft SCCM. More About Ann… We at RES, given our deep interest in technology about how IT professionals are going to ... READ MORE>>

If you've read the great 'VDI Smackdown' paper by PQR you might notice that RES Automation Manager is mentioned as one of the solutions suited in a virtual desktop infrastructure. I would like to explain one of the many features of the solution that solve a specific problem. Snapshot technology is a great solution for managing virtual computer environments as it makes it very easy to save computers states. Multiple snapshots can be saved for a single computer and snapshot technology is commonly used to create backups before making changes or create a 'catalog' of different computing states. There are however some challenges with this dynamic way of managing computing states. The biggest is that traditional configuration management tools ... READ MORE>>

Well, the Mayans were wrong about 2012. But now Citrix says it’s the End of Life in 2013. Are you ready?
I have been giving the above a lot of thought as of late. It is not unusual for a software vendor to announce a hard deadline for the end of life for a product, and Citrix is no different. On March 31, 2013 Citrix will officially declare the “End of Life” for Presentation Server 4.5. What does this mean to the IT professional? No more service packs, hotfixes or even the usual support. That’s it. Kaput. Fine. Use at your own risk. Does that impact you? It ... READ MORE>>