Citrix Systems Inc has signed a deal with Compaq Computer Corp which the company says will help in its push to become the industry standard for Windows-based thin clients. However, others in the industry see Citrix as using outdated, proprietary methods to propagate its Independent Computing Architecture (ICA).
Compaq will first roll out the ICA client on the Aero 800 CE- based handheld device. Paula Hunter, director of solutions marketing for emerging markets and programs at Compaq, said that a lot of companies were looking at replacing, or, at least supplementing notebooks in the enterprise with handheld devices. She expected that the Aero – pre-loaded with the ICA client – would be used in sales force automation and remote data collection applications. Compaq is not extending the ICA software to thin clients terminals at the moment because it currently has a joint marketing agreement with Wyse to sell terminals pre-loaded with the ICA client. However, the deal does cover all its Windows/NT-based devices and it will be rolling out more devices with the software onboard. Hunter described the deal as the next logical step in Compaq’s two-year partnership with Citrix. รก
