Citrix has launched Project Avalon, which can offer Microsoft Windows desktop and its related applications as a cloud service.
With Project Avalon, Citrix customers can deploy personalised Windows apps and desktops in a private cloud across single or multiple sites.
By leveraging the new Citrix CloudPlatform, powered by Apache CloudStack, Avalon will allow existing Citrix customers to adopt new features and use different versions of Windows Server, XenDesktop and XenApp.
Citrix Desktops and Applications group vice president & general manager Bob Schultz said with Project Avalon, the company’s customers have a clear path now to move ahead from today’s desktop virtualization investment into tomorrow’s cloud deployments.
"Enterprises gain the operational efficiencies of a cloud infrastructure and ability to flex into public clouds for capacity on demand," he added.
"Service providers gain the ability to manage multiple tenants, in multiple sites across multiple clouds as a single entity.
Both gain the flexibility to mix, match and migrate technology elements as their business needs evolve."
The ability to "mix and match" allows IT to focus on delivering desktops and applications based upon business needs, instead of vendor-introduced technology transitions, Citrix stated.
Project Avalon also incorporates the app orchestration technology which enables organizations to shift apps and desktops into public clouds to deliver capacity on demand.
The platform comes integrated with ShareFile which enables personalized user setting and CloudGateway delivers Project Avalon apps, desktops and data to any device through an enterprise app store Citrix NetScaler.
The company plans to bring a beta version of Avalon in the second half of 2012.
