Citrix rebrands the Workspace Cloud Browser Apps Service introduced last summer as Citrix Workspace Cloud Secure Browser, and complements this hosted service with two other offerings, the Citrix XenApp Secure Browser and the Secure Browser Deployment Kit.
Last summer, Citrix offered up the Workspace Cloud Browser Apps Service, a trial offering which provided a secure way of delivering Web and SaaS applications to any modern browser. Now they have broadened out that portfolio significantly. The new family of Citrix Secure Browser offerings has three components. One is that original Browser Apps Service, rebranded as Citrix Workspace Cloud Secure Browser. It has now been supplemented by two other offerings aimed at different markets – the Citrix XenApp Secure Browser, which is sold through perpetual license, and the Secure Browser Deployment Kit, which is free for existing XenApp and XenDesktop users.
“The Workspace Cloud Browser Apps Service, which was introduced last year as a trial service only, has now been renamed and is the fully hosted service component of the family,” said Brett Waldman Senior Manager for Product Marketing at Citrix. “This is a fully hosted and managed service for customers who want everything to be deployed and managed by Citrix.” It starts at $USD 20 per user per month, for the secure delivery of an unlimited number of web apps.
Citrix originally entered the secure browser market last year to address the problems created in a world where customers often want to use custom-built web applications that use Internet Explorer in other browsers, and where browser convenience features may violate compliance and security policies.
“More than half of all apps are now delivered through a browser, and the top app delivered on XenApp is a web browser,” Waldman said. “We wanted to simplify the delivery of web apps in a secure manner. With this, you don’t have to worry about what you are running, or about security, or about what browser it is. We’ve abstracted all that complexity.” The Secure Browser provides a turnkey virtual delivery of apps to the end-user’s browser of choice, locking them down, eliminating compatibility issues, and protecting sensitive information.
Waldman said the service introduced last year has had a great response, divided into two types.
“The very advanced crowd likes what we have done, because they have done something similar themselves, hardening their browsers,” he said. “But for the vast majority of people it’s a ‘wow,’ something that they had thought about perhaps, but hadn’t actually done. Many had never thought about publishing Web apps from Citrix this way.”
Waldman said Citrix thinks the market for this is significant.
“Something like Google and ESPN won’t be published this way, but within the enterprise or SMB markets, it’s very much use case driven,” he said. “In conversations we have had, it comes down to a better user experience, security, or manageability story.”
The two new secure browser offerings are the Citrix XenApp Secure Browser and the Secure Browser Deployment Kit.
The Citrix XenApp Secure Browser is available as a perpetual license beginning at $USD 150 per user or device.
“This is for customers who want to manage themselves, and who don’t want the full service,” Waldman said.
The Secure Browser Deployment Kit is free for XenApp and XenDesktop customers with active Subscription Advantage or software maintenance, with the exception of XenDesktop VDI edition customers. It leverages the Citrix Lifecycle Management XenApp Secure Browser blueprint to streamline new deployments of XenApp dedicated for publishing web apps.
“We think that the channel will be more inclined to sell the Citrix XenApp Secure Browser or even the Secure Browser Deployment Kits, because of the services opportunities,” Waldman said. “However, they may also find that the Citrix Workspace Cloud Secure Browser is a great conversation starter for customers who haven’t thought about this before.”
