Wyse Extends its Desktop Virtualization Market Leadership with New Class of Desktop Appliance Solutions Designed for Citrix XenDesktop

Simple Desktop and Mobile Appliances Deliver Best User Experience at Lowest Cost of Ownership

London – April 15th, 2008 – Wyse Technology, the global leader in thin computing, today announced that it will bring to market a new class of appliances, specifically designed for the new Citrix XenDesktop™ product line. By combining Wyse’s new appliances with the desktop delivery capabilities found in Citrix XenDesktop, enterprises will have a comprehensive solution for delivering desktops to office workers with the best user experience, simplest administration and lowest cost of ownership.

These new devices from Wyse will greatly enhance end user acceptance of desktop virtualization with ease of use, high performance and sleek design. The Wyse Viance™ family of devices provide unique features beyond what’s currently available that deliver easy set-up time and management, fast performance, rich multimedia experience, broad USB peripheral compatibility, multi-display support, and quick access to online end-user support. In addition, these appliances only use between 13 to 19 watts of power making them a very “green” solution.

“Wyse has partnered with Citrix in the past to sell thin clients for Terminal Services and Presentation Server, but now a new and bigger opportunity has emerged” said John Abbott, chief analyst of the 451 Group. “Desktop virtualization all but forces an appliance model onto the desktop – users typically aren't keen to control a virtual PC image with a physical PC. Citrix and Wyse are in a good position to capitalize on the fast growing VDI (virtual desktop infrastructure) sector and push thin clients into the broader marketplace for the first time.”

For the office knowledge worker, the Wyse Viance offers a complete PC experience in a virtual desktop environment through a low power, fanless, diskless desktop appliance. What makes the Wyse Viance unique is that users can power up in seconds and immediately connect to their virtual desktop while experiencing rich multimedia (smooth video and audio playback). With this desktop appliance users get a simple way to access the applications and information they need without compromising security or performance.

For the mobile professional, Wyse offers the Viance Pro X which comes with 802.11 b/g/n wireless support, a 15.4 inch WXGA TFT LCD screen, full multimedia performance (supports WPF Enabled Apps) as well as Gigabit network connectivity for access to the fastest LAN connections. The Viance Pro X is ideal for on-the-go professionals such as insurance claim processors, medical staff (nurses and doctors), government workers and office administrators.

Wyse Viance appliances handle multimedia and USB devices differently than PCs.  Exceptional video quality is delivered because multimedia is decoded locally on the device using the local processing power while all drivers and USB ports are virtualized back at the server. This gives IT the granular control over what USB peripherals are allowed and no drivers are ever needed on these appliances.

“Customers will benefit from the combined expertise of Wyse and Citrix in delivering a superior desktop experience for end users, and a cost-effective, secure and simple desktop delivery infrastructure for IT,” said Raj Dhingra,  group vice president and general manager, Delivery Systems Division at Citrix Systems. “Wyse’s innovations across their desktop appliance products make the combined solution very compelling for our joint customers. The multimedia enhancements, advanced peripheral support and client performance features make excellent use of our end-to-end desktop delivery solution.”

For IT organizations, the combined solution will streamline implementation and maintenance, and simplify the transition from traditional PCs to energy-saving desktop appliances. The new appliances help simplify network administration since everything is controlled and managed centrally while allowing users to be set-up and running minutes out of the box. The collaboration with Citrix further extends Wyse’s position in the desktop virtualization market by leveraging Citrix XenDesktop to deliver an end-to-end  desktop virtualization solution.

Citrix XenDesktop moves beyond the centralization of desktops to create an end-to-end desktop delivery solution that dynamically assembles a user’s desktop on-demand, while delivering an unparalleled user experience. XenDesktop dramatically simplifies lifecycle management, accelerating the ability to provision, manage and deliver desktops It provides stronger data protection and control, and ultimately reduces the cost of ownership of desktops by up to 40 percent. 

“All Wyse thin clients will be excellent desktops for Citrix XenDesktop, but we’re taking it to the next level.  As the first vendor to announce enterprise-class desktop appliances for Citrix XenDesktop, Wyse continues to lead developments in desktop virtualization, offering uses choice,” said Jeff McNaught, chief marketing officer for Wyse Technology. “We know that companies who choose to virtualize desktops in the datacenter, want an easy to manage appliance on the user desktop, not a PC that requires more energy, management and hassle. Our new Viance devices, working in tandem with Citrix XenDesktop, deliver new value and options to enterprises, providing the best user experience to date and the choice to work with a broad selection of leading server hardware partners."