Community Roundtable

COMMUNITY ROUNDTABLE

Members discuss all things Citrix and CUGC, as well as other emerging technologies and topics relevant to the community.

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Microsoft FSLogix Profile Containers and Folder Redirection: Should I? It Depends.

By Brandon Mitchell posted 3 days ago
Microsoft FSLogix Profile Containers and Folder Redirection: Should I? It depends.   Before FSLogix Profile Containers use of any other roaming profile solution, it has also been recommended to use them in combination with Folder Redirection to help reduce the profile load time. With Profile Containers, profile load time is nearly eliminated by live mounting the Profile Container. So is Folder Redirection still necessary? With Folder Redirection, user documents are accessed at the file-level over the network from the user's redirected documents folder. Without proper considerations, Folder Redirection can harm user experience and performance of the backend ...

Bay Area CUGC Event Recap–Q2 2019

By Donald Wong posted 7 days ago
​For the second year in row, a Bay Area CUGC meetup was held on my birthday. Now, I believe it's intentional and the organizers wanted to celebrate such a glorious day by inviting everyone to my party. Ok, all kidding aside, the pure coincidence of the event date sure made it challenging. However, I was able to clear out any prior commitments to attend the event. The venue was at Sino, an upscale and modern restaurant located in a popular area, Santa Row, in the heart of San Jose. After a quick sign-in and brief meet-and-greet, Joshua Espinosa, an SE from Citrix, took the floor to give everyone a rundown on Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops and the key announcements ...

Citrix Cloud, Citrix Workspace Experience and Federated Authentication Service with Azure AD

By Wendy Gay posted 07-23-2019
Citrix Cloud, Citrix Workspace Experience and Federated Authentication Service with Azure AD This is a feature that I have been waiting to test and play with for a while now, and it has arrived in private tech preview. It allows users of the Citrix Workspace Experience, using Federated Authentication Service, access to Citrix VDA resources with Azure Azure AD credentials. Federated Authentication Service (FAS) has been available since 7.9 and has been integrated with on-premises Citrix ADC and Citrix Storefront for SAML authentication since then.  Let's take a look at the use cases for Federated Authentication Service. This service allows contractors, ...

Northeast CUGC XL: Second Edition

By Nicolas Ignoto posted 07-22-2019
Recap of the second Citrix User Group Community (CUGC) XL event in New York City. Hosted at the Microsoft Technology Center on June 25, 2019. Check out the recap video here!   Northeast CUGC XL: Second Edition The second annual Northeast CUGC XL was held at the end of June in New York City. This all-day, free event was hosted at Microsoft Technology Center in Midtown and was co-organized by the New York Metro, New Jersey and Connecticut/RI CUGC local groups. We were excited to once again bring together IT professionals from many different locations. The XL events are usually the biggest of the year for local CUGC groups, and this time ...

Raleigh-Durham Citrix User Group Event Recap - July 18, 2019

By Alain Assaf posted 07-22-2019
Raleigh-Durham Citrix User Group Event Recap - July 18, 2019 On July 18th, 2019, the Raleigh-Durham CUGC meeting took place at the Citrix Offices in downtown Raleigh. The Citrix building is located in the warehouse district and is a former steel warehouse. Original pulleys and I-Beams are still present and were used to move massive steel beams to trains and trucks years ago, but now provide a reminder of older industry in the midst of high-tech innovation and cloud computing. We had a nice turnout with partners, vendors, Citrix representatives, and numerous CUGC members. CUGC leaders  Patrick Fish  (@Patrick Fish) and  Alain Assaf  ( @Alain Assaf ...

#CUGC500: Everything Smells Like Smoke And I'm Happy As Can Be!

By DJ Eshelman posted 07-03-2019
#CUGC500: Everything Smells Like Smoke and I’m Happy As Can Be Memories from the 500th CUGC meeting in Nashville, June 20th 2019 I have never had a CUGC meeting where I had to quite literally shower to get the smell of smoke off of me. My Citrix bag from Synergy, my laptop, clothes… they all smell of smoke now. And I couldn’t be happier about that. The 500th CUGC Meeting was held on June 20th, 2019 in Nashville, TN, USA – at one of our local legends – Martin’s BBQ. For me, it was more than a little special. Because, I may not have been at the first CUGC meeting– but I definitely wanted to be first.  The 500th CUGC Meeting is a Kind of a Big Deal  ...

Citrix Synergy 2019 Recap

By Carl Behrent posted 06-27-2019
Well, another Citrix Synergy is done for the year and as always, they are a really good event full of great content and great networking. The keynote packed in a lot of announcements: New Intelligent Workspace update that includes machine learning, automation and micro-app capability Micro-app integration out of the box with business applications like: Salesforce SAP Microsoft Outlook ServiceNow etc., etc. Citrix integration with Google Cloud Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops support on VMware Cloud (seems Citrix have all major clouds covered now) It was great to see what the vendors were showcasing. Citrix had some great ...

What a Fantastic Synergy 2019 (and Match.Geek)!

By Rasmus Raun-Nielsen posted 06-09-2019
Besides a lot of great information on the vision, strategy and technical improvements from Citrix, this Synergy brought some more personal experiences for yours truly. Not only did I get to meet a lot of the CUGC community members, but I also got the chance to meet the people behind CUGC and thank them for their great work (and I got to host my first Match.Geek-session! YAAAY!) As you may have read in my previous blog here , I have had the pleasure of attending the Match.Geek-sessions at previous Synergy conferences - This year, however, was going to be a bit different for me…   On the day of the session, the actual amount of attendees was between ...

Citrix Synergy 2019 Revisited - Extended Edition

By Chris Jeucken posted 06-05-2019
Citrix Synergy 2019 May 19 th through May 23 rd Recap Most people reading this probably will not need an introduction to Citrix Synergy. When it comes to one of our favorite vendors, this is their biggest event of the year. With lots of interesting sessions, labs, sponsors and the ability to try out new features at the Citrix booth, it is a fantastic way to stay current in the End User Computing-market.  There are a lot of post-event blog posts about Citrix Synergy 2019, and none of them can be definitive, simply because there is so much to see, hear, learn, experience, etc. that nobody is able to do that by themselves. So therefore, here is my recap ...

My Citrix Synergy as a Citrix Technology Professional and Sponsor

By Samuel LEGRAND posted 06-03-2019
My Citrix Synergy as a Citrix Technology Professional and Sponsor I’m sure you are aware that Citrix Synergy was held a few weeks ago in Atlanta, Georgia. This event is important for everyone in the Citrix ecosystem, and I’ve been going for a few years now. And for the third time, I came as a “VIP”! Indeed, the Citrix Technology Professional program ( https://www.citrix.com/community/ctp/ ) has some privileges when talking about Synergy: A free pass for the event 3 nights of hotel The CTPs are spread all over the globe, so this is one the few occasions where we all have the opportunity of meeting each other. Since the last program’s change (split ...

Synergy 2019: An Amazing Gathering of Community

By Benjamin Crill posted 06-02-2019
Synergy 2019: An Amazing Gathering of Community It's been nearly two weeks since Citrix Synergy has ended. By now most will have started reviewing the videos posted of the keynotes and breakouts (they are all on the Citrix YouTube channel if you are wondering). Keep watching and reviewing and learning, please. There is always more to learn, and the content is incredible. However, there was something even more incredible at Citrix Synergy this year than just the content. Unfortunately for those that did not attend Synergy (by the way, Synergy is in Orlando May 19-21 next year, so get to planning), there is one part of the week that can't be adequately experienced ...

Synergy 2019 Recap

By Richard Faulkner posted 05-29-2019
Synergy 2019 Recap Another Citrix Synergy has come and gone. It is always a great time to see and hear what is new in technology and where we are headed for the future. It started with the keynote speeches from David Henshall, PJ Hough, and Calvin Hsu. They talked about employee disengagement and how Citrix Workspace could help keep your employees engaged. We heard from Microsoft CEO Natya Nadella. We saw how Citrix cooperates and works with so many partners allowing you to interoperate with many partners in many areas. We learned how Citrix Intelligent Traffic Management allowed CBS to stream the Super Bowl to the largest audience ever. And we saw the ...

SwissCUGC Meetup @ Synergy

By Sacha Thomet posted 05-22-2019
Citrix User Group Community was kicked off officially at Citrix Synergy in 2015 in Orlando, and this was also the first Citrix Synergy I attended. For me personally, it was a blast! This conference changed so much in my life for my Citrix Community contributions. There are two reasons for this. First, I won the Citrix GeekOvation award and was connected to a lot of Community People and Citrix CTPs. The second reason was the founding of myCUGC, the Citrix User Group Community.  When I was back in Switzerland, a former co-worker and colleague, Stefan Beckmann, sent me a message and asked if I'm interested in creating a local CUGC with him. Already in September ...

Synergy 2019 Day One

By Richard Faulkner posted 05-21-2019
Synergy 2019 – Day One So, the first day is in the books, and despite the venue and catering (don’t get me started) it has been excellent. The keynote kicked off with some great announcements. Satya Nadeja made a guest appearance. Citrix showed off their Workspace app, and once again showed they cooperate or integrate with the largest number of providers. Analytics, Security, everything you could want. My personal favorite though was the explanation how all the features are developed for 1% of the employees. 99% need the basic functions. This picture articulates that very well. After the Keynote and lunch, I attended a session (SYN139) ...

Part One: Getting Things Done with Citrix Cloud Without Opening Studio!

By Wendy Gay posted 05-17-2019
Part One: Getting Things Done with Citrix Cloud Without Opening Studio! Hi folks, my name is Wendy Gay, and I have worked with Citrix technologies for about 20 years (time flies when you’re having fun). During that time, I have worked with Citrix Systems Integrators and Citrix Platinum partners. I wanted to show you how to do some admin tasks in Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktop Service without even opening Studio. When you are using Citrix Cloud for CVAD, Citrix Studio is used to manage your Citrix environment which sits in Citrix Cloud. Admins would be forgiven for thinking that you can’t get access to some of the under the hood PowerShell tools when using ...

"What’s In Your Gear Bag?" - Citrix Synergy 2019 Edition

By Brad Hornback posted 05-16-2019
"What’s In Your Gear Bag?" - Citrix Synergy 2019 Edition With Citrix Synergy 2019 just a few days away, I’m sure many of you are starting the process of getting packed and ready to go. As any tech conference veteran knows, one of the most important pieces of attending is making sure you have all of the things you need in your gear bag. That’s right - your gear bag. Most of us need to be able to stay connected while at a conference like Synergy. Whether it be for work, family, or making sure your phone stays charged through all of the parties you’ll be attending, it’s important to have the right things with you along the way. In 2017, I published ...

A Women in Tech Mentorship Program Update

By Esther Barthel posted 05-15-2019
The CUGC Women in Technology mentorship program has traditionally chosen Citrix Synergy these last couple of years as our big finale for our mentorship class. This year will be no exception, as we are closing down another successful mentorship class in Atlanta with a face-to-face meeting with the mentees that are able to make it to Synergy. Of course, attending Synergy is not a requirement, so for those mentees that are not so fortunate, we will organize a nice closing webinar to ensure we can all share our experiences, thoughts and feedback to keep improving the program and support we offer the Women in Tech out in the field!   But let me not get ahead of myself ...

The Synergy that Almost Didn't Happen

By David Gautney posted 05-14-2019
I have been very fortunate to have attended the past six Synergy conferences in a row, so when I asked my management about this year’s conference, I impatiently waited on an answer. Planning was already taking place amongst my friends and colleagues as well as volunteering opportunities within the CUGC, so I was anxious to hear if I would be able to attend. In March, I finally received the word from my employer that I would be unable to attend this year. While disappointed, I understood and was grateful for being able to attend as often as I had. I had signed up for the CUGC the second I heard about it. Soon after, I was honored and humbled to be asked to be ...

What is Match.Geek?!

By Rasmus Raun-Nielsen posted 05-07-2019
At events like Citrix Synergy , so many opportunities and events are available that quite frankly, it gets overwhelming, even for alumni attendees like myself. At my first couple of Synergy events, I was almost solely focused on regular sessions, not leaving much time for other types of learning, networking or contribution. After some years of "just" attending those regular sessions, I noticed the Match.Geek-event: A concept of 30-minute discussions in groups of a maximum of 5 attendees. This “micro session format” makes it possible to have deep technical dialogue in a bit more relaxed – or as we say in Denmark, " hygge "-like atmosphere. The first time ...

Synergy 2019 – A Guide from an Alumni

By Donald Wong posted 05-06-2019
​It's that time of year again to get ready for the last minute logistics preparation for Citrix Synergy , the Citrix annual conference hosted this year in Atlanta, Georgia from May 19–23.  Hopefully, most of you have chosen your breakout sessions by now and have formulated a game plan of what, where, and who to meet and see. Having attended Synergy for a number of years as customer, Expo vendor sponsor, and session speaker​, I have a few suggestions to round out your schedule. At the very least, you should attend the keynotes, stop by Expo vendor booths and self-paced labs, and look up colleagues to establish peer-to-peer networking opportunities so I will ...