Citrix Unveils Project “South Beach” at iForum 2001

Today at its annual iForum user conference in Orlando, Fla., application serving and portal software giant Citrix Systems Inc. laid out the blueprint for its plan to bridge client/server computing and the Web-native world with a new portal product code-named “South Beach.”

South Beach will extend the Citrix-powered digital workplace by aggregating Windows, UNIX, Java and native Web applications, as well as internal and external content, through a single, secure and personalized Web interface. It is a key component of the company’s new vision for the future.

“The traditional enterprise is changing,” said Bob Kruger, Citrix senior VP and chief technology officer. “Information has historically been closely held within select parts of the organization. Today, enterprise organizations have a mandate to share information and applications with employees, partners and customers — wherever they are. South Beach unites critical information and applications from the disparate parts of the enterprise where they reside, lifting the long-established barriers to access and productivity and delivering a more efficient work environment — powerfully and simply.”

Kruger added, “Since we introduced Citrix NFuse technology, customers have been asking us to further extend our bridging capabilities to include internal and external content, Web applications and Web services. South Beach will be a powerful tool that incorporates all those elements and will be key in helping Citrix’s more than 140,000 customers organize all aspects of their businesses — providing access to information and applications in a ‘point and click’ Web browser environment.”

Citrix has been criticized by some ASP industry analysts as leading the industry down the wrong path by focusing on Web-enabling legacy applications instead of looking to the future of Web Services. “Citrix is a very big believer in the Web, but we recognize that there’s an underlying IT infrastructure that will not go away,” Kruger said.

Citrix took a big step on its migration toward the Web earlier this year with its acquisition of portal provider Sequoia Software, as well as alliances with industry leaders in content management, collaboration and syndicated content, including Screaming Media, eRoom Technologies, Documentum, Bantu, Interface Software, Interwoven and Vignette.

These and future relationships with business intelligence, CRM, ERP, and other vendors will provide South Beach customers with simple, “snap-in” access to the most popular applications and information sources available to help automate and streamline business processes.

Set to be available in the first half of 2002, South Beach will be sold through select members of the Citrix Solutions Network (CSN) — more than 7,200 strong and growing. South Beach will provide secure and scalable access to external and internal content feeds, popular business applications, real-time collaboration services, Web content management and Web services, developed in concert with the Citrix Business Alliance (CBA) Internet Solutions Program.