The workplace of the future will look a lot different than it did just a few months ago. The global pandemic has caused both employees and companies to rethink how and where work gets done. More organizations will make remote work a permanent part of their cost and workforce management strategies. They will also reexamine the structure and role of their office environments to keep employees safe and productive and enable greater agility across the enterprise. 

To drive business continuity and growth, organizations will need to embrace more flexible work models that accommodate these new priorities. Citrix Systems, Inc and Microsoft Corp. are joining forces to reimagine this new, flexible workplace. Employees need a consistent experience and seamless access to the applications and insights vital to doing their best work wherever work needs to get done. To address this challenge, the technology leaders today announced they will partner to help organizations accelerate the move to the cloud and speed adoption of digital workspaces and virtual desktops. 

The multi-year agreement builds upon and expands one of the industry’s longest strategic partnerships. Under the terms of the deal, Microsoft will select Citrix® Workspace as a preferred digital workspace solution, and Citrix will select Microsoft Azure as a preferred cloud platform to move existing on-premises Citrix customers to Microsoft Azure and enable people to work anywhere across devices. 

Citrix and Microsoft will provide joint tools and services to simplify and speed the transition of on-premises Citrix customers to Microsoft Azure. The companies will also devise a connected roadmap to enable a consistent and optimal flexible work experience that will include joint offerings comprised of Citrix Workspace, Citrix SD-WAN, Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365 sold through their direct sales forces via the Azure Marketplace and a robust community of channel partners. Microsoft will lead sales with Citrix Cloud to move existing on-premises Citrix customers to Azure. 

Both Citrix and Microsoft will maintain their long-standing policies of supporting choice for those customers who request alternatives to meet their business requirements.

Enabling the Agile Enterprise

The global pandemic has accelerated the need for companies to adopt a flexible operating approach that allows them to manage their resources – from talent to offices to technology - in a dynamic way that can scale quickly to adapt to changing market conditions. 

“The COVID-19 pandemic has forced businesses around the world to change the way that employees work, while still meeting the speed and security requirements that today’s uncertain business environment demands. Looking forward, hybrid-work models will become the standard for many customers, requiring a flexible infrastructure to support, secure and empower their teams,” says David Henshall, President and CEO, Citrix. “Together, Citrix and Microsoft can deliver a powerful digital workspace in a trusted and secure public cloud where employees can access everything they need to engage and be productive whether they are at home, in the office or on the road.”

Delivering the Future of Work Today

Through the deepening of this partnership today, Citrix and Microsoft are helping CIOs to minimize the risk, cost, and complexity in accelerating their transformation to cloud and enable greater agility, productivity, and security. Combining the power of the cloud with Microsoft Azure, Microsoft 365 and Citrix Workspace provides a platform for flexible work by giving employees unified access to all of the applications, content, and business services they need to be productive and secure wherever and whenever work needs to get done. 

“As organizations everywhere adapt to new ways of work, they will need to reimagine how and where work gets done,” said Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft.

He added, "Together with Citrix, we will apply the power of Azure to this challenge, helping our customers seamlessly and securely connect their employees to their applications, so they can be more agile and productive wherever they are.”

Deepening Ties 

As part of their new agreement, Citrix and Microsoft will develop a connected roadmap to simplify and accelerate the transition of application workloads to Azure and enhance the performance of Windows Virtual Desktops. Together, Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops, Citrix Managed Desktops and Windows Virtual Desktops will provide a complete and seamless way for customers to run all their application workloads on Azure and access Windows-based applications across devices or platforms.

Citrix will also invest in building a Microsoft-centric Citrix Workspace, providing deep integrations to optimize performance, functionality, and micro-apps for Windows Virtual Desktop and Microsoft 365, including Microsoft Teams. 

In addition, Citrix will use Azure and Microsoft 365 across its operations to accelerate innovation and enhance productivity.