A key feature of the Citrix collaboration with Microsoft has been our continued focus on innovation. Together, we bring groundbreaking features and capabilities to our joint customers and their employees that can make the extraordinary possible. Sometimes that innovation means moving on from popular older solutions.
That’s why Microsoft announced today support for Office 365 Professional Plus installations on Microsoft Server 2016 Long-term Servicing Channel Remote Desktop Session Host (RDSH) will end in January 2020. That is roughly 24 months from today. As of this writing perpetual licensed editions of Office Professional Plus are not impacted by the Microsoft announcement. Citrix continues to work with Microsoft to help customers navigate through this component of their digital transformation.
This marks a major milestone for both Citrix and Microsoft as you, our joint customers, embark on your digital transformation journey.
Digital transformation is less about the integration of individual technologies and more about ensuring people are connected to the right data, resources and tools in a secure manner, enabling them to be productive from anywhere. Citrix Workspace is a complete and integrated digital workspace that enables secure, remote access to your desktops, data and applications – including web applications, SaaS applications, Office 365 applications and RDS applications – from anywhere. By delivering a comprehensive digital workspace with Citrix Workspace to all your users, you are ensuring that every user has secure, seamless access to the resource they need, when they need it.
Virtual applications and desktops are an instrumental component of every organization’s digital workspace strategy. Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop solutions, powering Citrix Workspace, are recognized as the industry-leading solution for virtual application and desktop delivery by providing centralized management, security, and user experience extensions to the Microsoft RDS base platform. With this announcement, Microsoft has reaffirmed their future commitment and on-going investment in RDS and VDI by stating that new capabilities will be coming as part of the Windows release cadence.
What does this mean for Citrix Customers?
There is no immediate call to action, as Office 365 Professional Plus will continue to be supported as it is today for the next two years. In addition, the perpetually licensed editions of Office Professional Plus are not impacted by this announcement. If you have any additional questions, please contact your Citrix sales or services representative.
Citrix and Microsoft have been pioneering the desktop and application virtualization experience and complimentary technology investments for over 25 years. Citrix is committed to the close partnership we have with Microsoft, and our combined efforts will create a winning scenario for you now and in the future. Please stay tuned for updates as together we ensure your smooth transition.
Learn more about how Citrix can help extend the value of Office 365.
