Introducing a new feature designed to automate aspects of virtual app and desktop delivery, enhancing both the end-user and IT admin experience.

At Citrix Synergy 2018, we showcased not only how we’re providing world class experiences for the end-users with the new Citrix Workspace, but also how we’re providing a world class experience for Citrix administrators with powerful new administrative features. IT teams are tasked to do a lot in a short amount of time. Tasks such as password resets or requests for new IT services can take time away from new projects that are integral to growing the business. Dedicating time and resources on maintenance and management for the aforementioned can impact an organization’s competitiveness.

Citrix plays a major role in helping organizations gain competitive advantage with solutions that transform their businesses. We constantly look at new opportunities to develop cutting edge features or forge new partnerships to further improve enterprise app and desktop delivery.

This is why I’m excited to announce our new feature that integrates with an industry leading ITSM vendor, ServiceNow: the Citrix ITSM Adapter for ServiceNow! This is another feature that was showcased at Citrix Synergy that’s now generally available. Released earlier this month to a handful of Citrix and ServiceNow customers, the Citrix ITSM Adapter is a cloud service available to both on-premises and Citrix Cloud services customers. It automates various aspects of virtual app and desktop delivery, improving productivity for both end users as well as Citrix administrators.

With out-of-the-box workflows and the ability to create custom workflows, IT teams can now can automate, monitor and manage their Citrix environments seamlessly and easily. They can focus on strategic projects and automate simpler tasks. Organizations can on-board and off-board employees more quickly, create time-bound provisioning of apps and desktops, create self-service portals for users to request Citrix resources, and much more.

Let’s take a high-level peek at some of the things this integration can do.

Self-service requesting of virtual app or desktops 

One of the advantages of the Citrix Workspace is having all the apps that I need to do work right there ready for me when I launch Workspace app. However, occasionally, there may be an instance in which there’s an app that’s not provisioned for my particular role — possibly due to specific restrictions.

In the past, I’d have to call the support team and put in a request ticket for access to this application. My request would move along the chain, across various approvers, and then eventually, I’d get granted access. I would be completely dependent upon various approvers seeing my request. The time required could range from anywhere between a few hours or perhaps days. It would all depend on other requests that may hold a higher priority than mine.

With the new ServiceNow integration, I can log into my company’s ServiceNow instance and request an application. On the administrator’s side, they see a list of requests by users. From there, there are two options to complete app provisioning:

  1. Add users to a delivery group—click the lock icon to add the user to the specific delivery group and then click update.
  2. Add users to Active Directory group—click the lock icon to add the user to the specific Active Directory group and then click update.

Either way, once the administrator clicks update, the requested app is now assigned to me and it is ready for me to start working.

This same type of action also allows me to request virtual desktops, which is very valuable if I’m a manager who has a number of new college recruits ready to report to work. I can simply log into my ServiceNow account and request the number of desktops I need. This kicks off a workflow that will have those virtual desktops ready to go when the employees log in for the first time.

That’s just one of the capabilities of the Citrix ITSM Adapter for ServiceNow. This integration also provides out-of-the-box workflows, as well as APIs for custom workflows to handle other tasks. Some other examples of what administrators and users can do are:

  • Turn-off VDI/VMs when not-in-use (administrators).
  • Manage “not-responding” sessions by self-requesting the ability to reset sessions (users).
  • Relinquish licenses.
  • Track virtual assets with CMDB integration for chargebacks.

How do I get this feature?

This new feature is for organizations that are active customers of Citrix and ServiceNow solutions. The Citrix ITSM Adapter is a cloud service that both on-premises customers and Citrix Cloud customers can use.

Citrix customers who don’t have a Citrix Cloud account will need to sign up for a Citrix Cloud account. It’s important that Citrix administrators work with their ServiceNow counterparts in their organizations as they work their way through the process, as there is a plug-in from the ServiceNow Store that needs to be installed. We’ve put together a valuable user guide that walks through the process and capabilities of the Citrix ITSM Adapter.

It’s an exciting time here at Citrix. We’ve got many more announcements coming in the next few weeks. Stay tuned for more resources and communications from us on the new Citrix Workspace user experience.