Atlantis hunts Citrix partners for XenApp virtualisation push

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) specialist Atlantis Computing is taking its first steps into the world of server virtualisation to coincide with the imminent migration off Citrix XenApp 4.5 servers running Windows 2003, and is looking to the Citrix channel to help get the job done.

There is currently a massive installed base of customers running XenApp 4.5 servers which must move to version 6.5 running Windows Server 2008 by summer 2013, and Atlantis reckons that the majority of these will virtualise during the course of the forced switchover.

Atlantis claims that its new ILIO virtualised server software VM, which it had independently measured by sector expert Shawn Bass, accelerates provisioning by as much as 56%, boosts boot times by a factor of four, and can reduce both storage capacity and I/O offload to storage by about 90%.

"Historically you just threw hardware at an I/O bottleneck, but we're saying you can address that through intelligent software, which offers real value from a partner perspective," said Atlantis Northern Europe sales vice president David Cumberworth.

Although it already works extensively with Citrix partners on its VDI product, it now wants to target resellers keen to add more value through high-level consultative sales around ILIO, and traditional storage hardware resellers, Cumberworth explained.

"It is a no-brainer that the next generation of Citrix servers will be virtualised from the start, and partners will find their customers are invariably moving towards that virtualised environment," he added.

Cumberworth hinted that Atlantis may look to develop its software for other server bases, but said that XenApp was the best place to start, partly because the firm already has Citrix expertise, and partly because the upcoming migration means there will be plenty of "low-hanging fruit" for partners.