Citrix Cloud Gateway Express (CG Express) is a new product and will be completely replacing the Citrix Web Interface and its functionality somewhere near 2015.
If you are, just like I was, thinking that this is just another update with a new marketing name you are seriously underestimating what Citrix has done here. Of course on a functional level it will do the same as the Web Interface, offer a portal for access to XenApp and XenDesktop resources, however the way in which Citrix is doing this is completely different and way more Enterprise ready then what we have seen before with the Web Interface.
What I like most of all is that there seems to be a vision behind the way the management consoles are designed. There is a familiar feeling in regard to the XD 5 Desktop Studio when I use the CG Express console. The modular design in XD 5 where we first configure a host connection which we can then use for a Machine Catalog which itself can be used in a Desktop Group looks a lot like the store –> Web Store > Gateway idea of the CG Express.
I really hope we will see more of this in future product releases like the next XenApp version.
In Barcelona during Synergy Citrix was talking a lot about making it simpler not only to use it but also easier to manage. I believe that with the CG Express Citrix has done exactly this, it’s much simpler to use and manage but also it scales much better in an Enterprise environment than before with the Citrix Web Interface!
Continue reading to see how I came to my conclusion.
