Citrix changes XenDesktop licences after feedback

Citrix has today announced modifications to the licence options for its recently announced XenDesktop 4 virtual desktop product. When the product was unveiled two weeks ago Citrix revamped its existing licensing schemes, including dropping a per-computer option in favour of a per-user scheme. A number of existing and potential Citrix users pointed out that this would cause them substantial cost increases.

The company has now posted a blog entry on new licensing options that it says addresses this and other concerns. In the blog, Sumit Dhawan, VP for Citrix XenDesktop, says:

" Your feedback has been invaluable in helping us make sure XenDesktop 4 enables the broadest set of virtual desktop scenarios possible. As a result, we've decided to make three important new enhancements to XenDesktop 4:m [a] device-based licensing option, [a] VDI Edition available in both user/device and CCU licensing, [and a] Campus-wide Licensing Program for customers in the education industry"

This change follows the company asking for feedback, information and opinions four days after the launch of the product, when Dhawan said it first became aware of the issue.

"We have received the customer feedback and we are actively investigating appropriate licensing programs for XenDesktop 4 to address these use cases. [...] We are in the process of collecting some more information and we plan to share our solution to address these requirements within 30 days."

Ewen Anderson, MD of UK consultancy Centralis, told ZDNet “It’s not clear whether the earlier furore over licensing models was a real issue or just a mis-interpreted release, but Citrix have moved swiftly to dispel the dark clouds and thrown in the added bonus of the campus agreement. From both a customer and a partner perspective that shows a willingness to listen which will be much appreciated.”