Citrix broadens its platform — and partners' role

Partners are leading customer conversations about the value of recent M&A activity.

Citrix has been on a mergers and acquisitions spree in recent times, acquiring deviceTRUST, Strong Network, UniconOS and Numecent, expanding its virtual desktop platform.

“Our mergers and acquisitions strategy is tucking a lot more value into the license we offer our customers,” said Den Sullivan, SVP, partner accounts, Citrix.

Sullivan called AI an inflection point — akin to previous technology shifts like client-server computing, virtualisation, mobile, cloud — and said the business needed to adapt to the changing needs of its customers.

“We use the term VDI (virtual desktop infrastructure) because we've always been known for virtualisation and desktop, and now with AI we’ve been able to make a number of strategic moves in the last two years,” he said.

deviceTRUST and Strong Network added real-time protection for VDI, secure cloud development environments and expanded support for Citrix Secure Private Access. UniconOS added an operating system and management platform to help organisations extend the lifecycle of their devices.

To help communicate the full value of the platform, partners are more important than ever.

“Partners are pivotal to the work we do in Australia and New Zealand — being out in front of our customers, explaining our value proposition, which has been broadening over the last few years, and the way we go to market,” Sullivan said.

Customers are also struggling with hardware, memory and supply-chain cost increases and, as a result, trying to extend the life of existing devices rather than replace them.

Philipp Benkler, GM, Citrix UniconOS said a survey at its Citrix Connect Pulse Sydney 2026 event found one-third of attendees had experienced more than a 100 percent endpoint price increase in six months, while most of the remainder reported increases of 50–100 percent.

“Every organisation is reconsidering what its endpoint strategy,” he told CRN Australia.

Extending the laptop replacement lifecycle by several years or more can result in significant savings, Benkler explained. “If we think about a laptop that goes from three to five years, that's 40 percent savings,” he said.

AI is creating another cost challenge, with customers potentially facing large bills from uncontrolled usage and token consumption. Sullivan said Citrix’s NetScaler AI Gateway can act manage AI traffic, giving organisations visibility and control over who is using AI services and where traffic is going.

“We can be that broker and we can ensure we know where that traffic is, we know where that traffic is going and we ultimately know who's using it,” said Sullivan.

Sullivan said the business is refreshing its partner program continuously, rather than waiting for an annual cycle, particularly because its M&A strategy means new capabilities need to be taken to market quickly.

With the economic and technology headwinds customers are facing, Citrix partners are increasingly being used in an advisory and enablement role, rather than simply as implementation providers.

“We definitely see them in an advisory capacity,” he said.