This weekend I will be traveling to Orlando, Florida, together with a whole bunch of other tech enthusiasts to attend yet another Citrix Synergy event. Though, of course for some it will be their first encounter. Every year Synergy promises to be even better than the year before and the 2017 edition is no exception.
As opposed to last year, I’m not presenting any sessions myself, meaning I will actually have time to attend some sessions of others, something I wasn’t able to do last year, at all. Being a CTP, the conference starts a bit earlier with two (full) day CTP meetings on Sunday and Monday. And even though we will probably hear a lot of what will be presented during Synergy there are still a ton of sessions I’m really looking forward to.
Below you’ll find a couple of sessions I will be attending, or at least that’s the plan. To be honest, you never know what’s going to happen during Synergy. You might bump into someone you haven’t seen in ages, grab a cup of coffee (or a glass of beer) and before you know it, two hours have past, there goes your schedule. Luckily, most sessions can be found on SalesIQ afterwards, and besides, catching up with community friends/peers is equally as important and fun, if not more.
But hey, that what’s Synergy is all about, right? Catching up with friends, learning about new technologies/products, enjoying the scenery, in short: having a good time!
- KEY001 and KEY002 – As every year, and this goes for Summit as well, I’m always looking forward to the vision and more technical Keynotes. From experience I can say that I slightly prefer the more technical Keynotes, on average that is.
- KEY003 – Keynote Nr. 3 is named: Innovation super session and will be presented by Malcolm Gladwell – one of the 100 most influential people by TIME magazine and one of Foreign Policy’s Top Global Thinkers. While it will probably be less technical, this one is high on my list. I’m always inspired by experienced speakers who take a different approach, at least that’s what I’m expecting.
- SYN132 – Having said that, how about a session on emerging trends and the future of work by the VP of Global Product & Technology Strategy and CTO of Citrix, Christian Reilly?! This one should be equally as good.
- KEY004 – Presented by General Colin L. Powell (Ret.). Another innovation super session. Here is the Synergy agenda description, or part of it anyway: Drawing on more than 50 years of public service, including as National Security Advisor, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and U.S. Secretary of State, General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.) brings unique insight into the constantly evolving cyberthreats that challenges organizations today. General Powell will share his perspective on the complex geopolitical and social trends that affect global business and the cybersecurity landscape.
- SYN413 – Microsoft containers in a Citrix world. A while back I took a deeper dive into the wonderful world of container technology, based on Docker (which resulted in this blog post, by the way). To be honest, my knowledge around container technology could do with an update, so needless to say that I’m really looking forward to this session as well. Presented by fellow CTP Mike Nelson.
- SYN103 – Not that long ago Citrix purchased Unidesk (read this post for some more details), one of the, if not the leading application layering company out there. Join this sessions to hear about the latest developments around this great technology. Presented by Unidesk founder Chris Midgley and former chief solutions architect and app layering expert Ron Oglesby.
- SYN117 – A couple of years ago, when Citrix had just taken over Zenprise I was pretty deep into XenMobile. Because of a job change that followed shortly after that I kind of lost track of XenMobile. This session: XenMobile: What’s new and roadmap, will hopefully bring me back up to speed on the latest developments around the XenMobile portfolio. Presented by Sameer Mehta Director of product management and Kevin Binder Principal Product Marketing Manager.
- SYN104 – XenApp and XenDesktop: What’s new and roadmap. Do I really need to explain why this is on my list? Success guaranteed. Presented by Carisa Stringer Director, Product Marketing and Joseph Nord Principal Product Manager, Security Engineering.
- SYN131 – IoT has been a hot topic lately, in general but also within the company I work for – I’ve been having a lot of interesting conversations lately. I’m looking forward to the latest updates around the Citrix IoT portfolio. Presented by Chris Witeck Principal Technology Strategist and Chris Matthieu Director, IoT Engineering.
- SYN303 – Another CTP hosted session, by two even: Ruben Spruijt, CTP Atlantis Computing and Benny Tritsch, Chief IT Architect at Login Consultants will walk us through the latest graphics/GPU developments, including solutions offered by NVIDIA, Intel and AMD. Can’t attend? This session will also be live-streamed during the event and available for on demand viewing post-event on Citrix Synergy TV. These guys are very thorough and will share highlights of the hundreds of (new) test scenarios they have executed.
- SYN310 – Cloud computing is taking over. This session, named: Powering the digital workspace using Citrix Cloud: a deep dive into architecture and configuration, will tell you everything you want and need to know about the CC architecture and configuration including advanced scenarios for XenApp and XenDesktop Services such as multiple geographic locations and secure external access. Presented by Daniel L’Hommedieu Software Engineer, Cloud Services and Leo Singleton Senior Architect.
- SYN713 – Another one of my favourites: Achieving secure XenApp and XenDesktop environments with Smart Check. Throughout the past couple of months I have been involved and helping to make Smart Check the best it can be, have a look at this post to learn more. Although my contributions are very small in the grand scheme of things, it’s an honour to be part of the team. Presented by Mathew Varhese Director, Product Analytics and Blake Connell Director of Product Marketing, Citrix CloudPlatform.
- SYN115 – Why should I use ShareFile if I already have Office365? Being able to securely store, share, send and edit critical company data is on the top of everyone’s mind, at least that’s what I see and hear when I visit various customer sites. I think ShareFile is miles ahead of the competition, let’s see what they come up with next.
These are just a couple of my picks for Synergy. Of course, there are tons of additional sessions and other types of (networking) events to attend. For one, I would recommend searching the session catalogue using the ‘Speaker Type’ filter and select ‘Citrix Technology Professional (CTP). The CTP hosted sessions are guaranteed to be highly technical and unbiased on every level you can think of. Or check out this post where I have listed all CTP hosted sessions, descriptions included.
Next to the breakout sessions and Keynotes mentioned, you can pick a more private setting and talk to some of Citrix’s smartest people during the Match.Geek program or a Meet the Expert session, and of course let’s not forget about the Hot-Topic fireside chats and roundtable sessions, which are also hosted by various CTP’s and CTA’s, or Citrix Technology Advocates in full.
The Expo hall, Self-paced and Instructor-led learning labs and both the opening and closing reception/party are also highlights you do not want to miss out on. And last but most certainly not least, make sure to stop by the myCUGC booth on the expo floor and/or check out mycugc.org to find out what else they are up to during Synergy.
See you next week!
