* Citrix SSL VPN gateway supports secure remote access to Citrix servers
Citrix is shipping its SSL VPN gateway appliance that supports secure remote access to Citrix servers as well as other network resources.
Called Access Gateway, the box is the result of Citrix buying SSL VPN vendor Net6 last year. It provides Citrix customers with a remote access platform that will integrate with Citrix Presentation Server, the former MetaFrame platform for accessing applications using a thin client on remote devices.
Other SSL vendors’ gear support Presentation Server, and until now some have pushed their Citrix support as a selling point. One vendor, AEP Networks, even makes an SSL appliance that exclusively supports Citrix. It may become challenging to sell that box now.
Customers say securing remote access to Citrix using Citrix products had been a relatively expensive and complex operation. This led SSL VPN vendors to step up their marketing to these customers, claiming they could protect Citrix traffic as securely, less expensively and support secure remote access for other non-Citrix applications to boot. Now Citrix can make the same claims.
Citrix’ Access Gateway will likely be most popular among current Citrix customers who may be swayed by the argument that Citrix’ own gateway has to work best with Citrix’ Presentation Server.
The challenge will be for the company to convince customers who do not use Presentation Server that Access Gateway is useful for general secure remote access just as other standalone SSL VPN gateways are. It is, after all, based on Net6’s gear, which was general purpose. Even so, it will be difficult to shake the wide perception that Citrix means Presentation Server.
