Figure 1.Step 1: Download an Android emulator for PC and Mac This allows IT administrators to create a dev instance of Citrix Workspace (Figure 1).
IT can get a free developer instance of Citrix Workspace with full SaaS, web and micro applications support for 30 days, and can extend for 30 days with one button. These features can even block access to an application or the entire portal when they detect suspicious behavior. Lastly, Citrix Analytics machine learning and AI-based monitoring capabilities continuously track user activity. IT can even add a watermark to the SaaS application.Ĭitrix can also serve as an identity provider and provide a Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) token to SaaS applications, enabling single sign-on (SSO) from the portal. Citrix's security features allow IT administrators to restrict features of SaaS applications such as downloads and screenshots. This feature is built into the new Citrix Workspace app, previously Citrix Receiver. With Citrix Workspace, users can launch a SaaS application in a secure sandbox web browser that Citrix controls.
This way, when a user clicks on the SaaS application, it will just open on the local device.Īn additional added advantage is that users can scale down to a cheaper Citrix Workspace license that doesn't consume resources of the publishing environment when some users don't require the legacy applications.Īnother massive benefit of using Citrix Workspace for SaaS applications is security. To enable this setup, IT administrators should put the legacy applications in the workspace portal right next to the published applications.
This allows them to integrate better with local applications. IT administrators can turn them into published apps and offer them to end users through the workspace portal. That organization has to address the challenge of these legacy applications. Imagine an organization with the goal of retiring all the published desktops their IT team manages and moving to local OSes on laptops. Most organizations aren't exclusively using SaaS applications because they probably have a few legacy applications that still require a database or back-end connection. SaaS apps alongside a digital workspace can help IT admins deliver legacy applications.
Of course, there are plenty of additional benefits to SaaS applications in a portal such as Citrix Workspace beyond replacing the functionality that published desktops provided. This ensures users are going to the correct URL and that IT can decide which users get that shortcut. A workspace portal such as Citrix Workspace or even VMware Workspace One includes the shortcuts to those SaaS applications in the same portal, similar to the start menu shortcut. Many organizations no longer deliver published desktops, but they can still deliver convenient access to SaaS apps. This way, users will always go to the correct URL, and the proper access controls can determine who has access to the shortcut. In the world of published desktops and VDI, IT administrators can easily create a shortcut for a SaaS application in a user's start menu. IT administrators can integrate both into the Citrix Workspace portal. Users can access SaaS applications through the internet and run them on a web server from the developer. It's worth noting that a web app is an application that runs on a web server that IT controls on premises and lacks an internet connection. Benefits of SaaS apps integration with Citrix WorkspaceĬitrix Workspace is a user-centric portal that gives the user access to company resources, whether they are published legacy applications, published desktops, files and data shares, web applications or SaaS apps. This is where Citrix Workspace can provide significant value for IT administrators. However, IT admins must provide an easy and secure means to access and present the SaaS applications for end users.
One of the reasons that software as a service applications have become so popular in business settings is because they only require a web browser to use and the developers handle app maintenance.