This year, particularly in the last few months, interest in thin-client computing has taken off, and Citrix's fortunes are rising with it. Furthermore, the thin-client model is being endorsed with new products from some of the industry's heaviest hitters. Citrix, which has partnerships with many of these companies, is delighted with this support for its fundamental premise. Although ASPs could become powerful business partners for users in the future, Citrix concedes that the nascent market is getting a lot of hype. Frankly, it's still more smoke than fire.
Analysts agree that today's ASPs are a bit insubstantial.
Of about 75 self-proclaimed ASPs that attended Citrix's iForum user gathering in Orlando, Fla., in September, few had any customers and those that did had just a handful, says David Friedlander, an analyst for Giga Information Group. Citrix has a head start on technology and products to support the ASP model, and the low-profile company intends to maintain its lead. Citrix has worked on 17 trials with ASPs during the past year, and the software vendor is so enthusiastic about the potential for external application hosting and the Internet that it has dedicated a new business unit, called iBusiness, to it. Mass. Other members include leading telecommunications, hardware, and software vendors. Now Citrix is stepping out from under Microsoft's shadow.