Have you noticed?

Citrix changed the way new versions of XenApp and XenDesktop get released — the time between new versions is only around three months in the current release track (CR)! And since every new version also offers new features, administrators and engineers need to have up-to-date knowledge to ensure their Citrix deployment operates at full speed, with the best user experience at the least cost.

Did you know?

What makes the recently released version 7.15 so special is that it is also a long-term service release (LTSR), so it will be around for five or even ten years after deployment!

Around the time this blog post gets published, Citrix will release the new training course “CXD-210-3i XenApp and XenDesktop 7.1x Administration,” which is completely based on XenApp& XenDesktop 7.15. Here’s the rub: start deploying Version 7.15 of XenApp & XenDesktop or upgrade your older sites and discuss switching your support contract to Customer Success Services to be supported, BUT: get trained on the Citrix products that you are using!

Do you care?

Attending a CXD-210-3i training (in person or remotely) will recertify you to be a “Citrix Certified Administrator – Virtualization” and pricing normally includes an exam voucher, just in case you want to take the associated exam as well!

Count me in!

Here are my top five reasons to attend CXD-210-3i:

Speedy Labs: Sure, everyone in IT can put together a small lab to experiment with new software, but building a lab takes time and requires appropriate hardware. In an official Citrix training, you have remote access to control an enterprise-class server system using a fast SSD to host more than 15 pre-built VMs to match real-life scenarios in more than 120 exercises.Guess what? These labs are available 24/7 to play around with after class and can even be accessed (at an additional cost) after the class has finished. This might be the ideal playground to go through some exercises again before taking the associated exam or deploying a POC at your next customer’s site.

Great Books: Using your Citrix Account, you can access the course documentation whenever you need — during class or a long time afterwards. You can even order a printed manual if you prefer to keep it on your desk. There will be two books included with each training, a Student Manual containing the slide graphics from the training, a lot of explanations and links to further documents, and the Exercise Book, which has all the step-by-step instructions for each exercise, including some screenshots. These handbooks, written by architects, consultants, and administrators, themselves, are valuable resources to look up some topics when facing the product again after the training.

Good time: This course covers almost every aspect of the product, starting with pre-installation requirements and thoughts on planning and architecture or licensing, spanning installation, and configuration using both a GUI and the PowerShell and even including topics like printing, profile management, security, monitoring, and troubleshooting. All this fits into just five days of your time — to create, strengthen or validate your skills with XenApp & XenDesktop.

Wait, did I say almost every aspect? Yes. Because there are topics that deserve some dedicated time and must not be crammed into another course — and because Citrix knows this, as well, there are more new courses to address these topics in appropriate depth and build upon the knowledge from the CXD-210-3i course as foundation. Reach out to your local Citrix Authorized Learning Center and ask for the perfect roadmap to your personal knowledge goal!

Networking Opportunity: Exchange your knowledge and opinions with fellow administrators from the same or a different industry vertical — they might be fighting against the same bugs or already have solutions to share. Attending a course provides enough time for discussion of your favorite topics, including the obvious IT related stuff.

Structured Approach: Each module’s content and the exercises have been through many development stages and quality testing – so you do not lose track with all the features and options that XenApp/XenDesktop offers. Otherwise, where would you start your learning experience on your own? Let an experienced instructor be your guide to avoid pitfalls that can cost you time or ruin the beauty of your intended solution while installing the product for the first time in a productive deployment.Within a training like CXD-210-3i, each module builds upon the knowledge that you already learned in previous modules – and step by step you create a working deployment for Desktop and Application delivery, much like you would do in the real-world outside the lab. Almost a pity to shut down the lab environment at the end of the course!

Excellent Trainers: Many Citrix Trainers don’t just know the product they are teaching from the book or the classroom; they also have histories of consulting and supporting the product across different versions and customer bases. You can benefit from their experience and tap into their knowledge in addition to the bundled experience that has been woven into the course by numerous subject matter experts in designing the exercises, building the lab and writing the manuals.

Now, if you paid close attention, I promised to disclose my top five reasons for attending “CXD-210-3 XenApp and XenDesktop 7.1x Administration,” but it seems a sixth reason made it into the list, and for good reason: I want you to know that there is always more to an official Citrix training than what you might think — your trainer will account for this, and this trainer might as well be me.

Looking forward to seeing you in the classroom soon.

To find out more about how to register for this course, please click here.

Daniel Wipperfürth, Master CCI // Arrow ECS AG, Germany

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Daniel Wipperfuerth, Arrow ECS AG, Germany

Computers have been a big part of his life since early childhood days. At the end of his time at school, he co-founded a small company which, besides selling computer and network hardware, did IT-consulting and some training.After university he worked for the Microsoft Professional Support Team for the DACH-Area (Germany, Austria, Switzerland), before becoming a CCI back in 2005. Although the main part of the job is running the official Citrix trainings, he does a lot of consulting and troubleshooting jobs for the customers. The knowledge derived from working in real-world scenarios at a customer’s site proves to be a most valuable source of information, adding to what’s in the student’s book.

What he likes most about being a Citrix trainer is knowing that trainers can play an important part in the adoption of new technologies. By telling his students success stories and sharing experiences from the field, he often raises an interest in products that are not part of the official course content (i.e. Netscaler, ThinClients etc.) or showing how to use Citrix technologies in uncommon but beneficial ways.

He likes to spend his scarce spare time with his family to get his feet back on the ground again and forget about technology for a while.