The delivery and consumption of Office 365 applications and services often plays a critical role for companies developing their digital workspace strategy. However, there are a lot of other critical components and services required to deliver a complete workspace to your users.

That’s where Citrix Workspace comes in. Citrix Workspace solutions and Citrix technologies work in conjunction with Office 365 to add customer value in the form of performance, security, and experience while enabling customers to have freedom and choice as they execute on their cloud strategies.

Together, Citrix Workspace solutions and Office 365 offer a complete digital workspace solution that marries industry-leading cloud technology and productivity apps with comprehensive, secure application and data delivery that includes a unified experience for users and IT.

At a high-level view, Citrix and Microsoft complement one another to maximize customer value, security, and experience. However, this diagram doesn’t do justice to the many points of integration and value-added capabilities of the joint solution.

Let’s take a look at some of the many ways in which Citrix can add value to Office 365 adoption initiatives.

Citrix SD-WAN

We’ve all been in a web conference call where someone’s video freezes or their audio stutters and glitches. This happens because of network latency. The backhauling of Office 365 traffic from branch offices to the data center over legacy network architecture is often the culprit here. This may cause users to experience is slower-than-expected performance due to latency sensitive Office 365 cloud services and applications (including Exchange Online, Outlook, Teams, SharePoint Online, and OneDrive for Business).

Citrix and Microsoft have worked closely to help solve this problem by optimizing Office 365 traffic. Using a REST API from Microsoft, Citrix SD-WAN instantly identifies Office 365 traffic at branch offices and prioritizes it, while also using proximate DNS resolution to steer the trusted latency-sensitive traffic directly to the nearest O365 “front door” (POP), minimizing latency, optimizing user experience, and reducing branch-to-DC bandwidth requirements.

Citrix Access Control

Microsoft has joined the Citrix Ready Workspace Security Program and complements security for Microsoft Office 365 customers by integrating with Citrix Access Control.

Citrix Access Control provides enhanced security controls on top of Office 365 and other SaaS applications, which provides critical governance for stored data including user actions after they successfully authenticate, for example watermarking documents and disabling clipboard access to commands like cut, copy, paste, and print.

Additionally, Citrix Access Control provides critical web filtering policies for Office 365 so you can block access to blacklisted URLs for your users. You can also redirect a user internet session to go through Citrix Secure Browser service, which is an isolated browser streamed from the Citrix Workspace platform.

Citrix Endpoint Management with Micro-VPN Technology

Getting behind the corporate firewall for access to resources like an intranet often requires an additional password or full device VPN when working off a mobile device. It’s not an ideal experience. Typically, device-based conditional access, platform-based application security, and single sign-on to native mobile applications are the minimum requirements for Office 365 support on mobile device. Additionally, secure access to on-premises SharePoint locations and intranet connectivity is a must.

The Citrix Endpoint Management (CEM) solution enables compliant devices to access Office 365 back-end services via app micro-VPN. CEM also provides platform security like open-in controls and selective wipe of Office 365 apps and data on out-of-compliance devices.

Additionally, the Citrix micro-VPN solution enables Microsoft’s Managed Browser to securely access on-premises SharePoint resources. The Citrix micro-VPN capability is also available for any EMS/Intune enabled applications via a software development kit (SDK).

Citrix Secure Browser Service with Web Filtering Policies for Office 365

Citrix Access Control provides additional web filtering policies so you can block access to blacklisted URLs for your users. In addition, you can redirect a user’s internet session through the Citrix Secure Browser service, which is an isolated browser hosted as part of the Citrix Workspace. Using this service, your users can access the internet and Office 365 without worrying about malicious content hitting your network.

Enable MFA TOTP with Citrix Workspace

Managing multiple identity providers while providing a great user experience can be difficult. Citrix Workspace functions as an identity broker, which allows IT to use Azure Active Directory, Active Directory, or other identity providers of their choice. Consistent with the Citrix Workspace philosophy of not limiting customer choice, Citrix Workspace identity services provide a single sign-on experience to all applications, data, and services, including Office 365, regardless of the identity provider.

Citrix adds value in terms of user experience by offering Token-based One Time Password (TOTP) with the Citrix Workspace app to provide true SSO to an entire digital workspace that includes virtual apps and desktops, SaaS apps, web apps, mobile apps, Intranet, distributed data stores and services, and more.

Enable OneDrive for Business in True Hybrid Fashion

You might be surprised to know that 32 percent of Office 365 customers using OneDrive for Business also use Box for data and document storage. That signals that most customers don’t have all their documents in one place.

The Citrix Workspace and Workspace app, in addition to aggregating data sources, allow IT to take a hybrid approach to data delivery.

Citrix Workspace app includes connectors to multiple data sources such as OneDrive, Box, SharePoint, Network Shares, and Google Drive. Connectors to both on-premises and cloud repositories enable a true unified hybrid environment while adding significant value to the end-user experience.

Citrix Workspace App for Unified User Experience

A recent survey of Citrix customers revealed that for 2019, a top priority for IT is to unify and simply the front-end experience for users. Citrix Workspace app provides a single experience that aggregates all applications and data and makes access simple with single sign-on.

No longer will your users need a separate UI for virtualized apps, SaaS apps, files, and desktops. With Workspace app, one UI covers everything, including the delivery of Office 365 applications in both virtualized and web-based environments.

These are just a few of the many advantages that Citrix Workspace solutions can provide to your Office 365 adoption strategy.

Find Us at Citrix Synergy!

We’re just a couple of weeks away from Citrix Synergy 2019 in Atlanta, and we hope to see many of you there! We have a number of great sessions focused on highlighting the advantages of leveraging Citrix and Microsoft technologies to deliver an unmatched digital workspace experience for both users and IT.

SYN139 – Citrix and Microsoft: a value-add across your workspace

SYN122 – Identity and access management with Citrix Workspace

SYN105 – Citrix on Azure: What you need to know

SYN148 – Enhance the security of your Office 365 app with Citrix Endpoint Management

We will also be exhibiting at:

Forrester Digital Transformation and Innovation – London – June 4-5

Digital Workplace Experience (DWX) – Chicago – June 17-18

Come visit us to learn more!