VMblog:  As a Citrix Synergy 2018 sponsor, give us the rundown of your booth setup this year and let us know how people can find you.

FSLogix:  We'll be in booth 506 as a Bronze sponsor. This year, we're sending ten people, including our CEO Kevin Goodman and our CTO Randy Cook. Plus, we'll have most of our SE staff, including Citrix CTP's Jim Moyle and Benny Tritsch, as well as former Unidesk/Citrix SE Robb Shaw. We also have key partners and community supporters dropping by, so we'll be ready to talk about how FSLogix solves digital workspace problems.

VMblog:  Is there anything interesting or unique about this year's booth setup compared to previous years or events?  Do you have a theme for this year's booth? 

FSLogix:  We'll be talking about how FSLogix can streamline your application management strategy, free you from roaming profiles, and enable features like Outlook Cached Exchange Mode and Windows search in XenDesktop and XenApp environments. Plus, we'll be showing off our new product, codenamed CCD, which will be announced the week before on May 2nd.

VMblog:  What message should an attendee take back with them to their boss after visiting your booth? 

FSLogix:  We want attendees to understand that FSLogix's products solve real world problems in a straightforward, easy to deploy way. Our Office 365 Container has attracted attention in the last year. David Wilkinson of WilkyIT compared it to other products on the market and came to the conclusion that FSLogix Office 365 Container is the only product that supports Outlook OST files, Windows Search, and OneDrive for Business, while also being profile agnostic and allowing concurrent access to that data.

Also, Microsoft recently commissioned independent studies on the effectiveness of FSLogix Office 365 Container for Outlook Search and OneDrive for business in non-persistent environments, and found both worked well, in addition to noting a "significant improvement in user experience" when using it to enable Outlook Search.

VMblog:  Why should a Synergy attendee add you to their MUST SEE list?

FSLogix:  We've had a continual release cadence of solutions that are simple to implement, provide easily measurable, near term ROI, and that align with their strategic initiatives around the virtual workspace. As an example, for many years, the Best Practice for XenApp administrators has been to turn Windows Search indexing off. Now, with FSLogix Office 365 Container, XenApp users get a desktop-like experience in even the most challenging applications. Additionally, it's widely-known that Folder Redirection is a sub-optimal solution for maintaining users data. FSLogix completely eliminates the need for Folder Redirection in XenApp and XenDesktop. Our Profile Container solution provides industry leading application launch times, and login times, while reducing profile file corruption and login storms.

Finally, our new product, codenamed CCD, will have launched by Synergy. CCD represents a new way to look at your users' data - a way in which their data can be fully optimized, highly available, and fault tolerant regardless of where it resides. It's the culmination of thousands of person-hours of engineering as well as input from our 400+ customers and key partners such as Amazon, Citrix, Microsoft, and VMware, and we can't wait to talk about it!

VMblog:  This isn't your first time at Citrix Synergy.

FSLogix:  Certainly not! We've sponsored Synergy several times, even winning the Best of Citrix Synergy Award in 2015 for FSLogix Apps. Several of our employees, including our new Product Marketing Manager, Gabe Knuth, have been attending since the event was called iForum!

VMblog:  And what do you like most about sponsoring this event?

FSLogix:  Every attendee at Synergy is familiar with the problems that we solve, so we very much look forward to hearing their stories and having the opportunity to help them. Plus, we get to reconnect with the industry friends that have guided our product strategy and champion our products in the community every day.

VMblog:  Can you give VMblog readers a sneak peek as to what you will be showing off at your booth this year? 

FSLogix:  We'll be demoing each of our products, including our latest release, codenamed CCD. Additionally, we'll have Citrix CTPs (in addition to the ones that work for us!) stopping by on Wednesday to demonstrate building an entire environment from scratch while incorporating our products. 

VMblog:  Give readers a few reasons why your product or service is considered unique. 

FSLogix:  Office 365 Container lets administrators turn on features that were, until recently, completely out of the question in multi-user or non-persistent virtual desktop environments. It is the only solution that enables Outlook Cached Exchange mode, Windows Search, and OneDrive for Business in those environments.

FSLogix App Masking is a unique approach to managing applications that allows you to create a single master disk image while hiding applications from end users that are not entitled to them. It can be used to enforce device-based licensing, and it complements Citrix App Layering.

FSLogix Profile Container virtually eliminates profile corruption issues common to other solutions (especially roaming profiles). Our approach, connecting VHDs across the network and making them appear as if they're in their native, local location on the filesystem, dramatically speeds up logon times to deliver a near-local experience.

VMblog:  And how does your company and product fit within the Citrix ecosystem? 

FSLogix:  FSLogix is the perfect complement to XenApp and XenDesktop, that empowers Citrix administrators to reduce the amount of hardware and labor necessary to implement the world class workspace suite. We enable Citrix Application Layering to support multiple versions of applications like Java, plugins, and fonts, all in a single layer, without app-virt. FSLogix is the only solution that seamlessly enables all components of Office 365 in all configuration options of XenApp and XenDesktop, including the ability to roam OneDrive, OneDrive cache, large files like OSTs, and Windows Search for XenApp and XenDesktop. FSLogix Apps provides a single image approach to applications left in the base image, allowing Citrix Application Layering to further reduce the number of images needed in the large, global enterprise.

VMblog:  What are you looking forward to most at this year's event?

FSLogix:  Connecting with our extremely supportive community and showing the rest of the world how FSLogix can enable features you never dreamed that you'd be able to use in a virtual desktop.

VMblog:  What would you say to prospective attendees who are thinking about attending Synergy but aren't sure if it's worth it or not?

FSLogix:  There are a number of industry events that have a desktop virtualization track, and while Citrix has grown to encompass more than just desktop virtualization, Synergy remains one of the few events that primarily focuses on enterprise workspace delivery. That means you'll have something in common with every attendee, speaker, and sponsor.

VMblog:  What do you think we need to do collectively as an ecosystem to strengthen the industry?

FSLogix:  Public and private cloud Digital Workspace technology can completely transform the way we work, the way businesses compete, and the way new products and services are delivered. As an ecosystem, we should push for significant advances that deliver on this promise, and the overall promise of the cloud. The goal is not to be as good as the static desktop, the goal is nothing short of a complete revolution in how valuable information is consumed and created at the virtualized end-point.

As a group, we need to engage in real thought leadership that leverages virtualization and the cloud to get desktops and apps to everyone, everywhere, in the most appropriate way possible. We can do this with more independent research and published results, and by pushing the envelope, challenging each other, and pushing toward revolutionary change instead of shortcuts and work-arounds.

VMblog:  What do you hope to come away with from exhibiting at Synergy?  What does event success look like to you?

FSLogix:  Success at Synergy isn't measured by leads as much as it is by making connections. We want to talk with the community to learn about how they see our products affecting their organizations or customers. We want honest feedback about what we're doing, and we want people to know that, when they're ready, FSLogix will be there to help.

VMblog:  As experts, do you have any tips for first time attendees that you'd like to share?

FSLogix:  At other events, it's easy to get lost in the shuffle. At Synergy, you can attend a session by the person that developed a product, then have lunch with an industry blogger you've been following your entire career. Don't be afraid to say "Hi." Of course, take some time to walk through the expo hall-there are always new and interesting vendors there that have a unique story to tell that just might help you.

Last, bring a banana. There's never enough fruit to go around.

VMblog:  Attendees always enjoy a good trade show tchotchke.  Are you guys giving away anything special or interesting this year?

FSLogix:  We're giving away two Samsung Gear S3 watches (one for each day the expo hall is open), in addition to the usual conference swag like laptop stickers and such.

VMblog:  Does your company have any speaking sessions during the show?  If so, can you give us the who, what, when and where?

FSLogix:  There are no FSLogix-specific sessions, but Citrix CTP and FSLogix employee Benny Tritsch will be speaking with fellow CTP Thomas Krampe at a session entitled "CTPs investigating Citrix Cloud Performance-The Naked Truth." In this session, Benny and Thomas will share what they've learned about end user and administrator experience when using Citrix Cloud, and show you how to get a handle on Citrix Cloud Performance.