CITRIX ONLINE

'Citrix Online' is a division of Citrix Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: CTXS), which sells Web-based access, support, and collaboration software and services. Specifically Citrix Online's products are GoToAssist, GoToMyPC, GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar. The division is based in Santa Barbara, California.

Contents

History

External links

References

History

ExpertCity was founded in 1997 by Klaus Schauser with funding, in part, from Sun Microsystems. It went live with a "support auction" product in December, 1999.^[1]
The technology which forms the kernel of GoToMyPC, GoToAssist, GoToMeeting, and GoToWebinar was originally developed to support Expercity.com, a marketplace for technical support services. Users who visited the site were able to submit technical support questions through a simple dialogue box, and immediately receive 'bids from online experts' to resolve their problem. There was no hanging on the phone waiting in a call queue, or shooting off e-mails to some anonymous engineer hoping for a helpful reply. Expertcity.com site visitors were able to choose the person who supported them in a Dutch auction, and could browse each expert’s resume before choosing the person that they prefer.^[2] Once the user selected an expert, they were connected via a chat interface and the user and the expert were able to engage in a remote session whereby the expert could see the user's screen and remotely control the user's mouse and keyboard.
The ExpertCity.com website was later discontinued. However, the technology used to support the experts in the Dutch Auction later re-emerged as GoToMyPC, a technology that allowed a user to remotely access their own desktop, and also to invite another users to remotely control and support that user's desktop, and GoToAssist, a technology that allowed a customer to request technical support from a "particular company" via that company's website. Both GoToAssist and GoToMyPC used the "remote desktop" engine.
In 2003, Citrix acquired ExpertCity, Inc.^[3], then a major player in Web-based desktop access, in a transaction valued at approximately $225 million in cash. ExpertCity became the Citrix Online division of Citrix and retained many of the key developers of the original company.
At the time of the acquisition, ExpertCity, Inc. was developing GoToMeeting, a product that used the "remote desktop" engine to allow multiple users to view and control a single desktop, enabling both collaborative support and collaborative presentations.
In 2006, Citrix Online, adapted GoToMeeting to support the growing market for web-based training and web-based seminars. The GoToWebinar product took the GoToMeeting capabilities and allowed up to 1000 attendees to view a single session and join in a phone conference. It built a complete set of web-based Seminar management tools to control both the seminar, as well as manage communications with the attendees.

External links

★ Official website

★ Interview with Mike Mansbach, VP Marketing, Citrix Online

References

1. ComputerWorld, "Start-Ups to Put Tech-Support Services Up for Bid," Ephraim Schwartz, May 1, 2000
2. DisabledPerson.com review of ExpertCity.com
3. Citrix Press Release 2003.