Make sure you check out the exciting work that we are doing this morning with the Virtual Desktop Alliance which goes beyond just designing and implementing great virtual computing environments. It reminds me of a favorite quote from John Wooden who said, “You can’t live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.”

STAMFORD, Conn., May 12, 2011 — MTM Technologies, Inc. announced today that it is providing a comprehensive solution including services with the Desktop Virtualization Cisco Validated Design (CVD) for Yorkville Food Pantry.

Instead of just responding to a request for a desktop refresh from the Yorkville Food Pantry and their partner ING Commercial Banking in New York, MTM asked to meet with the customer to understand their requirements.  During the discovery process, MTM uncovered Yorkville Food Pantry’s desire for an end to end virtualization solution.  Yorkville Food Pantry needed to create a cost effective, scalable and high performance solution for securing and optimizing the delivery of virtual desktops and applications.  The perfect solution exists in the form of the Desktop Virtualization Cisco Validated Design (CVD) from Cisco, Citrix, Netapp and MTM.  This architecture combines the Cisco Unified Computing System, Citrix desktop virtualization technologies including FlexCast™ and HDX™ technologies and NetApp unified storage.  MTM built a server and desktop virtualization platform that was able to support their business needs efficiently.  MTM provides, as part of their Virtual Desktop Alliance solution, all of the components required for their desktops and servers on a simple flexible infrastructure.

MTM was very pleased to partner with ING Commercial Banking and work with Yorkville Food Pantry to pull together the products needed and to design and plan the solution implementation.  The plan included all the necessary details, including the physical rack and stack tasks, configuration of Netapp storage options, the Citrix XenServer, XenApp and XenDesktop configuration, the Microsoft Active Directory configuration, testing, rollout and knowledge transfer.

Several manufacturer partners were involved to make this project a reality for New York City’s largest community based food pantry.  YPC’s Yorkville Food Pantry Program is designed to meet the needs of families by providing culturally appropriate and nutritionally-balanced food.  MTM could not have done this without the support of its partners – Cisco, Citrix, Netapp, Microsoft, Wyse, Appsense and Trend Micro.  Working with this group of World Class manufacturers allowed MTM to pull together this solution and donate it to an outstanding and worthy cause, Yorkville Food Pantry.

Elaine Clark, Managing Director of Corporate Communications for ING, and who also serves on the Board of Directors for YCP, said, “The Yorkville Common Pantry serves a vitally important function for thousands of New Yorkers and ING is extremely pleased to have been able to facilitate MTM’s generous donation of computer equipment and services that will help to enhance the organization’s operational efficiency.”

“MTM’s donation is reflective of our goal to be responsible corporate citizens and supportive of important charitable causes,” said Steven Stringer, President and CEO of MTM Technologies. “The Yorkville Common Pantry is dedicated to improving the lives of New Yorkers and we are proud that our technology and services will help further their important goal.”

About MTM Technologies

MTM Technologies is a leading national provider of innovative IT solutions and services to Global 2000 and mid-size companies. Partnered with the top-tier technology providers and with offices from coast to coast, our unique solution-based methodology, combined with our experience and expertise, has enabled thousands of industry-leading organizations to effectively address their business needs, optimize the returns on their IT investments, mitigate risk, and focus on growth and profitability. Additional information is available at http://www.mtm.com.

About the Yorkville Common Pantry

The Yorkville Common Pantry (YCP) is dedicated to reducing hunger while promoting dignity and self-sufficiency. YCP champions the cause of the hungry through food pantry and meal distribution programs, nutrition education, basic hygiene services, homeless support, and related services. YCP’s community based programs focus on East Harlem and other underserved communities throughout New York City. More information is available at http://www.ycp.org.

Citrix HDX and Wyse Xenith are poised to change the desktop virtualization landscape. At Citrix Synergy, the two companies announced that the zero-client capabilities of Xenith are being paired with HDX to eliminate the management and security issues associated with traditional client devices, while delivering a high-definition user experience. The move will lower the barriers to the mainstream adoption of desktop virtualization.

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Did you know that Citrix just played a role in sending the first tweet from space? The action on the International Space Station shows just what the convergence of desktop virtualization, social media and an immovable drive to push further the boundaries of human experience can accomplish.

NASA has incorporated Citrix XenDesktop 4 with high-definition HDX technology into its recently launched Crew Support LAN. This system gives astronauts on the International Space Station direct, private access to a desktop that looks familiar – bringing all the comforts of home, at least technologically, to even the most remote of locations. In addition to virtual desktops, the Crew Support LAN features Citrix Branch Repeater WAN optimization technology.

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A new collaboration agreement between Citrix and Microsoft has led to Citrix support for the upcoming Microsoft RemoteFX platform. This newly announced platform will be made available in a future release of Windows Server 2008 R2 service pack 1. It will allow all virtual desktops on a single Windows Server or Hyper-V server to share the power of graphics acceleration hardware built into server and end user devices.

Under the new collaboration agreement, Citrix XenDesktop™ will expand its high-definition HDX™ technology to further enhance the capabilities of RemoteFX and extend them to a broader range of use cases and locations. By addressing the most demanding rich graphics environments, Citrix and Microsoft will continue working together to advance the state-of-the-art in desktop virtualization technology, making virtual desktops a rich, high-definition experience for all users, regardless of their device, location or role.

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The latest version of the popular Citrix presentation server arrived last week. XenApp 6 is designed specifically for use on Windows Server 2008 R2, and it will integrate with Microsoft systems management tools and App-V application virtualization. XenApp 6 will also include support for video and audio conferencing and a simpler installation process. End-user self-service for application deployment is also available. Thanks to the addition of HDX support to the latest version of XenApp, smartphones are now included in the devices that this application virtualization platform can reach.

The new enhancements to XenApp 6 will be available as an integrated feature of Citrix XenDesktop 4, the top desktop virtualization solution on the market. Since more than half the ROI of a virtual desktop environment comes from centralized application management, the integration between XenDesktop 4 and XenApp 6 offers a substantial opportunity to extend the value of your Citrix virtualization investment. With a combined XenApp 6/XenDesktop 4 environment, you’ll be able to deliver applications as an on-demand service – to any user on any device and across a wide range of physical and virtual desktops.

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