Citrix 2009 Annual Report Download - page 24

Our business could be adversely impacted by conditions affecting the information technology market.
The demand for our products and services depends substantially upon the general demand for business-
related computer appliances and software, which fluctuates based on numerous factors, including capital
spending levels, the spending levels and growth of our current and prospective customers, and general economic
conditions. Fluctuations in the demand for our products and services could have a material adverse effect on our
business, results of operations and financial condition. Moreover, the purchase of our products is often
discretionary and may involve a significant commitment of capital and other resources. As a result of uncertain
general economic and market conditions, future economic projections for the information technology sector are
uncertain as companies continue to reassess their spending for technology projects. In the past, adverse economic
conditions decreased demand for our products and negatively impacted our financial results. If an uncertain
environment for information technology spending continues, it could negatively impact our business, results of
operations and financial condition.
Our long sales cycle for enterprise-wide sales could cause significant variability in our revenue and operating
results for any particular period.
In recent quarters, a growing number of our large and medium-sized customers have decided to implement
our enterprise customer license arrangements on a departmental or enterprise-wide basis. Our long sales cycle for
these large-scale deployments makes it difficult to predict when these sales will occur, and we may not be able to
sustain these sales on a predictable basis.
We have a long sales cycle for these enterprise-wide sales because:
• our sales force generally needs to explain and demonstrate the benefits of a large-scale deployment of
our product to potential and existing customers prior to sale;
• our service personnel typically spend a significant amount of time assisting potential customers in their
testing and evaluation of our products and services;
• our customers are typically large and medium size organizations that carefully research their
technology needs and the many potential projects prior to making capital expenditures for software
infrastructure; and
• before making a purchase, our potential customers usually must get approvals from various levels of
decision makers within their organizations, and this process can be lengthy.
The continued long sales cycle for these large-scale deployment sales could make it difficult to predict the
quarter in which sales will occur. Delays in sales could cause significant variability in our revenue and operating
results for any particular period.
We face intense competition, which could result in fewer customer orders and reduced revenues and margins.
We sell our products in intensely competitive markets. Some of our competitors and potential competitors
have significantly greater financial, technical, sales and marketing and other resources than we do. For example,
our ability to market our Desktop Solutions, including XenDesktop, XenApp, and other future product offerings
and upgrades, could be affected by Microsoft’s licensing and pricing scheme for client devices, servers and
applications. Further, the announcement of the release, and the actual release, of new Windows-based server
operating systems or products incorporating similar features to our products could cause our existing and
potential customers to postpone or cancel plans to license certain of our existing and future product and service
offerings. In addition, alternative products for application delivery directly and indirectly compete with our
current product lines and our online services.
Existing or new products and services that provide alternatives to our products and services, including those
relating to Desktop Solutions, Online Services, and Datacenter and Cloud Solutions, including application
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