Citrix 2014 Annual Report Download - page 15

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with or offered for thin clients, industry-standard servers and mobile devices, such as Apple's iPhone and iPad, Windows
Mobile, Blackberry and Google Android devices. Licensees include Dell, Samsung, Fujitsu and Hewlett Packard, among
others.
Research and Development
We focus our research and development efforts on developing new products and core technologies in our core markets
and to further enhancing the functionality, reliability, performance and flexibility of existing products. We solicit extensive
feedback concerning product development from customers, both directly from and indirectly through our channel distributors.
We believe that our software development teams and core technologies represent a significant competitive advantage for
us. Included in the software development teams is a group focused on research activities that include prototyping ways to
integrate emerging technologies and standards into our product offerings, such as emerging Web services technologies,
management standards and Microsoft's newest technologies. Many groups within the software development teams have
expertise in Extensible Markup Language, or XML, based software development, integration of acquired technology, multi-tier
Web-based application development and deployment, SSL secure access, hypervisor technologies, cloud technologies,
networking technologies, VoIP-based audio technology, Web-based video technology and building SaaS. We incurred research
and development expenses of approximately $553.8 million in 2014, $516.3 million in 2013 and $450.6 million in 2012. In
addition to internal research and development, Citrix also supports an eco-system of early stage companies via our Startup
Accelerator program which provides seed capital for new technologies.
Sales, Marketing and Services
We market and license our products and services through multiple channels worldwide, including selling through resellers
and direct over the Web. Our partner community comprises thousands of value-added resellers known as Citrix Solution
Advisors™, VADs, cloud service providers, SIs, Independent Software Vendors, or ISVs and OEMs. Distribution channels are
managed by our worldwide sales and services organization. Partners receive training and certification opportunities to support
our expanding portfolio of products, solutions and services. In addition, our Mobility Apps division provides our collaboration
and data sharing offerings through direct corporate sales, our partner community, and direct through our web sites.
In 2014, we worked closely with partners to benefit from changes to our global partner program made in 2013. The
changes included: differentiated Citrix Advisor Rewards by partner level; Citrix Opportunity Registration discounts for cloud
networking; clear, published criteria for achieving Gold and Platinum status; and refreshed certification requirements to
expedite acquisition of the latest knowledge and skills. Citrix Advisor Rewards™, is an innovative influencer program that
rewards our partners for registering projects and demonstrating value-added selling even if the sale is fulfilled by another
partner. In 2014 we offered full year promotions with additional rewards for selling to new customers as well as lowered the
deal qualifications to include partner sales to Small and Medium businesses. We introduced new certifications and a sales
enablement platform to provide partners with the breadth of skills required to plan, design, deliver and support our solutions.
We continued to focus on increasing the productivity of our existing partners, and building capacity through targeted
recruitment, introducing programs to increase partner mindshare, limit channel conflict and increase partner loyalty to us.
As Citrix continues to lead with cloud services, we have been cultivating a global base of over 2,600 partners within the
Citrix Service Provider program. These partners, consisting of managed service providers, IT hosting companies and Telcos,
license Citrix desktop, application, networking and MDM products on a monthly subscription basis. With these technologies
partners then create various vertically differentiated offers of their own, consisting of cloud-hosted applications and cloud-
hosted desktops, which they then resell both to SMBs and to enterprise IT. Besides supplying technology, Citrix is actively
engaged in assisting these partners develop their hosted businesses by supplying business and marketing assistance.
For all of our channels, we regularly take actions to improve the effectiveness of our partner programs and further
strengthen our channel relationships through management of non-performing partners, recruitment of partners with expertise in
selling into new markets and forming additional strategic global and national partnerships. Engagement with SIs and ISVs
continues to be a substantial part of our strategic roadmap within large enterprise and government markets. Our integrator
partnerships include organizations such as Accenture, Capgemini, Computer Sciences Corporation, Dimension Data, Hewlett
Packard, Fujitsu, IBM Global Services, and Wipro, among others. Computer Sciences Corporation, Fujitsu, Hewlett Packard,
IBM and Wipro all deliver offerings powered by the Citrix Workspace Suite. The ISV program maintains a strong
representation across targeted industry verticals including healthcare, financial services and telecommunications. Members in
the ISV program include Allscripts, Cerner Corporation, Epic Systems Corporation, McKesson Corporation, and Siemens
Medical Health Solutions, among several others.
Our corporate marketing organization provides sales and industry event support, demand generation, web and social
marketing, sales tools and collateral, advertising, direct mail, industry analyst relations and public relations coverage to our
indirect channels to aid in market development and in attracting new customers. Our partner development organization actively