Upon hearing the news that the CUGC was transitioning to an online community, ending local events, I had a lot of emotions running through my head, as I’m sure you all did, too. Was this the conclusion of our journey, or simply the beginning of a new chapter? Quickly, I realised that I wanted to keep the CUGC spirit alive by creating something new and vibrant.

The UK had already embraced a similar path with the EUC Forum, integrating a broader spectrum of EUC ecosystem vendors, which, in turn, broadened the range of topics for community discussion. This expansion has been instrumental for customers using these technologies or considering them, offering insights into their problem-solving capabilities across various industries.

The planning process began immediately. We needed a sponsor, venue, speakers, and content. Given the detachment from Citrix, this was an opportunity to introduce new topics and vendors into our discussions.

We found an excellent venue at the Iveagh Hotel—a fantastic space centrally located. Speakers were lined up, and, to our delight, the event was well-attended, surpassing our expectations.

As the agenda was finalised, a last-minute adjustment was required. Fortunately, Ronan O’Brien was available to deliver a timely session on Citrix licensing changes, filling in for a presenter unable to travel.

Ronan delved into the Citrix ecosystem’s evolution, explaining how purchasing Citrix now grants access to every version of the product under a single licence—or rather, three. This simplification facilitates the evaluation process, as you no longer need to decide which features are necessary upfront.

And, true to his style, Ronan shared insights on leveraging those extra NetScaler licences you now have if you are a Citrix DAAS customer.

Before the break, our sponsor, ControlUP, presented. ControlUP is leading the charge into the emerging market of Digital Experience Monitoring (Dex), taking End User Monitoring to new heights. By combining traditional monitoring of VDI and server workloads with physical device, endpoint, and synthetic app monitoring, they offer a comprehensive view of the end-to-end user experience.

Martyn’s session coincided with the launch day of SecureDX, providing us with an overview into ControlUP’s offerings and a great demo of SecureDX, which now includes monitoring the security posture of endpoints. I’m really looking forward to digging deeper into this new release and learning more about the potential for admins to proactively respond to issues before they arise.

Following was the Citrix Technologies segment, featuring the dynamic duo Wendy Gay and Javier Lopez Santacruz, who continued their tradition of highlighting the latest and greatest from Citrix and its partner technologies. This time, they showcased the partnership with AWS Workspaces Core and demonstrated how Citrix DAAS enhances Workspace Core instances with Citrix’s superior HDX features, ensuring an optimal user experience.

The final session of the afternoon was Eoin Mulligan discussing Microsoft Copilot. Despite it being his third presentation of the day, we were grateful he made his way across town to deliver his insights into this pioneering technology. This is really one of those moments in tech where you really step back and think this could transform the way we work and interact with each other. Being able to leverage AI to surmise your inbox into actionable items first thing in the morning? Sounds impressive. Microsoft Copilot is in its early days in the hands of the masses, but these models have been around for decades and are finally making their way into the mainstream. This is something to embrace, or risk getting left behind.

We concluded the day with networking upstairs, offering attendees an opportunity to discuss the presentations over nibbles and drinks. This is a great part of the afternoon and allows customers to interact with vendors and partner engineers, asking them questions on the topics and earlier decisions, spark new and innovative ideas around how to solve existing challenges in their organisations.

So, that’s a wrap. With the day’s success, planning for the next round has already commenced. We look forward to reuniting and expanding our community with new faces and sponsors.

If you’re a vendor interested in participating, or an end user with a topic or presentation proposal, please reach out to us at EUCIreland@datasolutions.ie.