Since its introduction less than six months ago, there have been more than 200,000 downloads of Citrix Receiver for iPhone. Users have ranged from Doctors to Lawyers to Systems Admins, all with a common desire to get their job done whenever and wherever they are.

The iPhone's popularity has driven IT departments to look for safe ways to allow employees to access corporate applications without compromising company security policy or driving up support costs. It turns out in many cases that companies already have the infrastructure in place to do this. The Citrix Receiver for iPhone works with existing company applications and most security requirements such as RSA Two factor authentication. Applications hosted on Citrix XenApp can be accessed by IT authorized users whether they are on internal WLANs or roaming on a 3G network and connecting through Citrix Access Gateway or other iPhone supported VPN.

The Applications range from existing line of business ERP systems to hospital EMR systems or even standard Microsoft Office apps. Many knowledge workers are now able to get to every document they ever created by synchronizing their PC or laptop to a fileserver and then accessing them via Doc Finder on XenApp.    Doc Finder a free app developed by Citrix provides file explorer functionality in an iPhone like user interface that enables easy navigation and search for any file then launch the associated app to view, edit or send.

In addition, some companies are also customizing applications such as management dashboards to fit the screen UI and mobile form factor creating secure applications that run on central servers but look and work great on any mobile device equipped with the Citrix Receiver.

With these benefits for users and IT the download count for Citrix Receiver for iPhone is likely to continue to grow at a strong pace. The free app is available now in the App Store and a demo account can be accessed at CitrixCloud.net .

• Citrix VP Chris Fleck Speaks with SYS-CON.TV