In an IT world that is changing rapidly, application delivery controllers play a central role. They ensure that users always and everywhere have access to all the applications and data they need. […]

Modern application delivery controllers bundle a variety of different functions on a single platform. Your main task is to bring applications to all users safely and efficiently. The complexity of this task has increased significantly due to ongoing digitization. In addition to classic Windows and Enterprise applications, today users use a variety of web, SaaS, and mobile applications. New applications run in different private and public cloud environments. All these services must be delivered reliably and be protected against growing cyber risks.

At the same time, the way users access their applications has changed in recent years. Remote working and the use of private devices are now standard in many companies. As a result, 90 percent of IT leaders have had to rethink their previous application delivery strategy since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic — one like this Study by Allied Market Research.

Application Delivery Controllers helping companies to master the new challenges. The most powerful solutions cover a wide variety of usage scenarios with their features:

• A typical application scenario is the protection and optimization of digital workplaces. Solutions like Citrix ADC bring technologies to make working from different locations as safe and convenient as possible. This includes flexible options for multi-factor authentication, single sign-on and context-based access rights control – regardless of which end devices and applications the users are working with.
• In addition, application delivery controllers such as Citrix ADC provide a host of other security features. Technologies such as web app firewall, bot management, and DDoS protection fend off known and unknown threats from the web and comprehensively protect sensitive applications and interfaces.
• Application delivery controllers also help to increase application availability and improve user experience. Load balancing, content switching and optimization methods enable intelligent traffic management, ensuring that digital services are always available with the best possible performance. This not only shortens response times for end users, but also protects IT resources and saves infrastructure costs.
• Technologies such as Global Server Load Balancing (GSLB) allow business operations to be maintained even in disaster scenarios, such as the failure of an entire data center. Users are automatically redirected to the most suitable alternative location.

Conclusion
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) are of interest to all organizations that are migrating IT assets to the cloud, modernizing application architectures or implementing new digital workplace models.
The IT service provider ACP comprehensively supports companies in the planning, implementation and operation of ADC infrastructures – in their own data center or in the cloud. More information about the possible applications of Application Delivery Controllers can be found in: this blog article or in the ACP white paper”Employee safety risk“.