Application virtualization, IoT and Cloud Computing, Blog of Sacha Thomet

The CTP Program Has Ended – A Personal Retrospective

Now it’s official, and I believe this post doesn’t break any NDA. Those of you who have followed my IT career a bit know that I’ve been a “Citrix Evangelist” for many years. It all started in 2001 when I made my career switch into IT at the SBB Service Desk. That was the first time I came into contact with Citrix products, and over the years, this connection deepened. Especially in 2013, when I moved from the service provider T-Systems to the customer side, I had the opportunity to become even more active in the Citrix community.

A major milestone was winning the Geekovation Award in May 2015 at Citrix Synergy in Orlando – a moment that introduced me to the Citrix Technology Professionals (CTPs). Meeting these brilliant minds was inspiring. During a breakfast at the E2EVC conference in Lisbon, I had a defining conversation with Perrine, who encouraged me to apply for the CTP program. Although I had little faith in my chances, I took the leap – and to my surprise, since 2016, I was part of this exclusive network. The first CTP meeting in Las Vegas was, and I rarely use this word, simply “mind-blowing”!

My employer, Mobiliar, always supported me in fulfilling this role, particularly my direct Citrix colleagues, team leaders, and people leads.

Unfortunately, the direction of the Citrix community has changed. Last year, the CUGC was discontinued, and now the CTP program has also come to an end, as I learned last week. More details can be found here: https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/27/citrix_axes_its_technology_professional

Thanks to my role as the leader of the Swiss CUGC (Citrix User Group Community), I was able to bring the customers’ voices into the development of Citrix products and build a bridge – a contribution I’m proud of.


I am deeply grateful to Citrix – but above all, to the people I was fortunate to meet through the CTP program. Friendships that would never have formed without this program will endure. The virtualization and end-user computing market continues to evolve – hopefully for the benefit of customers. Fresh ideas and new approaches will drive innovation.

It has been an incredible journey, and I look back on this time with gratitude.

The market for virtualization and end-user computing continues to evolve—hopefully to the benefit of customers. Fresh ideas and new approaches are driving innovation. I remain actively engaged in the community because, after all, a little refresh now and then does me good as well.

At the same time, I am expanding my horizons and increasingly working with other technologies. With the launch of SwissEUC in 2024, together with Stefan Beckmann and René Bigler, I already took a step towards vendor neutrality.

Currently, my focus is on Microsoft’s virtualization and EUC products, particularly Azure Virtual Desktop, Windows 365, and its various “flavors”—whether Single Session vs. Multi Session or the Frontline model of Windows 365.

Exciting times ahead!

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