Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) Reviews

It was used to publish internal resources for our clients.

Our clients were very happy with the technology because they could continue with their work. For example, one of our customers had headquarters and branches. All users in the branches were using Citrix Virtual Apps and they were very happy because they could work from the branches. It helps the company or the environment to centralize all its resources and allows all users from all the branches to reach those resources without needing them in every branch. It saves costs, operations, and maintenance—everything.

It's a very useful solution for on-premise environments because it creates flexibility by serving the resources and providing accessibility to users who are far away.

In addition, when remote users are using the solution it provides security for the organization's intellectual property and data.

The solution provides everything in one integrated platform, which is great for our customers.

Citrix Virtual Apps is the most valuable feature. Many customers use this feature to publish only applications, and not the full desktop. They can publish the internal resource or allow the end-user to reach a site or an application without having the full desktop. That's why they love this feature. It helps them save on resources.

It also provides the flexibility of being used on any device. It makes for a good employee experience because they are able to log in using any device and reach the resource.

We also utilized the centralized policy to apply things to all users or to categorize the users. Once users were categorized we could apply policies based on the categories. It was very helpful. We could allow users in category "A" to reach some of the resources, and allow users in category "B" to reach other resources, based on their requirements. For example, we could block USB for some categories and allow it for other categories.

There is also access control based on device, location, end-user device, or application. This is a good feature because it adds to the flexibility. You can give access based on many factors.

The Endpoint Management solution needs improvement when it comes to mobile device management. For example, they are still not supporting Windows 10 and this feature is required by many customers.

I have used Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops for about six years. I have done many deployments.

It's stable.

It's also scalable.

We have deployed it to companies that have between 500 and 3,000 employees.

There are people who respond quickly, but others take a long time to solve things. They need to focus on support and to improve support procedures.

The initial setup is "medium," between complex and straightforward. It still depends on an SQL database, and there are many components, compared to other solutions. Other solutions are easier than Citrix.

On average, deployment takes one week.

Our implementation strategy is just to follow the installation guide.

I have worked with VMware Horizon. To be frank, Horizon is easier to use because it's an endpoint solution. Horizon covers everything, one of the main points being that it covers Windows 10 for mobile device management. With Citrix, this does not exist. Many customers who are looking for this feature cannot use Citrix. At the end of the day, the customer is looking for one solution to manage everything: Android, iOS, Windows 10, virtual applications, and virtual desktop.

Just follow the guide.

Our clients used the following for protecting their environment: Citrix Gateway/Single Sign-on; Citrix Secure Browser; Web/URL Filtering; Web App Gateway; Citrix Endpoint Management; Citrix ADC.

The primary use case is to allow our employees to work from home.

We are using the solution with some of our light users. There is less maintenance cost for the hardware.

The remote desktop feature is valuable because it allows employees to work from home.

USB devices are a common issue. I am not sure if this is a Citrix issue or an operating system issue because we are using Linux.

I have been using the solution for one year.

At this point, the solution has shown to be stable.

The solution is scalable.

I had to use customer service once or twice and they solve my issues immediately.

The initial setup is complex.

The implementation was done in-house. 

We recouped 60 to 70 percent of the hardware costs.

I rate the solution seven out of ten.

Although the initial setup is complex, deployment is easy. We already have the images used for deployments of the virtual machines through Citrix Studio. The thin client already has an operating system that connects directly to the Citrix server. All we have to do is assign the virtual machines and deploy them.

We currently have 97 users for the solution and are looking to increase that to 300. Two engineers are required to manage the solution.

I recommend you test everything first before implementing this solution. We are facing issues with Microsoft Teams, and the presentations which have no option to share with Bijo and Ojo. You should also test the hardware, especially the USB devices.

We are using Citrix Workspace for the people who are roaming employees, those who rarely come to the office and access applications and data from outside the office.

Citrix Workspace has benefited organizations from the security extension after implementing it.

The most valuable feature of Citrix Workspace is its security.

The Citrix Workspace interface could improve. Additionally, if they are able to provide a mobile application

I have been using Citrix Workspace for over six years.

Citrix Workspace is quite a stable solution provided it is implemented as part of best practices provided by Citrix Workspace. If any of the organizations are not following the best practices, they are bound to have, challenges with regard to stability. 

Citrix Workspace can be scalable. However, the scalability of the solution depends on how it has been implemented. If the implementation is done, keeping scalability in mind, it would be scalable. If scalability has not been considered at the time of implementing the solution, then any organization is going to find it difficult to scale.

We have approximately 100 users using Citrix Workspace in my organization.

My experience with the support from Citrix Workspace mix and match experience. Earlier, it used to be a good experience, but over a period of time, there have been a lot of changes within Citrix.

I rate the support from  Citrix Workspace a four out of five.

The initial setup of Citrix Workspace is a bit of a complex process, which should be made easier in the future. If somebody's looking to extend the reach of this solution, then the implementation of this has to be super easy. It should be very easy that would make somebody wants to use Citrix Workspace on a regular basis for their personal use. Security is something that is and is going to be a big concern for everybody down the line.

The length of time it takes to implement Citrix Workspace depends on how complex the environment is. If it is a project with very minimum applications to be published through the Citrix Workspace, then it can take approximately 15 days to one month to complete. 

If it is a complex environment where there are multiple applications posted on different platforms with multiple application stacks, that may take up to three months time or even more than that in some cases.

The implementation was done in-house. 

Citrix Workspace doesn't acquire any specific maintenance, but if we want to reduce the maintenance overhead from the organization's point of view, to do that, we can try to make it easy for end-user to use it, such as not raising tickets to IT teams to sort out. They should be able to resolve their issue. In most of the cases, I have seen that the issues are related to end-user only.

The price of the solution could be less expensive. There are different versions to their solution and the price keeps increasing.

If someone is trying to enable their employees to work from anywhere without compromising security, I would recommend a Citrix Workspace.

I rate Citrix Workspace an eight out of ten.

Everything requires improvement, nothing is perfect. Everyone should consider improvement.

We use the platform to manage apps and virtual desktops.

The product has reasonable licensing costs for hardware. It has the best remote working features. It helps us easily use and manage machines with system policies and other aspects.

We encounter compatibility issues related to hardware, scanners, and other devices. There could be web control management features and persistent VDA.

We have been using Citrix DaaS for eight years.

It is a stable platform.

It is a scalable product.

We evaluated Horizon Cloud a few years ago. Back then, we found Citrix had higher capabilities than Horizon. Thus, we went with Citrix. However, it is providing better services now.

I rate Citrix DaaS an eight out of ten.

Citrix is used by many organizations to make it possible to streamline the way different developers work together from different locations. It is able to do this using a low bandwidth. Essentially it is used for remote application delivery. 

Citrix's functionality depends on you having access to Microsoft Azure. Microsoft offers a broad range of features and solutions. Overall, it may make sense for some users to move all their services to Microsoft services. The main challenge is that you need to have a Microsoft Azure subscription. 

This solution could be improved by adding features for authentication. 

I have been using this solution for 10 years. 

This is a stable solution, however, this stability can be impacted by networking changes. Citrix has developed its own in-house monitoring tool that assists in this regard. Security wise, they have lots of features that you can use for two factor authentication along with your password or biometrics.

This is a scalable solution. Citrix is able to increase its capacity and functionalities based on demand for both on-prem or cloud-based scenarios. 

The customer support team is responsive when we contact them. Citrix runs on top of Windows so it is important to first figure out whether the challenge you have is Windows or Citrix related. There is an option to pay for support from Citrix and this is based on whether you are a gold or premium customer. They have a dedicated technical team and technical relationship manager who will engage with your environment and provide suggestion. They also offer professional services for deployment and configurations.

Positive

The initial setup was straightforward but this may differ based on specific scenarios. This solution needs to be integrated with directory infrastructure and in accordance with basic requirements. The setup is simpler for smaller environment and more complex for larger environments that need integration with other cloud infrastructure. 

You have to install a cloud connector for on-prem environments that use separate Windows servers. In future, Citrix are planning to bypass that cloud connection. 

They offer licensing per user.  From time to time, they give discounts. Because it's a hybrid model, you can deploy some portion of it on cloud and some portion your on-prem. 

This is an expensive solution but the cost can be brought down by discount bargaining based on the volume of licenses you are purchasing. 

I would advise others to evaluate whether to use the Citrix VDI based on all the different applications you have in your environment. You should specifically consider those applications which are cloud based and those which are on-premise as well as where your data is kept. This will determine the complexity of adding Citrix. 

You need consider what infrastructure is required for an in-house solution and how will your team manage and monitor updates. 

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten. 

The Citrix Workspace is a little easier compared to Citrix Receiver. We used to use Citrix Receiver and then switched to Citrix Workspace. Previously, we had to install five browser components and a couple more things to launch these applications.

Six to seven months after we started using this solution, we had an issue when we were using the Citrix server. We needed to install the Citrix Runtime in the server where the application was hosted. When we installed the Runtime, we needed to restart the production server. So, whenever our EMR application was going live, we had to plan to upgrade all our other surrounding tools and applications, so we could complete one restart and achieve everything at once.

The engineering team installed certain things to fix the issue, and now it is resolved. There are so many links within the Citrix application, so when we tried to launch it, we initially used IE. Initially, we never had an issue, but when we made Chrome an enterprise browser, then we were facing some slowness. But later, we realized that it was not a Citrix issue, it was some additional components of the browser that we needed to install so that it would be rightly redirected to the EFC.

We have been using this solution for ten years from a configuration perspective and almost three years from an automation perspective. We are using the latest version.

We are planning our next upgrade around mid-September. The solution is deployed on-premises.

It is a stable solution.

We have more than 500 people using this solution.

We have not used the technical support from Citrix. However, we reach out to our technical team for any issues.

I rate the pricing a five out of five because it is a good price.

I rate this solution a nine out of ten. We have been using this solution for a long time and are comfortable using Citrix.

We use Citrix Workspace to login into our system.

We have several users and there are standards in the installation process because of the security. They have found that various systems with standard installations, restricting users to go ahead and install on their own.

Everything is managed through the infrastructure. ServiceNow is used for the CCM.

Everything is automated machine creations and installations. They take care of the machines with regular updates on weekends.

Everything is automated here, and there is no manual intervention for setting up any system if a new user is hired.

The feature that I like is that it is fast. For example, if I am new to the company, setting up systems can take up a lot of time, but, having standard automation in place allows this user to have the same set of software installed on his or her machine.

The only area that takes some time is that it requires us to get the approval. Once the approval is given, the system with everything is installed as a prerequisite.

Because it's a prerequisite, it's a standard installation in all the systems, there are no discrepancies because everything is standard, it's automated. If I am using a particular version, it will be the same version in my colleague's system.

It's very easy.

Performance is an area that can be improved. The meetings that use Skype in Workspace will lag when they run long or we screen share. At times, it is slow when there are multiple users on the server.

When it lags, we restart it to get it resolved. If multiple users are using a single server it will lag. 

The lag when using Skype or Screen Sharing with multiple users needs to improve, as it makes it difficult for us to continue when we have to restart the system. 

I have been using Citrix Workspace for almost one year.

The solution is stable, however, there are version discrepancies. For example, a new version of Citrix has become available and I am using the old version of Citrix the new version is not compatible with the Media version, which creates problems when using Skype or any video meeting.

Lag is something that we observe frequently, but it can be resolved because we have a guideline page that shows us the versions that should be compatible with our systems or Windows Operating System, and the Media Version, which is the Citrix HDX Realtime Media Version, should also be compatible with the Citrix Workstation that we are using. If both are good your system will work well.

It's a scalable solution and everyone in the organization uses it. We have more than 15,000 users.

We plan to continue to use Citrix Workspace.

I do not have experience with technical support. I have a PoC team that deals with them. They are quick to resolve issues.

We just need to create a ticket and ask for support.

Ther support is good and they are quick to respond and resolve issues.

Previously, we used A3 Machine, which was replaced by Citrix Workspace.

It is easy to install. There is a link provided on our homepage for login.

We just need to install it and restart the system.

It is very fast. It took half an hour or so.

Azure Desktop has been released and we will be using this along with Citrix Workspace. When we want to use something, we need to first have Citrix Workspace.

I have Citrix Workspace and on top of that, I can use Microsoft Azure Desktop, which may allow me to program in that machine. Citrix Workspace is the base and it works fine with most of our products.

Definitely, I would recommend Citrix Workspace to others who are interested in using it. It's very handy, portable, fast, and easy to install. Also, it is the standard amongst all users.

I would encourage everybody to use Citrix Workspace.

We are quite satisfied. I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops is used to control our virtual machines and provide access to our devices from anywhere.

Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops is capable of deploying and managing all servers or virtual desktop infrastructures.

The cost of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops is high and has room for improvement.

The technical support is slow and has room for improvement.

I am currently using Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops.

Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops is a stable solution.

Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops is a scalable solution.

The quality of technical support is very poor. Insufficient staffing has resulted in delays in responding to tickets.

The initial setup is straightforward. The deployment process is simple. We just need to deploy the VDI server and its VDA.

The implementation is completed in-house.

Citrix licensing is expensive.

If we deploy in Azure, Microsoft has an advantage over Citrix because it provides effective solutions for deployment and management.

I give Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops a ten out of ten.

Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops is recommended for midsize and enterprise companies because it is not affordable for smaller organizations.

I recommend conducting an analysis of the organization's requirements and compiling a list of viable solutions before proceeding to a proof of concept.