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

• ICA protocol: Beats latency and improves performance for slow connections
• Provisioning service (PVS): Makes deployment of VDI machines a simple breeze
• Profile manager: Profile manager makes it very easy to retain user settings. The whole suite of Citrix XenDesktop provides a complete set for managing the environment.

We have a lot of users in remote locations and some have slow, high-latency connections. So deploying XenDesktop as a VDI solution to connect to our data center overcame the challenges of having remote users and addressed the slow and high latency issues we used to experience prior to deploying Citrix.

I would like to see better documentation of best practices and communication of newly available tools or troubleshooting tools. If you ask several consultants, each will give you almost completely different designs, as the best practice recommendation by Citrix might be absent.

We did a lot of testing and slowly deployed our environment. Given we are also IT consultants and developers, we had a lot of the issues resolved before reaching production. One tip that is also important is training the end users and making sure they understand the setup.

Citrix Premium support is really top notch. They take ownership of the issues and are determined to address it, 9 out of 10 times it is addressed on the spot.

Citrix offers many different components to address all kinds of environments. Simple setup can be done; however, if it is a complex environment, rest assured Citrix will also address it. It all depends on the components used and how to best integrate them.

Implementation was completed by our in-house team.

Citrix is not a cheap solution as it addresses a lot of the challenges that no one else can. With Citrix, we do not have to upgrade our network infrastructure of remote offices, which is a lot of ongoing savings.

Buying the licenses all at once would give the best discounts. Also using a VAR may give best pricing. Shopping through different VARs is a must as you could see 50% of savings.

We evaluated several solutions including MS RemoteApp. Citrix offers better scalability and works much better in terms of WAN and slow connections due to the power of the ICA protocol.

Make sure you study the architecture before rushing to go to production. Also make sure to do a proof of concept and pilot deployment before investing. You can get trial licenses. Once you believe you have the whole solution is ready to go, consult a Citrix consultant to take a quick look before you execute, in the event you do not have all the expertise.

We use the solution for general purposes.

Citrix’s performance is good.

The solution is expensive.

I have been using Citrix Workspace as a partner for five years.

The product is stable.

20 users are using this solution.

The initial setup is very easy.

I recommend the solution.

Overall, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

We are a system integrator for Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops and we also make use of it in our own company. Our primary use case is ensuring that all our applications (e.g. Chrome) can be accessed in a secure manner by employees. As opposed to a VPN, it's much more secure.

The other main reason why we use this solution is because it enables us to centralize our systems, making it easier for the IT team to manage everything.

The biggest benefit of using Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops is that all of the company's applications and data are situated on one centralized server, removing the need to install applications on the users' physical desktops or laptops. Whenever we want to access anything, Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops provides a seamless experience that lets us connect to our apps and files from anywhere. It's much like having a virtual office.

This arrangement also improves IT security because it ensures that no potentially-unsafe data will be downloaded on the end-points.

Instead of pointing to any single feature, I would say the most valuable aspect of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops is the overall product itself. Virtualized apps and desktops, in theory and in practice, are very helpful to users.

Our experience of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops is good, but the environment can become complex and difficult to manage at times.

The price is also too high, in my opinion, and could be reduced.

I have been using Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops for seven years.

It is stable.

It's a scalable solution. In our company we have about 20 users but some of our customers have between 250-1,000 users.

We have occasionally escalated issues to Citrix's technical support. I would rate their support services a seven out of ten.

Neutral

We have tried other solutions in the past, but in the end we found Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops the best fit for our use cases.

The setup is a complex process as there is a lot of competency required. This isn't just to do with Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops itself; it also depends on how complicated the existing infrastructure is. 

Depending on the number of users and the specific requirements, the deployment can take from three days to three weeks. When we deploy the solution for customers, we have to take a number of factors into account, such as the user count, which applications they will be using, whether they will be using desktops or laptops, and other things such as how much data will be sent back and forth.

Then we need to size up the infrastructure (CPU, RAM, storage, etc.) to make sure that there are sufficient resources, and if not, then we will deploy the necessary extra hardware. After that, the next step is to use a virtualization platform such as VMware, Hyper-V, or Nutanix, and then we download and install the Citrix environment. Finally, within the Citrix solution, we configure the applications to be used by end-points.

I would rate the setup process a five out of ten.

We did our own deployment in-house with the help of one or two staff members.

Ongoing maintenance and support is generally required since there are multiple users, many of which are using Microsoft Windows, and we tend to encounter maintenance issues about once a month. However, most of the problems we see are related more to the Windows environment rather than being the fault of Citrix itself.

There is definitely ROI in the long term because you are getting increased security and productivity (i.e. you can access anything in your company from anywhere) with reduced operational costs.

We're paying for a standard license and, in my view, the price is too high. I would be satisfied with it if it were reduced by about 20-30%. Right now, I would rate the pricing a five out of ten.

My advice to others is to make sure that your physical environment has sufficient computing resources, otherwise the performance won't be as good as it could be and your users won't be happy with it. Besides ensuring stable infrastructure, you should implement the solution with people who have the required experience needed to manage it.

I would rate Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 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.

LG Uplus is using Citrix for internal groupware. Every employee here uses Citrix to access the VDI to make some Word documents or PowerPoint presentations. We are not allowed to use our local PC resources at all. 

The second use for my team's project is that we are reviewing the potential for a virtualization solution for our customers, who are mainly video editors. We offer them a low-price alternative. Instead of buying our high-end desktops or workstations, they can save money by virtualizing some application solutions. 

This is deployed in LG CNS, which is a subsidiary of the LG group. Most LF subsidiary companies are a part of the LG CNS solution. LG CNS solution is combined with Citrix, which means that if you work with LG CNS, you have no choice but to use Citrix.

First, since we adopted the Citrix VDI, we are no longer dealing with the problem of leaking the customer's personal information. Second, we aren't investing a lot of money in buying new personal laptops. With the VDI, we aren't relying on a high-core CPU or memory in each employee's laptop. Because the functions that require a lot of memory and CPU are happening in the cloud, we can just give the employee a basic Pentium CPU laptop.

The Virtual Desktop Interface is very important because we have many departments for customer service. For example, we have operational storage and also we have a customer call center. Most of the customers are calling about a security problem. 

Before we adopted a VDI storage solution, our customers' personal information was leaked. This happened a lot. But since we adopted a VDI solution, these kinds of issues have happened rarely. Of course, we banned each user from installing or sharing software, like peer-to-peer sharing software. There is no chance that a single user could leak personal information by mistake through unauthorized access.

Virtualized solutions are very important. Because of the high-speed internet service here, I think the virtualization application solution can be adopted in a B2C market for customer service.

We've tested a lot of cases with the Citrix solution and found that it's okay when the Citrix virtualized solution is adopted over the laptop or desktop. But it has some latency issues—a lag between the input device and screen—when we test it with a smartphone or tablet. The reason that users use the virtualized desktop is they want to access a Windows 10 application, but they need their keyboard and mouse. Every employee complains about the performance or quality of their VDI. After we adopted the security solution, I think the performance is quite better. But employees are still complaining about the speed of the VDI.

Latency is also a major problem when adopting Citrix for video editing software or 3D editing software, especially editing 4K video or large file size. The Citrix virtualized solution becomes too slow, so we cannot use the VDI. For the streaming, Citrix needs to improve its screen resolution problems because this is a market trend. We produce and use a lot of high-density videos. If Citrix cannot improve these kinds of issues, then we might not be able to use VDI anymore two or three years from now.

Citrix doesn't offer any solutions for the virtualization of macOS, either. I think we could use that kind of service.

It's been around 10 years or so.

I would rate it very low actually. Because here in Korea, most of them are for sales, not technical assistance. For developing some applications, we have to choose or test virtualized applications. But call up Citrix agencies—sales agencies—they say they cannot solve the technical issues. We have to find some technical references through the internet or through developers who have some experience with Citrix.

Internally, the IT department uses Citrix. For developing customer service for my team's product, I use Hyper-V's client solution instead of Citrix, because the price of the Citrix virtualized application solution is too high. Citrix only provides the B2B license here, so they don't have any B2C license. I use Hyper-V-based applications and virtualized solutions because of the price issues.

I think it was very complex. It was difficult to install Citrix by ourselves, but we have an IT department and a PC maintenance department. The initial setup required around three people. But after the initial deployment, most employees don't have any trouble with installing Citrix solutions. For each user, it takes around half an hour. For example, I broke my laptop and had to get a new laptop. I personally asked the IT and PC maintenance departments to install the systems again. It took them around 30 minutes.

We have a dedicated IT department. They have a contract with Citrix and they're employed here. 

It's tough to say whether we've really seen any cost savings. Many people don't believe the Citrix solution lowered the total cost of the whole system. But I think if we adopt an application virtualizing service, then we can reduce costs a little bit more. 

Currently, everyone here is using the same public cloud server resources for every software. but if we adopt a virtualized application solution, then the IT department can choose which software needs a lot of resources and which can adopt lower-tier public cloud resources. That way, we can save a lot of infrastructure costs.

It's my understanding that the solution license fee for each user is around $300 US. If we buy a personal laptop for each employee every five years, then the total cost is five times $300 US, or $1,500 USD. So we could buy 100 personal laptops instead of the Citrix solution. If we compare the cost of a high-performance laptop and the price of the Citrix solution, the total cost savings is very small. But we can improve the security issue.

I think the speed and latency of Hyper-V are quite good, but one thing I worry about is the security issues. Our internally developed client for the Hyper-V solution doesn't have as many security solutions as Citrix does. As I recall, LG CNS has its own VDI solution. At this moment, there are some solutions that can replace Citrix, like FreeVDI, an open-source VDI, for example. We have tried using those kinds of service solutions in some departments, but they didn't quite meet our expectations.

I would rate Citrix seven out of 10.

Reducing traffic capacity is needed for more than 13000 remote end-users who are working on Oracle E-Business Suite with about 1600 concurrent remote users working simultaneously all over Egypt. These users connect through 3G mobile modems from different service providers.

It increased the no. of users and reduced traffic and data connection cost in addition to increased user productivity.

Application streaming and shadow feature helped end-user online support and training. It also increased user productivity. Since this application has its own traffic encryption proprietary technique, it increased data connection security.

Eliminating the need of Windows terminal server because it increases the cost for each user as each PC that needs to connect must have its own terminal service license.

Extremely stable.

It is flexible and very easily scalable.

Good customer service and excellent technical support.

Previously, I used direct user connection, but it was not secure enough and used a lot of bandwidth.

If you follow the vendor instructions, the setup is straightforward. But it might be a little bit complex in the tuning phase.

Our own in-house team made the full implementation and operation as well.

The setup cost is not much. Although trimming the application settings is somehow tricky and has a lot of effect on performance, it is done only once. For a large number of users, use the concurrent users' license model.

A direct connection was evaluated.

The product is basically basically, it's a virtual asset and desktop to provide the applications and the desktop to the users. And if I compare with this one, it is it has more feature. If you compare to the pricing and I think it is little bit faster than the Horizon PDI.

The most feature is the Citrix policies. We can easily manage, and it is integrated with the active directory as well. These are very important because we can easily maintain maintain the user's profiles and all these things. Apart from that, the IC protocol if we compare with the horizon. So it is little bit faster than if we are working with if if we are comparing with the horizon,

The licenses are very costly.

I have been using Citrix Workspace for 15 years.

I rate the solution’s stability an eight out of ten.

The on-prem environment is more scalable than cloud environment.

I rate the solution’s scalability an eight out of ten.

The technical support is not good. Earlier, every time when we call, they provide end to end solution and with the proper documentation, but now the the support is not good. The response time is very poor. They take around four to five days to solve the issue. In between, we find the solution from the Google.

Neutral

Citrix Workspace offers several advantages over Horizon. It's a newer product with robust policy integration capabilities. Citrix Workspace integrates with IT directories and offers a Citrix profile solution. While Horizon may be suitable for small environments, Citrix Workspace is better suited for larger environments with a higher number of users.

The deployment process is simple. It offers a variety of components tailored to diverse needs. Its flexibility allows us to select and use components accordingly. Installation and configuration are straightforward, in smaller environments whereas in larger environments, it depend on the components used and the scale of deployment.

The pricing for Citrix Workspace is relatively high which is influenced by market competition and the availability of similar products. However, Citrix has been working on reducing license charges, as they include terminal service licenses. Furthermore, if one opts for cloud infrastructure, such as Azure, additional licensing fees may apply.

I rate the product’s pricing a seven out of ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive.

We use Citrix NetScaler. VMware may offer a similar device. Occasionally, we also utilize a load balancer from a different company. Third-party software integrates well with Citrix Workspace, as it is built to meet specific requirements and can easily integrate with other products.

Citrix has reached a high level of maturity with the introduction of their cloud technology. Although they encourage cloud usage, their on-premises environment still holds value. Additionally, their cloud-based PVS solution offers promising advantages.

Citrix Workspace provides a stable environment for users to access the Citrix build environment. Once modifications are completed, users can easily access it without encountering significant issues within the environment.

Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.