Citrix SD-WAN [EOL] Reviews

We are a solution provider and this is one of the products that we implement for our clients.

One of the use cases was as an optimizer in a low-bandwidth area where I wanted to replace the MPLS connection.

The most valuable feature is security, as it gives me the port bindings that cannot be accomplished using other solutions.

This solution gives me IPv6 layering over IPv4, which is helpful for some environments.

The documentation is very good.

I would like to either see the price reduced or have it packaged with other products to give better value for the money. For example, other solutions have multiple services embedded in their appliance, which gives better value.

I have worked with NetScaler SD-WAN in several projects over the past three years.

This is a stable and mature product. We have few admin support cases and the maintenance is very limited.

This solution scales out well. We generally work with large business and enterprise-level organizations.

The technical support from Citrix is very good. If I am stuck while performing a setup, I can get immediate support while I am on the call.

I have also work with similar solutions from Riverbed. I found that the documentation and support from Citrix were better.

Setting up is a little bit complex. It is definitely not done with the click of a button.

For us, it normally takes about a week to understand the requirements and deploy it.

As NetScaler is now, I find it quite pricey.

My advice to anybody who is considering this product is to first understand the business and the requirements. No solution should be purchased in haste. I have seen businesses with proper tools but they don't know what to do with them.

I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

We primarily use the solution for network latency authentication.

I don't have the level of detail to discuss the most valuable features of the solution. It doesn't come into my area of focus.

The scalability and stability are quite good in general.

I don't have too many details about what is lacking in the solution as I don't work with the solution in depth.

The initial setup could be a bit easier.

When it comes to networking from NetScaler, we have a continuous challenge in terms of getting and using other software.

We've been using the solution for over two years now.

The stability of the solution is good.

The scalability of the solution is fine. It scales much better when companies choose to use the cloud.

We normally contact technical support. We maintain different customer's clouds so we're constantly working with specific technical solutions and support. They are very good. We have a good relationship with them and have had good interactions overall.

We didn't previously use a different solution.

The initial setup is not that easy. We needed assistance with the initial installation.

We had assistance from consultants who helped us with the implementation of the solution. We've had a long working relationship with them and are quite satisfied with the level of service they've provided to us.

I don't have enough information on the pricing or what our company pays in order to discuss licensing in any great detail.

We're using an older version of the solution, not the newest version.

We use the on-premises deployment model.

We don't use the solution ourselves, rather, we provide services to our clients.

We're testing it for a client right now. Whether the client will ultimately go with the solution is up to them.

Our company always promotes NetScaler, and for that reason, I'd give it a ten out of ten.

We offer this solution mainly to retail companies that have many sites and want to connect between them without relying on an MPX or a fiber connection. With SD-WAN, they have all the features and benefits they need to send live streaming information to the database and to headquarters without requiring a server at each site. Our other clients have various sites with just one type of communication, say a radio or a mobile network. SD-WAN helps them to combine and get a better bandwidth to balance all their applications and services. I'm a reseller and I make demos with the product. We are partners with Citrix and our company is based in Ecuador. 

I like that SD-WAN allows you to combine two asymmetrical connections. Citrix provides more options than other solutions so you can balance the amount of bandwidth to any of your applications or solutions that need prioritizing, in addition to putting a hold on things that might block in a communication cut-off or some other event. It provides a more fluid experience to end-users when they're using their applications or desktops. It's user-friendly and easier to manage especially for those who don't have much knowledge about the minutiae of the product. I think Citrix is better than Cisco's solution.

I think the price can be improved, particularly in third world countries such as Ecuador where companies don't have the budget to implement expensive products. Citrix is a very complete solution, but the price is not in line with our market. It would be great if they could come up with a budget product. Cisco provides an inexpensive solution and Citrix could compete with that even if it doesn't have all the features of SD-WAN. I think it would catch on quickly in Latin America.

I've been supplying this solution to our customers for two years. 

The solution is very scalable. One of our clients started out very small and implementing didn't require any more of an investment than they would have had to make with another MPX communication system or a radio system. They worked with what they had, and then implemented more and more solutions and connected them to their headquarters with a good result.

Citrix support is tricky in Ecuador. The people assigned to our region are not very well organized. As a result, we now certify our technicians so they can provide support to our clients. They carry out the updates and any patching and deal with any configuration improvements that can be made. Our clients are very happy with what we provide and give us good reviews. We have clients who have bought Citrix from other companies but they come to us for support. 

For a certified user, the setup is very simple. I'm not involved in deployment but they say that it's very easy to implement. It only requires the setting up of some policies and the solution works. We have two engineers who deal with implementation. 

I would suggest getting to know your core business solutions, knowing which are the important solutions or apps that could be improved in terms of communications, and then just balancing it through SD-WAN with any kind of communication that they already have. It doesn't require a larger budget to put in place various symmetrical communications. 

Licensing costs aside, I would rate this solution 10 out of 10.

CIFS optimisation is really good and benefits are realised if using ICA also.

Using solutions like this reduces the increase on Telco bandwidth - inter site optimisations and using the accelerator software for mobile users can be of great assistance too.

The configuration is less than intuitive and it's important that the network is fully mapped out before trailing this.

I am an integrator so I have configured and used this in 5 companies to date.

Initial configuration can be problematic.

None.

Assuming the network is fully discovered, this scales really well.

Customer Service: Not great - the first line support for this product is pretty much nil.Technical Support: Kind of relating to my comment above - plenty of people will sell you the product but you really need a skilled resource that has done this before - its not a product you want to learn while you are deploying it.

No, but I have done POCs on the Riverbed and Bluecoat appliances before recommending CloudBridge.

If full understanding is held of the network, it is pretty self explanatory if you have a network background.

I am an integration consultant so I was effectively the implementer that Citrix used (as a 3P).

One of my clients has capped their Telco costs (so the ROI is really the Telco growth savings).

Varies from client to client.

Understand your network back to front. Make sure that your firewalls are well documented and that the network appliances in the company are well documented.

We use this product to improve the security of our network.

We also use it to monitor and control the endpoints that we have.

The best feature is the backup capability, where all of the users' computers are tied into a central data repository.

The documentation is good.

Citrix should continue to offer a perpetual licensing model because it is very important to us.

I have been using Citrix SD-WAN for eight months.

We have approximately 60 users.

I have not been in contact with technical support. We found that the documentation is adequate and we were able to follow all of the instructions.

We have not used another similar solution in the past.

The installation process is very easy and it does not take long to set up.

We deployed it with our in-house team. We have two software administrators in the team.

We have a perpetual license, which is very important because it allows us to manage our costs, rather than having a monthly or yearly subscription. A yearly license is okay except that we consider software an asset, which means that we need a perpetual license.

The price of the subscription should be cheaper.

I would rather pay three-to-five times more for a perpetual license than pay for a subscription because the lifecycle will be between five and seven years. After seven years, we will try to look for another solution. If Citrix is still top-notch then we would update to the most recent version.

Citrix is a good product so I have not looked at other options.

This is a good product and I recommend it. I'm going to continue using it unless something new is offered by a competitor at a cheaper price. I that case, I may switch.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

On-premises

It would have to be the HDX WAN Optimization and Application Acceleration.

Ability to deliver content / applications over XenApp/XenDesktop to remote sites with Satellite links.

Optimization of CIFS traffic and its integration with Windows (ie. Branch Repeater with Windows or CloudBridge WS).

Our current project is still ongoing, its been at least 4 years.

Anyone who leverages any Citrix product should consider a TRM agreement.

We do have Riverbed appliances as well that performs a similar function.

<ul> <li> Analyze your WAN traffic and usage first (ie. look at Latency, Round Trip Time etc)</li> <li>Analyze your applications and users</li> <li>Conduct a PoC to compare performance with and without acceleration</li> <li>If you only take into consideration its features and capability, it is definitely one of the better products available in the market to date.</li> </ul>