Azure Virtual Desktop vs Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) comparison

Azure Virtual Desktop vs. Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service)

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Azure Virtual Desktop

Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

11th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Citrix DaaS (formerly Citri...

Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

3rd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

125

Ranking in other categories

Application Virtualization (1st), Remote Access (5th), Desktop as a Service (DaaS) (1st)

Featured Reviews

Makarand-Shrikhande

Sr. Architect at LTI - Larsen & Toubro Infotech

Enables flexible remote application access with auto-scaling and hybrid work support

The use cases include providing application access to users through Azure Virtual Desktop using MSIX App Attach or remote app, enabling remote users like BPO or contact center resources to connect and work on applications, and allowing vendors to access specific applications securely without a…

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DavidWood1

Senior Infrastructure Engineer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees

Flexible Deployment, reliable performance, and fast transmission speeds

Provisioning Server is a fantastic option for image management in Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops. It offers excellent performance and reliability. On the other hand, while Machine Creation Services can be scaled easily, they can significantly increase storage consumption. For instance, creating a Windows 10 image in MCS typically requires at least 80 GB of storage, in addition to any separate disks needed. To store changes made by users in Machine Creation Services, the differencing disk must be equal in size to the base disk, leading to significant storage consumption. On the other hand, Provisioning Server uses image versioning, creating a new image version every time it's modified. As a result, virtual machines streamed from the server revert to their original state after a reboot, which is similar to their state during the first boot. Using the provisioning server, I start by configuring a virtual machine with either a 2016 or 2019 server operating system. I install the necessary Citrix client provisioning server target device software, followed by installing the required applications. After that, I capture the entire configuration to a file share. The image is then streamed from the file share to the hypervisor, which can handle multiple machines. In some large-scale deployments, we have used a single image to provision thousands of servers. Once the image is captured and stored on the file share, it is set to read-only mode, and any changes made to it are not accepted until it is put in read-write mode. When a virtual machine is rebooted, it returns to its previous state before the changes were made. This feature can be beneficial in situations like a virus outbreak, where a simple reboot of the virtual machines can remove any malicious code or changes. A provisioning server offers a faster recovery time from a bad change and is generally faster than machine creation services. With the provisioning server, changes are not accepted until the read-write mode is enabled, and if a virus outbreak occurs, rebooting the machines restores them to the previous state. On the other hand, machine creation services' speed is dependent on the storage's speed, and recovery time from a bad change can take longer, especially with a large number of devices. If a bad change is made with machine creation services, the replication process can take a while to revert, whereas, with a provisioning server, all machines can be rebooted quickly. Within thirty minutes, I can restore my system to its previous state using the provisioning server.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The ability to spin up virtual machines quickly and speedily in Azure has been really valuable."

"Absolutely, this solution is probably the leader in its field."

"I rate the overall solution nine out of ten."

"I've always found Azure Virtual Desktop to work for me without issues."

"The scalability is probably the most valuable feature since I can quickly add or remove machines or increase or decrease the size depending on resources to manage the cost better."

"The auto-scaling option allows provisioning additional virtual desktops based on user demand, making it scalable and flexible."

"The App is the most valuable feature."

"The scalability is fine. We have about 400 users, who are supported by six staff members. We use the product company-wide throughout 40 different locations, and we currently do not have plans to increase the scale of use."

"The Provisioning Services are the most valuable feature. We have Premium licensing, so Provisioning Services is huge for us, along with the Virtual Apps and Desktops part. It allows us to have a vDisk for every region, one that can easily be copied between them if we need to, to limit the amount of updates we have to do."

"I have found that Citrix DaaS is still a complex product, especially on the desktop side, which affects scalability. Although it works well on the apps side, the desktop aspect still has room for improvement in scalability. Managing multiple OSs centrally doesn't reduce many problems, and the product remains almost on par with its competitors like VMware Vue."

"ICA/HDX optimization policies."

"Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops is a stable solution."

"Relative to other solutions, Citrix has fewer conditions and fewer parameters. Citrix also provides some flexibility because it can be used on any device."

"The ease of access and the confidentiality and security that it provides is what we like best."

More Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) pros

Cons

"I would like to see built-in proxy and internet filtering."

"The costs are a bit difficult to predict upfront."

"Access from Entra ID should be implemented to provide only tenant access to users connecting to the Azure Virtual Desktop environment, eliminating the need for on-premises requirements."

"The costs are a bit difficult to predict upfront. When I am trying to sell it to a customer as a consultant, it is hard to give them a fixed price."

"One of the issues I had was the ability to add an internet proxy. I would like to see built-in proxy and internet filtering."

"Templating the deployment process could use improvement. When you start, there are a large number of details that are quite client-specific, although they do share common themes. To get somebody up and running in a day is very difficult to do. They should streamline by use case."

"We have had issues with certain aspects, which is why we are looking for alternatives. For example, the firewall solution from Citrix is a bit complicated. Integration is hard."

"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 would like to see simplification in the management of the on-prem infrastructure component of Citrix DaaS, particularly in the studio tool used to manage the DaaS infrastructure."

"The solution's technical support is not so good."

"The support offered by Citrix's partner needs to improve. The partner support platform should aim to provide more technical information to users."

"I think they can improve the troubleshooting to make it easier for users to solve problems on their own. For example, it could provide an error code and some instructions on how to reconnect to the database or do something proactive to fix the issue with the system."

"Some customers find the price to be a significant factor. They have a hard time understanding the extra cost of the services"

More Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"If one is a high price and ten is a low price, I rate the tool's price a three."

"The cost of the Citrix software reflects what I would expect a product of that nature, in that market, to be. Understanding the licensing is quite a bit more complicated, because one of the things about Citrix is that you can buy licensing at different levels... Yet I still like the idea because it means that if all you need is a basic load balancing solution, then you don't need to buy an advanced or premium license."

"Citrix is a mid-range cost solution compared to some others out there."

"The licensing of Citrix Workspace is worth it. However, it is expensive. Citrix is probably more competitive now than VMware, but it is still a costly solution."

"We recouped 60 to 70 percent of the hardware costs."

"Based not only on the cost of Citrix, but additional costs like firewalls, IPS, and other solutions, the total cost of switching users from using normal laptops with VPNs to connection via Citrix were so huge that the CEO of our company decided to postpone the deployment process."

"The Citrix licensing scheme is really straightforward and simple. It doesn't have hidden costs. You get what you pay for. It is easy to understand what is on the product, so it's simple to get a clear idea of how much it costs. Licensing is not an issue."

"It's costly in the market. But it is not expensive for the company. For the company, it's relatively inexpensive because the core of the work is compensated with the price."

More Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

51%

Outsourcing Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Virtual Desktop?

There is not much licensing. The price is just the usage, which is the same as anything else on Azure. As long as I am careful, it's reasonable.

What needs improvement with Azure Virtual Desktop?

There is nothing off the top of my head that they are not already working on. The costs are a bit difficult to predict upfront. When I am trying to sell it to a customer as a consultant, it is hard...

What is your primary use case for Azure Virtual Desktop?

I use it for accessing resources from different machines.

What do you like most about Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops?

My focus has primarily been on publishing virtual applications.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops?

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

What needs improvement with Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops?

I have found that Citrix DaaS is still a complex product, especially on the desktop side, which affects scalability. Although it works well on the apps side, the desktop aspect still has room for i...

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Product Reports

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

Download Azure Virtual Desktop product report

Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service)

Download Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) product report

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

Also Known As

No data available

XenDesktop, XenApp (Citrix Virtual Apps), Citrix Workspace

Interactive Demo

Demo not available

Microsoft

Citrix

Overview

Azure Virtual Desktop enables remote work by allowing employees to access their desktops and applications from anywhere, centralizing management, ensuring data security, and supporting collaboration.

Azure Virtual Desktop is essential for remote work, offering centralized management of desktops, a secure environment for accessing sensitive data, and facilitating collaboration. It reduces hardware costs, supports scalability, and simplifies IT tasks. The platform is scalable, integrates with Microsoft 365, and provides robust security features. Fast deployment, efficient management tools, reliable remote access capabilities, and cost-effective pricing make it versatile for diverse requirements. However, users report slow performance during peak hours, connectivity issues, difficulty managing virtual machines, high scaling costs, a complicated setup process, and compatibility issues with specialized software.

What are the most important features of Azure Virtual Desktop?

Scalability: Adjust resources seamlessly to match demand.
Microsoft 365 Integration: Enhance productivity with deep integration.
Security Features: Protect sensitive data with robust security measures.
Fast Deployment: Quickly set up and deploy virtual desktops.
Efficient Management Tools: Streamline IT tasks with advanced management tools.
Reliable Remote Access: Consistent performance for remote access.
Cost-Effective Pricing: Competitive pricing that suits different needs.
Azure Services Integration: Leverage existing Azure infrastructure.

What benefits and ROI should users expect?

Cost Reduction: Minimize hardware and operational expenses.
Enhanced Productivity: Boost productivity with seamless integration.
Security Assurance: Ensure data safety with advanced security features.
Operational Efficiency: Simplify IT operations and management tasks.
Scalable Resources: Easily scale resources based on requirements.
Flexible Accessibility: Access desktops and applications from anywhere.

Azure Virtual Desktop is widely implemented across industries like finance, healthcare, and education. Finance companies use it to securely access sensitive financial data remotely. Healthcare providers use it to offer secure access to patient records and applications, ensuring compliance with data protection regulations. Educational institutions leverage it for virtual classrooms, enabling students and faculty to access resources and collaborate from various locations.

Microsoft

Enable secure, flexible work with the leader in virtual apps and desktops

Deliver desktop as a service (DaaS) from any cloud or datacenter

Get started with Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) in minutes to provide a familiar, high-performance digital workspace experience to your users. We’ll manage the infrastructure and security. You focus on your business.

Citrix

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Exelon, Aeronamic, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Alameda County Medical Center, Alaska Department of Fish & Game, Aloysius Stichting, Amarchand Mangaldas, AmBev, Amnet Technology Solutions, Arval

Azure Virtual Desktop vs. Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service)