Horizon Cloud Service vs Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) comparison

Omnissa and Parallels are both solutions in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category. Omnissa is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.0, while Parallels is ranked #11 with an average rating of 8.0. Omnissa holds a 2.0% mindshare in VD, compared to Parallels’s 2.5% mindshare. Additionally, 90% of Omnissa users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Parallels users who would recommend it.

Horizon Cloud Service

Read 9 Horizon Cloud Service reviews

1,902 Views
1,605 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

Parallels Remote Applicatio...

Read 24 Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) reviews

2,076 Views
1,398 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Horizon Cloud Service

Parallels Remote Applicatio...

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Horizon Cloud Service and Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Horizon Cloud Service vs. Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) Report (Updated: September 2024).

Buyer's Guide

Horizon Cloud Service vs. Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)

September 2024

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Helped 801,634 peers since 2012

Categories and Ranking

Horizon Cloud Service

Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

10th

Average Rating

8.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Desktop as a Service (DaaS) (4th)

Parallels Remote Applicatio...

Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

11th

Average Rating

8.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Virtualization (4th)

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2024, in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category, the mindshare of Horizon Cloud Service is 2.0%, down from 4.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) is 2.5%, down from 3.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

Featured Reviews

reviewer2052039

ICT Specialist System Management at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees

Jan 24, 2023

Overall useful features, secure, and highly scalable

We use VMware Horizon Cloud for virtual machines where everyone can log in and do their work in a safe environment VMware Horizon Cloud has benefited my company because it is centered and secure. The most valuable feature of VMware Horizon Cloud is all of its capabilities together. Logging into…

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Devraj Dedhia

IT Analyst at a comms service provider with 5,001-10,000 employees

Jun 3, 2018

Minimizes the man-hours that go into application installation and IT maintenance

The connection is compressed so we don't need a lot of resources to run it. Also, the ease of use. Initially, before using Parallels, we had to manually install whatever applications we were using. So if I had, for example, five users, and three software programs, I had to install three install applications on each of the five laptops. That took more man-hours, and all my resources would get into it. But with Parallels, I just install it once into one location and the client does the work for me. So it provides ease of use and minimizes the man-hours that go into installation and the maintenance of IT.

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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

"VMware Horizon Cloud is easy to use and the full development cloud is very good. The main features of VMware are included. It's a cloud-based virtual desktop infrastructure software that allows you to permit the virtual desktops and applications to any device from the single unified management control. These are managed from the dedicated remote session desktop."

"I honestly liked the application itself because it was just like using a desktop. You could copy and paste, inside and outside, and you could use multiple monitors. You could access it anytime, anywhere, no matter whether you were in the office or out of the office. I could leave the office, go somewhere, go back in, and everything would be there. I could just leave it up and running. I absolutely love this feature in VMware Horizon Cloud."

"The most valuable feature of VMware Horizon Cloud is the ability to manage a great number of desktops at once and the remote access for users that are working from outside of the office or from different offices in the country."

"The product allows a VPN connection, adding extra value to its features."

"The product’s on-premise version has the ability to create an image of any updates or changes in the system."

"The interface is much easier to use compared to Microsoft and other VDI vendors that are well known on the market. I like VMware so much more than the others. With Horizon Cloud, you don't need to spend a lot of money upfront to buy the infrastructure. You can use it the on the cloud, so it lowers the barriers to entry. It's easier to test it and get started. Some clients stay in the cloud, but others prefer to go on-premise. It depends on the nature of the client."

"The most valuable feature of VMware Horizon Cloud is all of its capabilities together."

"Its advanced management features are the most valuable, especially power management. One of the really important things was to be able to have power management in a consumption world. This means that unlike a Microsoft environment, you could actually turn off virtual desktops or have them start up and shut down. If you're consuming resources in the public cloud, you want to be able to do that because when you're not using those, such as at the weekend, you want to be able to turn them off. So, the advanced options for managing the BDIs are very important."

More Horizon Cloud Service pros

"The solution is powerful, and it has good speed and performance."

"Thin client management (Windows 10 client) provides an easy way to lock down client connection to the remote infrastructure. Policies are very helpful for preconfiguring client behavior. Finally, client management is easy."

"The most valuable feature is the ease with which you can publish applications to different groups of users, by integrating with Windows Active Directory."

"Ease of use in publishing apps and installing the agent. The Interface is fairly intuitive after some tinkering. Although I inherited the app only two-thirds deployed, I was able to complete the deployment and service it over the last year without referring to any documentation."

"It permits us to control the applications that our users are able to get to, in a seamless manner. We're able to distribute applications to users' desktops, just like those applications are on each user's computer, but they're not."

"We use Cloudpaging to package and deploy the vast majority of our applications to our standard Windows 10 desktops. With the use of Parallels integration into Software2 AppsAnywhere hub, this means we can use the same packages to deliver Windows applications to almost any device - Windows, mac OS, iOS, Android, Linux, Xbox One, PS4 - just by ticking a box."

"Setup was straightforward. Our particular use case involved an Active Directory forest involving two data centers and three domains. User authentication against Active Directory was the easiest to set up and validate of any application installed in the last three years."

"The stability is ok - once I finished the setup, the system was quite stable."

More Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) pros

Cons

"It can be very expensive to scale up because each part of scaling up requires you to have new components of the infrastructure."

"The application remoting features have some room for improvement."

"In the design phase, sometimes the tools for designing Horizon solutions have issues when they're calculating the number of nodes and platforms needed to support the VDI systems."

"It is very expensive. Its price needs to be improved. They can do a better job with external resources such as a USB or a hard drive. When I tried to connect using these external resources, it failed a lot of times. I had to do a shared connection with a local laptop and then connect from a network standpoint, rather than through VMware Horizon point. They definitely have weaknesses with external connections. A lot of companies probably don't let people use external connections because it defeats the purpose of having a cloud solution and keeping the data in a secure area. You can copy to an external device, and you can lose the data. A lot of companies may not focus on this feature, but if you are providing it, you should make it work."

"Logging into VMware Horizon Cloud could be made easier. Additionally, the VMs could be better in their performance."

"The product has a lot of bugs."

"There should be more emphasis on the Workspace One access part of the solution. This is essentially identity management provided with Horizon. There needs to be some kind of integration because you are able to have all of these desktops on any device, but you have to have this other component to make it easier from a single sign-on perspective. That's why there should be an emphasis on Workspace One access. It actually comes free with the product, but people don't really know how powerful it can be."

"We have had significant, ongoing issues with printing. It would be great to have a best practice for dealing with printing that we can offer to our customers."

"Currently in the RD Session Hosts – Sessions section, I can see what server a user is logged into but not what app he is using. Being able to do so would be immensely helpful when a non-technical user is complaining of issues, but I can’t tell which app he is using, and he is actually logged into multiple servers since they serve multiple apps."

"Generally, it is a very good solution. The main thing that I would improve is their presence here in Mexico. They don't have strong local support here in Mexico. They should have a worldwide presence so that we don't have to do everything through the people in the US. The initial setup was a little bit complex because we were migrating from Citrix. For customers who are migrating from another platform like VMware or Citrix, it would be great if they can provide an automated migration solution."

"HALB is not stable in our environment. When running two HALBs we have stability problems, so we use an active one and a passive for backup. Also, it would be nice to implement an upgrade of the environment without having to stop the servers. As it is, this must be done during off-hours."

"It needs Windows scaling on Android/iOS devices. At present, the concept of delivering apps to Android and iOS devices is appealing, but the reality is the screen size on these devices is so small that, unless there is some scaling option, it is not really usable."

"A web-based management interface for administration and reporting would be nice, instead of needing to log into a remote server."

"We would like the ability to provide a popup message, such as a maintenance notification. That same notification on the Parallels client would be awesome."

"The main issue we have with all of our users is printing. Randomly, a printer will disconnect or someone won't connect to it and I will have to reset the print service and then nobody can print. That's the big headache we've had over the course of the five years."

More Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"VMware Horizon Cloud is an expensive solution. This solution is approximately 30 percent more than Microsoft Azure Cloud. There can be extra costs."

"Initially, the product is cheap, but it starts to get expensive when users try to scale out."

"It is too expensive as compared to other solutions because of which we don't use it that much. We tend to go more for Hyper-V or Azure just because VMware licensing is quite up there. We sway people away from VMware Horizon Cloud. We have some clients who already have it. They stay on it for a little while, and then most of them end up moving off when we provide them a better solution that isn't as license heavy cost-wise."

"For what you get, it is very compelling. You've got to look at the total cost of ownership of this type of piece of software in terms of being able to utilize it as a cloud service. I don't have to run everything on-premises. When you look at the total cost of just being able to use it and then being able to point it to any public or private cloud, it is very compelling. You have one less thing to manage."

"VMware Horizon Cloud is a low-cost solution. The model that they have is consumption-based. However, some features are expensive."

"I rate VMware Horizon Cloud pricing a ten out of ten."

"There is a license required for the use of this solution and there are different tier levels available."

"It is very affordable."

"Pricing is a little steep."

"Parallels is a cost effective alternative to Citrix."

"It is not that high. It is in the medium range. Of course, it could be lower, but the price is not the issue."

"I recommend testing Parallels and comparing it to your needs. Compare the prices against what you are able to do with the product and its alternatives. Parallels is not a cheap product."

"Comparable performance to Citrix for our use case at a significantly lower cost. Pricing is clear and there are relatively few options or other pricing considerations when compared to similar products. Just be sure not to forget the Microsoft licensing that goes along with a Parallels deployment."

"The pricing has always been competitive, and the new SPLA licensing model works great for our business and clients."

"Just compare it to Citrix and you will see the value in it."

More Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Government

Financial Services Firm

Healthcare Company

Computer Software Company

15%

Government

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about VMware Horizon Cloud?

The tool remains pretty stable.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware Horizon Cloud?

Initially, the product is cheap, but it starts to get expensive when users try to scale out. Though I find Citrix to be an expensive product compared to VMware Horizon Cloud because of all the feat...

See all answers

What needs improvement with VMware Horizon Cloud?

VMware Horizon Cloud's VDI stacks are being sold off. Considering VMware Horizon Cloud's VDI stacks complexity, even before its sell out, I feel Citrix can do a couple of pieces of infrastructure t...

See all answers

What do you like most about Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)?

The solution is powerful, and it has good speed and performance.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)?

The product is not expensive. I rate its pricing a three or four out of ten.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)?

Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) is an expensive solution, and its pricing could be improved.

See all answers

Comparisons

Microsoft Remote Desktop Services vs Horizon Cloud Service

Compared 26% of the time

Horizon 8 vs Horizon Cloud Service

Compared 21% of the time

Amazon Appstream vs Horizon Cloud Service

Compared 17% of the time

Oracle VDI vs Horizon Cloud Service

Compared 8% of the time

Citrix Workspace vs Horizon Cloud Service

Compared 8% of the time

More Horizon Cloud Service Competitors

Citrix Workspace vs Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)

Compared 26% of the time

Microsoft Remote Desktop Services vs Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)

Compared 24% of the time

Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)

Compared 17% of the time

Horizon 8 vs Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)

Compared 7% of the time

Parallels Desktop vs Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)

Compared 7% of the time

More Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Horizon Cloud Service

September 2024

Download Horizon Cloud Service product report

Buyer's Guide

Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)

August 2024

Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) report

Download Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) product report

Also Known As

VMware Horizon Cloud, VMware Horizon DaaS

Parallels RAS

Learn More

Omnissa

Video not available

Parallels

Overview

The VMware Horizon Cloud Service delivers feature-rich virtual desktops and applications using a purpose-built cloud platform that is scalable across multiple deployment options, including fully managed infrastructure from VMware, public cloud infrastructure from Microsoft Azure, or on-premises hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI). The service supports a cloud-scale architecture that makes it easy to deliver virtualized Windows desktops and applications to any device, anytime. And, with a flexible subscription model and turnkey solutions, organizations can easily get up and running and scale quickly.

ApplicationServer delivers applications, data and virtual desktops from a central location, providing continuous availability, resource-based load-balancing and complete network transparency.

Sample Customers

Marriott, Sprint

Arsari Group _ PT Netmarks Indonesia, Izhevsk Elektromekhanicheskiy Zavod (IEMZ) _ Kupol, Abilene Diagnostic Clinic, Fylde Borough Council, YARSTROYREZE LLC, VSK Insurance House, Melenkovsky District of Vladimirskaya Oblast, Sofrigam SA, Antenna International, KingsGate Community Church, Norwegian American Hospital, Island Hotels Group, Medway Council, Medway Council, Voices of September 11th, MacDonald Training Center, Kansas Childrenês Service League, Scope,Next Generation Clubs, WTC Communications, Opera Australia, HSE Integrated, Danier, Bridgwater College, Kern County Mental Health, Tony Tiendas, Spears Manufacturing, Managed Insurance Services Inc., Intuitive Medical Software, M.J. Soffe, Mazda Motors, Israel Military Industries (IMI), Telfair, Upic Solutions, Teleflora, Fisher & Company

Buyer's Guide

Horizon Cloud Service vs. Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)

September 2024

Free Report: Horizon Cloud Service vs. Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)

Find out what your peers are saying about Horizon Cloud Service vs. Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) and other solutions. Updated: September 2024.

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