Though VMware is supposed to be software as a service, the actual infrastructure sits in the client's data center rather than VMware Cloud. It doesn't really make sense. We should have the front-end services sitting in Azure and not on-premise or the private cloud. The vendor must move the infrastructure into the public cloud.
System Administrator at a media company with 201-500 employees
Real User
Top 10
Feb 6, 2024
The primary concern lies with licensing. There’s confusion regarding licensing terms following the new management’s takeover. Consequently, our resellers and distributors are confused. The SKUs have been altered. We had planned to include budgetary prices in our upcoming budget, which ends in June. However, during the budget repricing process, the resellers faced difficulties due to their inability to obtain responses regarding the budgetary code. The SKUs have changed due to the transition from one principal to another.
IT Specialist at INTERNATIONAL RICE RESEARCH INSTITUTE, INC.
Real User
Top 5
Jan 19, 2024
I don't know what needs improvement in the product since it is a standard system, and that is okay. The product fails to support Mac or Apple workstations. The product should be able to support Mac or Apple workstations, like how it supports Windows and Linux. The UI of the solution needs improvement, and there is a need to upgrade some of the systems in our environment to ensure better IOPS on our systems. Presently, the IOPS rate is lower than usual for our systems, which might be because of the hardware we use in our company.
Addressing the technical aspect, one potential area for improvement lies in the lock-on times. With the introduction of instant clone technology, which is a cost-effective and resource-efficient solution, there has been a slight increase in log-on times, now reaching up to fifteen seconds. While this shift prioritizes security, it's worth considering if there are any adjustments that could further optimize performance without compromising security. A significant concern in Belgium, particularly with its stringent privacy regulations, is the adherence to the global standards for data protection. It would be beneficial if VMware invested in developing a robust reporting engine, providing insights into user activities, locations, and more. This becomes crucial, especially in the context of remote work, where customers often seek detailed reporting to understand how and where their teams are working.
There is room for improvement in the integration with other parts of the suite. For example, you currently need separate windows to manage app volumes and the dynamic environment manager (DEM). So, it's important to integrate all these infrastructure elements into one window.
Speaking from my perspective, I think they could work on reducing the cost. There is room for improvement in the pricing model. I would like to see improvement in the license cost and the availability of perpetual licensing for Horizon. The solution offers a Term and subscription license.
A simple way to load-balance components has been missing for several years. Because VMware Horizon lacks a load-balancing component, you must always use a third-party solution. VMware recommends that since you have VMware vSphere underneath, you run NSX to get your load balancer from there. However, not every customer can afford to run NSX. A simple way, particularly for smaller environments, would be to have load balance connection servers and unified access gateways would be extremely beneficial. The backlog of the development team is extensive. We know the load-balancing is in the roadmap somewhere but it's unknown when it will get addressed. I would like to see simple load-balancing for smaller environments that lack large solutions like F5, or NSX; it should be redundant or unavailable but in a simple way. Perhaps limited to only two components; if more are required, a paid load balancing solution can be used. Load balancing for simple environments, or simple redundancy, is sorely lacking.
VMware Horizon 7 could improve by supporting the active-active data center. At this time we are only deploying it in the production environment. Our customer is considered to deploy the VMware Horizon 7 to a secondary data center, but we found out that it cannot fully support the user in the deployment in the active-active data center. Any improvement on this would be beneficial.
In the next release, I would like to have more support when optimizing the master templates for PDI. There are tools that are available to be used but they are not supported at the moment and are more, "use at your own risk."
VMware Horizon could be improved with more integration. It is also very costly for Enterprise Plus, which is a drawback. The renewal costs for the license are very, very high.
IT Systems Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Real User
Top 20
Jul 4, 2021
There are some issues with RAM in the system. There are also some issues with Windows 10, which is running the platform. Windows 10 has several applications that are available from the Windows Store, and these applications may not work correctly. We would like to see some of the features that are offered in the highest edition also included in the Standard Edition. The higher edition has some tools or functions that are called Horizon Smart Policy. It is a very good function that should be included with the standard edition.
Systems Engineer at a university with 201-500 employees
Real User
Jun 14, 2021
The multimedia playback is not very good and they could improve it by increasing the quality. In an upcoming release, there could be more integration support for Linux and better Linux user profile management. This is a feature we use in the universities but most other normal businesses will not be interested in Linux.
It is a little bit complex. You need a little bit of experience with ESXi installation and VMware before using this solution. You cannot directly jump to this solution. It also requires training. After you get trained, you can do anything with Horizon 7. In terms of features, it has been sufficient for my needs, but it can always have more features. They can maybe merge the servers. They can give the Horizon 7 server in one package with ESXi.
Datacenter Specialist at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Nov 25, 2020
The remote connection, bandwidth usage, and error connection can be improved. Working with the load balancer sites should also be improved. For example, with Horizon, we can use two clients with a one megabit connection, but with Citrix, we can use four or five clients with the same bandwidth through ICA protocol. VMware must improve remote connection, connection stability, and load balancing.
Manager at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Nov 24, 2020
I would love to see so they can actually allow the use of Linux, from a hosting environment as well as from a VDI client environment. If I can actually host Linux instances as VDIs with the same features as what I get on Windows and have all the key components, like the Composer, database, or the connection services, that would be ideal. Often, ransomware and attacks usually target Windows, therefore, if I'm on Linux, at least I'll have some level of comfort or a buffer against danger.
Manager - Technical Services at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
Nov 10, 2020
It's difficult to recall any areas that need improvement. They are growing now, in particular with this VDI domain. VMware is now introducing new products and features, and they are onboarding new customers. There are many competitors in the market. All of the Media in Apple products delivery is seamless. They need to advertise the product well and focus on their core features. They need to market accordingly and they will have a good future and a good experience for the end customers. I would like to see seamless integration with the cloud because right now, the dependency is on the cloud providers. I would like to see them have their own cloud environment on any public cloud. Right now, it is split between the public cloud and the VMware cloud environment. If they could deliver a solution that integrated all of the components then it would be great. They would not have to manage two different consoles but rather, a single implementation and a single console.
VMware Horizon is a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) solution designed to allow users to create secure and scalable virtual desktops and applications that work on any device, from any location. These virtualization capabilities help simplify and speed up application delivery and greatly reduce enterprise costs.
VMware Horizon’s centralized management console provides IT admins with comprehensive control over all of their virtual desktops and applications, making them simple to manage and...
The solution should provide easy configuration.
Though VMware is supposed to be software as a service, the actual infrastructure sits in the client's data center rather than VMware Cloud. It doesn't really make sense. We should have the front-end services sitting in Azure and not on-premise or the private cloud. The vendor must move the infrastructure into the public cloud.
We should be able to use the tool on different platforms.
The product integration on local client machines running Linux needs improvement.
The primary concern lies with licensing. There’s confusion regarding licensing terms following the new management’s takeover. Consequently, our resellers and distributors are confused. The SKUs have been altered. We had planned to include budgetary prices in our upcoming budget, which ends in June. However, during the budget repricing process, the resellers faced difficulties due to their inability to obtain responses regarding the budgetary code. The SKUs have changed due to the transition from one principal to another.
I don't know what needs improvement in the product since it is a standard system, and that is okay. The product fails to support Mac or Apple workstations. The product should be able to support Mac or Apple workstations, like how it supports Windows and Linux. The UI of the solution needs improvement, and there is a need to upgrade some of the systems in our environment to ensure better IOPS on our systems. Presently, the IOPS rate is lower than usual for our systems, which might be because of the hardware we use in our company.
VMware Horizon needs to integrate with Azure, Teams, and Zoom.
Addressing the technical aspect, one potential area for improvement lies in the lock-on times. With the introduction of instant clone technology, which is a cost-effective and resource-efficient solution, there has been a slight increase in log-on times, now reaching up to fifteen seconds. While this shift prioritizes security, it's worth considering if there are any adjustments that could further optimize performance without compromising security. A significant concern in Belgium, particularly with its stringent privacy regulations, is the adherence to the global standards for data protection. It would be beneficial if VMware invested in developing a robust reporting engine, providing insights into user activities, locations, and more. This becomes crucial, especially in the context of remote work, where customers often seek detailed reporting to understand how and where their teams are working.
VMware Horizon's initial setup is fairly complex.
There is room for improvement in the integration with other parts of the suite. For example, you currently need separate windows to manage app volumes and the dynamic environment manager (DEM). So, it's important to integrate all these infrastructure elements into one window.
The solution has a lot of issues and bugs.
The support team's technicalities and the pricing of the solution need improvement.
Speaking from my perspective, I think they could work on reducing the cost. There is room for improvement in the pricing model. I would like to see improvement in the license cost and the availability of perpetual licensing for Horizon. The solution offers a Term and subscription license.
A simple way to load-balance components has been missing for several years. Because VMware Horizon lacks a load-balancing component, you must always use a third-party solution. VMware recommends that since you have VMware vSphere underneath, you run NSX to get your load balancer from there. However, not every customer can afford to run NSX. A simple way, particularly for smaller environments, would be to have load balance connection servers and unified access gateways would be extremely beneficial. The backlog of the development team is extensive. We know the load-balancing is in the roadmap somewhere but it's unknown when it will get addressed. I would like to see simple load-balancing for smaller environments that lack large solutions like F5, or NSX; it should be redundant or unavailable but in a simple way. Perhaps limited to only two components; if more are required, a paid load balancing solution can be used. Load balancing for simple environments, or simple redundancy, is sorely lacking.
VMware Horizon 7 could improve by supporting the active-active data center. At this time we are only deploying it in the production environment. Our customer is considered to deploy the VMware Horizon 7 to a secondary data center, but we found out that it cannot fully support the user in the deployment in the active-active data center. Any improvement on this would be beneficial.
Horizon 7's performance could be improved. For instance, when I launch the VDI, it takes a very long time to boot.
Areas for improvement in VMware Horizon 7 would be the logging and the troubleshooting, e.g. they could be made clearer.
In the next release, I would like to have more support when optimizing the master templates for PDI. There are tools that are available to be used but they are not supported at the moment and are more, "use at your own risk."
We are not satisfied with the storage vendor. I would like to see the VDP or other features for backing up the VMs.
VMware Horizon could be improved with more integration. It is also very costly for Enterprise Plus, which is a drawback. The renewal costs for the license are very, very high.
The remote application features have some room for improvement.
There are some issues with RAM in the system. There are also some issues with Windows 10, which is running the platform. Windows 10 has several applications that are available from the Windows Store, and these applications may not work correctly. We would like to see some of the features that are offered in the highest edition also included in the Standard Edition. The higher edition has some tools or functions that are called Horizon Smart Policy. It is a very good function that should be included with the standard edition.
The multimedia playback is not very good and they could improve it by increasing the quality. In an upcoming release, there could be more integration support for Linux and better Linux user profile management. This is a feature we use in the universities but most other normal businesses will not be interested in Linux.
It is a little bit complex. You need a little bit of experience with ESXi installation and VMware before using this solution. You cannot directly jump to this solution. It also requires training. After you get trained, you can do anything with Horizon 7. In terms of features, it has been sufficient for my needs, but it can always have more features. They can maybe merge the servers. They can give the Horizon 7 server in one package with ESXi.
The remote connection, bandwidth usage, and error connection can be improved. Working with the load balancer sites should also be improved. For example, with Horizon, we can use two clients with a one megabit connection, but with Citrix, we can use four or five clients with the same bandwidth through ICA protocol. VMware must improve remote connection, connection stability, and load balancing.
I would love to see so they can actually allow the use of Linux, from a hosting environment as well as from a VDI client environment. If I can actually host Linux instances as VDIs with the same features as what I get on Windows and have all the key components, like the Composer, database, or the connection services, that would be ideal. Often, ransomware and attacks usually target Windows, therefore, if I'm on Linux, at least I'll have some level of comfort or a buffer against danger.
It's difficult to recall any areas that need improvement. They are growing now, in particular with this VDI domain. VMware is now introducing new products and features, and they are onboarding new customers. There are many competitors in the market. All of the Media in Apple products delivery is seamless. They need to advertise the product well and focus on their core features. They need to market accordingly and they will have a good future and a good experience for the end customers. I would like to see seamless integration with the cloud because right now, the dependency is on the cloud providers. I would like to see them have their own cloud environment on any public cloud. Right now, it is split between the public cloud and the VMware cloud environment. If they could deliver a solution that integrated all of the components then it would be great. They would not have to manage two different consoles but rather, a single implementation and a single console.