Citrix DaaS vs. Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V)

DaaS is ideal in large-scale environments that require centralized, secure management. Remote workforces at large organizations. Highly regulated industries like finance. It allows for easy security and monitoring over one aspect instead of multiple remote machines. DaaS is not ideal for organizations with small budgets due to the pricing and organizations with lousy network connectivity. This would make the end-user experience terrible.

Incentivized

For large organizations that need software to update at the control of the IT department APP-V is a godsend to manage deployment based on AD group assignment, maintaining software versioning for specific services or upgrades, and areas where you need to make software available without having to install the entire package - the streaming portion of APP-v publishes a shortcut on the desktop, then streams the install on demand

Incentivized

• All Management resources can now be installed on a single server. Reducing the overhead required to maintain a citrix environment.
• Granularity of the Delivery groups allow you to define allowing a remote user to connect to a random XenDesktop VM or individually assigning VMs to users.
• HDX RealTime Optimization Pack has stabilized some of the issues of utilizing all of the features of Skype for Business in a ZenDesktop VM.

Incentivized

• It's incredibly customizable, integrates with Microsoft 365, and allows you to screen share with colleagues without even phoning them!
• Call quality is excellent, and the user interface is basic and intuitive enough that there is no need for any training.
• The user interface (UI) is quite professional, and it makes it simple to identify and operate the many features. And we record all of our meetings using Microsoft Teams as well.
• In my opinion, it's an excellent file-sharing application, and the ability to change the theme to dark is a personal preference.

Incentivized

• A single console to manage the environment.
• The configuration is a bit complicated and we have hired Citrix administrators. But it's a good solution.
• User profiles need improvement. They could use more stability and more functionality as well as user profile redirection.

Incentivized

• Complicated software installs of interacting software needs significant care
• Updating software requires a pristine virtual machine to update a packager
• No longer being updated so new software practices aren't correctly captured.

Incentivized

I would of given it a 10 but Citrix tech support is lacking.

Incentivized

From an end-user perspective, Citrix DaaS is ideal. No matter the device that the user connects with, the end user's experience is always the same. Desktop icons are there, along with the files. As a big name, Citrix allows for SAML authentication or a local account. End users do not need a beefy laptop to have a good experience in DaaS.

Incentivized

Next to zero downtime

Incentivized

The performance of XenDesktop is the best in the industry because of the fine-tuned protocol and years of updating. Overall, I don't think there is a better performer on the market. The question is if the added complexity of running XenDesktop is really worth the performance gain. While the latest version of XenDesktop is the easiest to deploy so far, it is still more challenging than the competitors.

Incentivized

The support is great when you get an engineer that knows what they are doing but getting that individual sometimes takes a while. Overall, they are professional and polite and competent in their knowledge. Sometimes the cases are open for an extended period of time which becomes very frustrating when dealing with critical issues.

Incentivized

APP-V is no longer a supported technology and is on the way out, only on legacy support at this time. The changes in security emphasis in windows, as well as the changes in software development have meant that APP-V is no longer able to correctly package software. It has been superseded by the MSIX format and distribution via the Microsoft Store for Business.

Incentivized

I was self trained

Incentivized

Online training isn't bad just an over view more then anything else.

Incentivized

Take it slow and read the directions each step of the way. If you are not familiar with Citrix products, use a reseller or other experienced engineer to assist you in the setup of your environment

Incentivized

Citrix Virtual Apps & Desktops is platform agnostic (we can use any underlying hypervisor technology) and really flexible for any use case. Using a golden image and provisioning it (with Machine Creation Services or Provisioning Services) is powerful and really straightforward, compared to the complexity in Microsoft RDS of maintaining a coherent farm, or the limitation of VMware Horizon to run on VMware Products.

Incentivized

Microsoft Teams is included in our current Office 365 product set; therefore, there is no additional fee to use the application. It saves our company money by not having to pay for Slack or another internal chat service. For us, Microsoft Teams has a better user experience and product features. Teams' usability is higher than Slack's since it has access to OneDrive, email, and OneNote applications. Screen sharing, chat, and file-sharing operate smoothly, and the performance appears great.

Incentivized

Easily scalable

Incentivized

• Being able to easily add new use cases with minimal "re-work" to existing workspace delivered by the solution has been a great ROI value.
• The Security features that are built-in have made the solution a go-to for any remote access or vendor access requests the business has needed to continue projects and expedite digital initiatives.
• While the overall environment stability is excellent there is an increase in support team and end user training required which can "steal" time from admin and engineers.

Incentivized

• Some applications may be slower
• Interaction between several applications can be better

Incentivized