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

One of the things we wanted to achieve was the ability to work from home and have the same environment. We use the application virtualization capabilities, the on-premise desktop virtualization, and the cloud-hosted desktop virtualization.

A lot of people are going to a hybrid working model and they can work in the same environment, whether they're at home or in the office. They're able to work efficiently.

Security is also of critical importance. It provides a very secure environment with several security features that can be implemented. We are an IT infrastructure company, so infrastructure passwords are very critical. It provides us with a tremendous amount of security, which is very valuable.

Citrix also simplifies adherence to industry regulations for data protection and for compliance.

The most valuable feature is the desktop experience so that users don't see much difference between the remote desktop and the local desktop. Their files remain the same, so it's much easier to work from different locations. We use it for laptops and desktops only, but I believe it has the flexibility to be used on any device. If the desktop experience is good, the employees are happier. They are able to do what they want to do.

It also provides virtualization for high-end graphics so that they can be displayed. AutoCAD can be done on Citrix. The graphics are very good.

We also like the security features it provides.

It would help if it were a little simpler. It's a bit complicated and we have hired Citrix administrators. But it's a good solution.

We have been using Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops for about two and half months.

We have about 400 people and we have implemented it for about 130 people. We're implementing it for the other employees as well.

We went with Citrix because of its security and the user experience.

Deployment and management are not easy, but because we are an IT company, we are able to do it. We provide a virtual desktop service to our customers, so Citrix fits into our business model. You have to set up all the Citrix components, drivers, and Netscaler. You need to deploy three to four servers for a basic Citrix setup, as well as servers that give the remote desktop to your users.

If you have Citrix experts, deployment should happen in a month's time. But if you don't have experts, it can take more time. Now that we have the expertise in managing Citrix on the cloud, the time it takes to get our customers on board and into the service that we are providing to them with Citrix, depends on them. We can get them on board very quickly because now we know what to do and how to do it.

We haven't embraced thin clients or low-cost device computing yet. We were of two minds about whether to take full laptops or thin clients for access while working from home. We are experimenting with thin clients now, and the experience has been positive, but until now we have used only laptops. We are going to further test thin clients and then we'll be giving them to some of our users.

• Protects web infrastructure
• Ensures business continuity and IT disaster recovery
• Consolidated multiple remote access solutions
• Lowers WAN costs

A cements customer uses the application for truck shipments from the United States by connecting to the infrastructure in Colombia, as the solution can only be found in that country.

We are already evaluating the latest version, 7.9, because Citrix continually updates everything.

For optimal and stable infrastructure products, the people who develop software in-house should provide IT architecture updates.

All implementations of Citrix have problems with stability; that is normal. This type of infrastructure should be integrated with the many software and hardware components that are currently implemented in the company.

Customer Service:

Very good customer service.

Technical Support:

Technical support is improving.

I have worked with VMWare as a hypervisor as the suite is very wide. However, Citrix is less expensive.

All Citrix configurations have a certain amount of complexity.

In-house application deployments are not always easy to integrate, because it is not always compatible with client-server environments.

For a project to be effective, you must coordinate with Citrix to divide the licenses into stages and not affect costs.

It is important to do a good sizing of users. In addition to Citrix' own online calculator for sizing users (https://www.citrix.com/products/xenapp-xendesktop/savings-calculator.html), I can help with dimensioning the server infrastructure for different virtualisation projects.

The following are the product's most valuable features to me:

• Quick provisioning: It is easy to make changes and see them reflected throughout the organization.
• Document control: Enabling users to copy a company document to their hard drive or flash memory really protects our IP.

It has accelerated the process in which a new employee is given the necessary tools. We have contacted people in different countries that no longer have to wait for the central team to grant access to their PC in our environment. Assigning them a VDI user allows them to start right away.

In general, I'm really pleased with Citrix. What sometimes is an issue is when an application is not compatible with the server's OS, but that is out of Citrix´s hands.

I have used this solution for one year.

I have not encountered any issues with scalability. It actually is a strong point in its favor.

I rate technical support 10/10. They are really interested in understanding your architecture and providing solutions.

Citrix Mexico helped us understand some issues, but mostly it was developed in-house.

The ROI in our case is really difficult to quantify. I focus on the non-measurable advantages: IP protection, access from any device, and storage of data in high-availability data centers, no data loss.

Unlike MS, many vendors haven’t considered VDI licensing, so this might represent an opportunity to save on licensing costs, because you're actually installing it on only one device (the application server).

Redundancy is a must. After that, ensuring that all your users will access it through a high-speed internet connection will be a key success factor.

Before we were on a VPN model for remote usage into our data center, the performance issues with large datasets moving cross country really proved to be an issue with remote users. This product really moved the needle in solving for this.

Not every application is certified with this solution.

You can try XenDesktop as alternative to VMware view. The Express edition allow you to use up to 10 machines / users. I use XenDesktop as a Proof of Concept when our lab plans to move to Virtual Desktop. I try to connect from a client on windows machine connecting to remote windows desktop, playing movie is smooth, connecting USB device on your client will show on your virtual desktop.

Steep learning curve. You need to configure Active Directory and Desktop Delivery Console (DDC). You will also have to configure XenServer(s) as your VM host. You cannot install XenDesktop on your server; you need a dedicated machine to install XenServer. Connecting from a desktop is easy you just have to install a client. But if you want to be able to boot directly from client to your Virtual Desktop, you need to spend more time to configure it.

Good alternative to VMware view, free for 10 users, you can use it as test pilot

We primarily use it for user data access and for a virtual desk top.

It allows our users to connect back up to a central location for our data center to do away with individual desktop controls.

The monitoring and management is in need of improvement.

One to three years.

The stability has improved through the course of the last three upgrades.

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. 

It was relatively straightforward. The deployment actually took three months. We used an integrator, and it was a bit challenging because our environment was a little bit more unique than the integrator was used to. 

I think it is a little high priced.

We use this for secondary use coming from our side.

It's most valuable feature is its easy setup.

For us, pricing is the most important feature to improve.

I have been using XenApp for a couple of years.

It is a stable product.

In terms of scalability - it is easy to scale it.

We have about 200 people using this solution.

The initial setup was straightforward. It took about two or three days from the start.

We deployed it with the use of one consultant.

I would recommend this solution to other people. On a scale of 1 - 10 I would rate it an 8.

On-premises