Top 5 Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Solutions in 2022

PeerSpot takes a user-centered approach to creating product comparisons that help IT decision-makers arrive at informed decisions. Instead of relying on the word of the companies that create the technological solutions, they go to the users themselves. Real users offer true feedback without any of the partiality that the solutions’ vendors may have. This is a place where peers in the tech world unite to help each other choose the products that are most appropriate for their needs.

PeerSpot’s users have made it easy for decision-makers to choose the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Solutions that most fit their business objectives. They have created a ranked list of solutions according to how potentially valuable they feel these products may be to other users. What follows are the top five ranked products for 2022:

1. Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops

Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops has been PeerSpot’s top ranked Virtual Desktop Infrastructure solution since the beginning of 2021. Additionally, PeerSpot users rank it number one in three other categories. They feel that it is the best overall application virtualization tool, remote access tool, and desktop as a service vendor. There are a number of benefits that this solution offers users. It can enable administrators to protect system resources through granular controls. This allows users to secure themselves from malicious actors by assigning levels of resource access to specific parties. Additionally, it provides users with advanced options that enable them to monitor their systems. It also gives users the ability to remotely access apps coded using both Windows and Linux that are stored on their network. They can also remotely access computers that are secured in another location.

Here is what is being said about Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops by PeerSpot users:

Rod M., the technical team lead at an energy and utilities company, writes, "In terms of scalability, Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops have a lot of technologies baked in there that allow an organization to scale up or down, as required. Further, leveraging Azure for scalability has added value to our organization. For example, pre-COVID-19, we had very few resources in Azure. We had some Virtual Desktops and no application servers. When COVID-19 came along, we knew people were going to be home. We knew that we had to ramp up very quickly. We fully leveraged MCS to be able to scale. Being able to take a single image and build 400,000 Virtual Desktops, all within minutes, was second to none in terms of any other technology out there that we could have used.”

Jacques B., a senior engineer at a computer software company, writes, “The visibility the solution provides across SaaS, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments, for user and application traffic, is also limited if you do not enable all the services and is based on which services you are utilizing. Citrix provides end-to-end visibility based on their services you are utilizing.”

2. Microsoft Remote Desktop Services

For more than a year PeerSpot users have ranked Microsoft Remote Desktop Services number two overall among all of the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure solutions that they rated. They also rate it as the number two overall remote access tool. This solution offers users several distinct advantages. It enables users to remotely access vital programs that are contained in different frameworks. Session-based desktops and virtual machine-based desktops can both be accessed either via the internet or from within a company’s network. It can also allow users to create secure connections to devices regardless of whether they are being managed by administrators. Any device can now be made secure enough for you to go about your business safely.

Here is what is being said about Microsoft Remote Desktop Services by PeerSpot users:

A Microsoft UC Solutions Manager at a tech services company writes, “The most valuable feature is the remote application access. You can update applications and assign them to different groups of users. For example, one user might require Microsoft Visio, whereas another user does not require it. Access can be granted by segmenting users into different groups.”

They also note, “There are problems with using Microsoft Teams within a virtual desktop on a mobile device. Specifically, if you are using Teams and conferencing, then there is no microphone capability. To be clear, if you install Teams directly on your mobile device then it will work. However, if you use it as an application within the virtual desktop that is running on the mobile device, it does not work. This is something that needs to be fixed.”

3. VMware Horizon View

For more than a year, PeerSpot users have ranked VMware Horizon View as the number three Virtual Desktop Infrastructure solution. This solution offers users several distinct advantages. It is highly flexible. Users can access their systems remotely without sacrificing their network’s security. IT administrators retain full control of the system’s security while enabling users to do their work from anywhere in the world. It also gives users both cloud computing capabilities and a high level of system management.

Here is what is being said about VMware Horizon View by PeerSpot users:

David G., a Systems Engineer at a tech services company, writes, “This product is great for desktop management, particularly when it comes to all the upgrades. It enables you to update one golden image, save it and basically deploy it. Any user logging in will get that new DDI and you've only had to upgrade one machine. The other advantage is that because you're pushing out this image, it's a clone of the original so everybody has the same experience.”

Abbasi P., the Vice President of Derivatives Operations and Information Technology at a financial services firm, writes, “The solution could be more secure. Horizon is a recent addition in the sense that, due to COVID, we're working from home and those off-network devices also have to be secured. It's not only on-premises and the cloud infrastructure anymore. Your connectivity from the endpoints from the employees who are logged in from home also has to be brought in.”

4. VMware Horizon 7

VMware Horizon 7 has been ranked by PeerSpot users as the number 4 Virtual Desktop Infrastructure solution. This tool gives users a centralized platform from which they can monitor and manage published applications. It provides them with all of the tools necessary to quickly and efficiently handle many different types of applications.

The network administrator at a government agency writes, "One of the most interesting features in the enterprise version is the ability to do some support. There is a feature for remote control and debugging, which is something we didn't have before having Horizon 7 and the enterprise version."

Cristiano C., a systems engineer for a university, writes, “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.”

5. VMware Workstation

VMware Workstation has been ranked by PeerSpot users as number 5. This tool offers users the ability to develop, test, and run multiple applications at the same time. Users can run several operating systems at once without experiencing any loss of functionality.

The Chief Technical Officer of a construction company writes., "We are able to simultaneously run multiple operating systems in a single machine and have virtually no performance hit."

An Engineering Applications Analyst at a manufacturing company writes, "Lacks the ability to clone onto another system rather than starting from scratch."