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

I use it to deliver applications and desktops over the Internet and secure data.

The main benefits include:

• enhanced security,
• return on investment since we're only delivering applications,
• flexible work hours for remote employees, and
• ensuring data and applications are always accessible and
• availability of the systems.

The challenge is that people don't want to take their data or applications from the data center. When I need to deliver an application or data securely to a laptop connected to the Internet, or to someone working from home who may not be able to have the application installed due to GDPR or compliance issues, or because the laptop or desktop lacks the power to run those applications or process that data, in this situation, Citrix DaaS allows for secure delivery over the Internet without exposing it to the rest of the world, keeping it within the data center.

To integrate Citrix DaaS with other infrastructure components, such as Active Directory, which is an integral part, and other applications like SaaS or the printing system, these need to be locally installed or packaged and delivered to our Citrix infrastructure. 

The integration depends on various factors:

• type of applications, 
• connectivity, and 
• actual business use case driving that integration. 

So, it's quite subjective, but it largely depends on these factors.

There are many features that I like, but the stability over the Internet is exceptional. Even if there's bandwidth fluctuation or network jitter, it performs well, offering a seamless experience to end-users without noticeable disruptions.

From the productivity perspective, the seamless end-user experience is key for productivity and user experience. This is managed through the HDX technology, which ensures a smooth and efficient workflow.

The experience with HDX technology has been amazing, especially for organizations dealing with videos, AutoCAD, and 3D image rendering. 

Unlike competitors like VMware or AVD, Citrix DaaS handles these tasks smoothly without the choppiness, providing excellent video playback and stable collaboration tool calls, like Teams, Zoom, or Webex, by efficiently compressing voice data to utilize minimum bandwidth without distorting the original quality.

I would like to see simplification in the management of the on-prem infrastructure component of Citrix DaaS, particularly in the studio tool used to manage the DaaS infrastructure. 

This simplification should make it easier for admins to understand and execute their tasks, possibly through an overview of operations and the availability of helpful articles or resources. 

Making the studio tool more user-friendly would not only ease the administration of the Citrix infrastructure but also ensure it is configured correctly.

I'm also interested in a feature that would allow end users to hide their screens. For instance, when launching a Citrix VDI on my laptop, as soon as I start sharing my screen, the VDI should lock out, preventing the person I'm sharing my screen with from seeing anything on that VDI. 

However, there are scenarios where an end user might want to share the VDI screen as well. Currently, whether this is possible or not is not controlled by the end user. Introducing a feature that provides end users the ability to share their screen along with the VDI would be beneficial.

I've been working with it for nearly 12 years.

In my 12 years of customer-facing experience and managing over 80+ accounts, the environment, once stabilized, remains stable for a good amount of time unless it's tampered with.

I manage around 80+ accounts for Citrix virtualization across the entire virtualization stack, involving approximately 1.4 million users.

Both scalability and reliability are really good. If supporting components like Active Directory, networking, and storage are functioning well, then Citrix DaaS proves to be highly reliable. 

Scalability is easy too, thanks to Citrix's image management system, which allows for quick expansion, scaling thousands of machines in hours, a feat not possible with physical infrastructure.

The technical support is neutral, indicating there is room for improvement.

Neutral

I also handle accounts for VMware Horizon, Azure Virtual Desktop, and AWS Workspace, among others.

The main challenge with Citrix is its pricing. However, it offers a robust feature list, great stability, and the best audio and video experience over the Internet.

I would classify the initial setup as medium complex. It's not extremely complex, but due to the involvement of various technologies and the need for advanced configuration—such as coordination with the Active Directory team, understanding storage, and networking—it's not straightforward either. 

For someone familiar with these technologies, the setup process might be seen as straightforward.

I work with both on-premises and cloud versions.

The implementation strategy is always very simple, though people often confuse deployment strategy with mere installation. 

Before deployment, it's crucial to understand the business use case for deploying Citrix infrastructure. This involves assessing what type of users are involved, whether they're suitable for VDI, and if there are any within this user base who cannot use VDI and instead need physical laptops. 

This assessment covers their profile needs, required bandwidth, and resources. After this assessment, a testing phase, followed by a pilot, should be undertaken before a full rollout. This thorough approach is essential; without it, many customers face issues.

Therefore, the timeframe truly depends on several factors, such as the type of applications, the number of servers, and the number of users involved. So, it really varies.

On average, it might take around eight weeks. A lot of resources would not be needed if you have the right resource or a team with the right skill set. They would be able to deploy and scale it very easily.

Citrix itself doesn't require much maintenance, but it's important to have people with the necessary skill set to identify issues related to other components like networking or storage.

Implementing Citrix DaaS with thin clients, rather than physical laptops, has resulted in savings of 27% to 29%. 

Additionally, moving 1,000 users from physical laptops to thin clients and VDI solutions can save around 40,000 kilograms of carbon emissions, benefiting both the environment and the company's economy, provided thin clients are used.

Anyone looking to deploy Citrix DaaS needs to first understand their business use case and determine why they want to offer Citrix DaaS as either an application or desktop version to their end users. 

It's crucial to assess whether their end users truly need this solution. If so, they should understand the profile requirements and how applications will behave when virtualized or moved to the cloud. 

After this assessment, proceed with testing, then a pilot, and finally, roll out to production.

Overall, I would rate the solution an eight out of ten. 

Our use case for Citrix Workspace in our environment is optimizing connectivity for over 5,000 shopping centers. It helps us provide secure access to our data center.

The product's technical support services need improvement. They have different priority support engineers, including schedule support and case support. The schedule support engineer could be more productive. Along with that, the case support engineer could study the issues in depth and give a prompt response. Instead, they give basic suggestions and respond very slowly.

Integrating a 64-bit network directly into the environment could eliminate the necessity for third-party solutions. This enhancement would help users who need a workspace to install components. Horizon provides functionality where users can seamlessly connect via the website without requiring a dedicated client installation. 

Our company has been using Citrix Workspace for over ten years. I started using it two years ago.

The platform is stable. However, we sometimes encounter glitches during upgradation.

We have more than 10,000 Citrix Workspace users working in our environment and have conducted 17,000 sessions.

I have used VMware Horizon before. I recommend a preference for Workspace for virtual app delivery. However, regarding Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and desktops, Horizon is a much more flexible environment, as users can directly access the website and log in without needing a dedicated workspace.

It is a complicated system to maintain. We have around seven executives in the virtualization team and over 300 executives in the IT department working on the maintenance.

Citrix is expensive. In comparison, VMware is less expensive and gives free licenses as well.

Citrix Workspace substantially enhances team productivity. It allows us to mute users who adhere to a policy of not allowing direct VPN access for security reasons. It is easy to use.

No essential documentation is available for understanding the integration process with existing infrastructure. We have to refer to other portals more than Citrix for the same.

I rate it a nine out of ten.

My company started with Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service, which is presently renamed and referred to as Citrix DaaS. The majority of my company's customers use Citrix DaaS to deploy specific kinds of virtual desktops. Citrix DaaS is also used to deploy virtual machines with GPU or with a certain graphics capacity.

In general, Citrix DaaS has the ability to be very granular in the policies part to achieve the best user experience possible, even in cases where the bandwidth is very poor.

Recently, my company has started to face some troubles with Citrix at an organizational or corporate level, meaning we have no problems with Citrix as a product. After some new company recently acquired Citrix, my company has observed that it has become quite complex for our partners to maintain apps and follow the vision of Citrix, which expects its users to use Citrix products. I have issues with Citrix as a company and not with the products.

I have experience with Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) for twenty years. My company deals with multiple versions of the product. My company has a partnership with Citrix.

For our company's customers, I feel that the product is stable. My company has planned out well enough to do some periodic checkups and update patches for our customers, but not in the time frame that falls in less than six months.

My company deals with around 12 to 15 customers Who need the product in their complex Citrix-based environment.

In our organization, we have very little installation of Citrix products for our administrative purposes, so not more than five people use Citrix DaaS in the company. If you look at the number of our customers using Citrix DaaS, I would say that there are about 2,000 users.

The solution's technical support is not so good. The solution's technical support was great in the past. Considering the past, I rate the technical support an eight out of ten.

Under the present circumstances, I rate the technical support a six to seven out of ten.

Neutral

Half of my company's customers deployed the product on an on-premises model, while the other half deployed it on Citrix Cloud Broker. I feel that the majority of my company's customers have deployed the product on an on-premises model. Citrix Cloud is for the brokering process only.

Speaking if the product is worth the money, I would say that I need to think twice or thrice before investing in it.

In the past, the prices of the product were great. With the acquisition of Citrix by your company, the prices have drastically increased. For my company, it has become a bit of a problem to sell products from Citrix.

We started to use Citrix DaaS in our company, and I had the opportunity to hold on to my experience related to products from Citrix even when I moved from one company to another. I used Citrix in my company, Quanture, to deploy applications from the beginning, but it is mostly used for virtual desktops. My company uses Citrix DaaS for some specific phases in the tile industry, where the work is about manufacturing or producing tiles. In the production area, the tile company I deal with needs to develop a schema and design of the tiles using virtual desktops and virtual workstations with a certain graphic potential functionality. Citrix DaaS was a solution my company could provide to our customers so that they could replace costly workstations with virtual machines.

To those who plan to use the solution, I suggest that they initially take care of the PoC area because it is only useful, and they would appreciate the product if they intend to use it.

Citrix DaaS is a powerful solution. I recommend the product to only those who involved their IT staff during the PoC process, along with some end users, since if you don't involve the right people in the initial phases, there could be future problems with the product.

I rate the product a nine out of ten.

I rate the company named Citrix a six or seven out of ten.

I rate the overall product an eight out of ten.

I use it for VDI.

Citrix Workspace's standout feature is its flexibility, enabling me to access my virtual desktop seamlessly from any location, anytime.

While Citrix Workspace provides remarkable flexibility and remote access, there is room for slight improvement in performance optimization and interface refinement.

I have been using Citrix Workspace for ten years.

Citrix Workspace is highly scalable. You can easily expand the solution by installing additional servers to support the growing number of end-users. I would rate its scalability as a ten out of ten. We have approximately 2,000 end users at our company.

I used VMware Horizon View several years ago but switched to Citrix Workspace because it offered essential features, specifically support for Lexi App migrations, better meeting our requirements at the time.

The deployment time for Citrix is flexible and depends on the complexity of the solution. It can range from one day to several months, influenced by factors such as scaling, global availability, application count, and the time invested in configuring virtual machines. Deploying Citrix is complex because it involves various technical skills, including server administration and network configuration. Maintaining it is straightforward by following the vendor's instructions.

Citrix Workspace doesn't directly save time, but it is invaluable for accessibility. If hardware fails, it is a backup option for staff to access our corporate environment, reducing the impact on business operations. That is where its real value shines.

When considering Citrix Workspace or similar solutions, my advice is to assess your specific needs and preferences. There are various reputable vendors, so compare based on factors like functionality, user experience, and budget. Each organization is unique, so conduct a thorough evaluation before making a decision. Overall, I would rate Citrix Workspace as an eight out of ten.

I am publishing desktops as well as applications.

Citrix offers a range of products that can be used straight out of the box.

When it comes to Citrix, the main advantage is its protocol, which has gone through several name changes including ICA and HDX. It originally started out as Thinwire in 1988, and now they are back to using that name again. 

This protocol allows for faster transmission and beats competitors such as RDP. Citrix has tried various approaches with VMware, but nothing can beat the speed of their protocol, which works very effectively. 

Using the app layering feature can be quite difficult and cumbersome.

I have experience installing Citrix since 1997 when we published desktops using Windframe 1.7. Back then, we had to publish desktops and applications from the terminal server, which is now known as the remote desktop server, but we didn't have a desktop for over a decade. 

We had to figure out all the applications and printing for ourselves. However, everything has become much simpler now, and the issues we used to face have been largely resolved. 

Citrix has proven to be quite stable in my experience. Of course, its stability ultimately depends on the skill and expertise of the people managing it. However, I have personally overseen the implementation of Citrix in very large hospital systems, with over a hundred thousand concurrent connections, specifically for the deployment of medical applications and desktops. Overall, I find Citrix to be very reliable and stable.

I would rate the stability a nine or a ten out of ten.

Provisioning Server is a fantastic option for image management in Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops. It offers excellent performance and reliability. On the other hand, while Machine Creation Services can be scaled easily, they can significantly increase storage consumption. For instance, creating a Windows 10 image in MCS typically requires at least 80 GB of storage, in addition to any separate disks needed.

To store changes made by users in Machine Creation Services, the differencing disk must be equal in size to the base disk, leading to significant storage consumption. On the other hand, Provisioning Server uses image versioning, creating a new image version every time it's modified. As a result, virtual machines streamed from the server revert to their original state after a reboot, which is similar to their state during the first boot.

Using the provisioning server, I start by configuring a virtual machine with either a 2016 or 2019 server operating system. I install the necessary Citrix client provisioning server target device software, followed by installing the required applications. After that, I capture the entire configuration to a file share. The image is then streamed from the file share to the hypervisor, which can handle multiple machines. In some large-scale deployments, we have used a single image to provision thousands of servers.

Once the image is captured and stored on the file share, it is set to read-only mode, and any changes made to it are not accepted until it is put in read-write mode. When a virtual machine is rebooted, it returns to its previous state before the changes were made. This feature can be beneficial in situations like a virus outbreak, where a simple reboot of the virtual machines can remove any malicious code or changes.

A provisioning server offers a faster recovery time from a bad change and is generally faster than machine creation services. With the provisioning server, changes are not accepted until the read-write mode is enabled, and if a virus outbreak occurs, rebooting the machines restores them to the previous state. On the other hand, machine creation services' speed is dependent on the storage's speed, and recovery time from a bad change can take longer, especially with a large number of devices. If a bad change is made with machine creation services, the replication process can take a while to revert, whereas, with a provisioning server, all machines can be rebooted quickly.

Within thirty minutes, I can restore my system to its previous state using the provisioning server.

Technical support is not the best. The quality of technical support has declined over time. Previously, their support was excellent, and you had to pay for each call. 

The support staff were very efficient and did not waste time. However, they have now changed their support model so that it's included with your licensing, and they have hired new staff. 

The first-line support staff follows a scripted process, and they are not necessarily highly skilled. You have to go through all the steps before you can speak to someone knowledgeable, or you have to insist that it's an emergency and you need immediate assistance.

In general, the support used to be good, but currently, I am not satisfied with it.

It depends on the image management that you choose to use. 

Provisioning Server is one such solution, but it can be challenging to set up without the right expertise. As an alternative, Citrix offers another image management technology called Machine Creation Services, which is easier to use but can significantly increase storage consumption.

Their licensing model used to be on a per-year basis, where you would negotiate the cost per user for a year. For instance, if you had 25,000 users, you could negotiate the cost accordingly. However, they are transitioning to a subscription-based model where the cost is incurred monthly. 

They argue that this model allows companies to switch from a capital expense to an operational expense, making budgeting easier. However, I am not a fan of this model. I prefer paying only for the number of licenses that I need based on the number of concurrent users, like the previous model.

It is important to receive proper training rather than relying solely on online resources or Googling.

I have been using it successfully in larger enterprise deployments since 1997.

I would rate Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops a nine out of ten.

I am currently working as a senior infrastructure engineer for a company, but in the past, I have also been a reseller and had my own consulting company where I sold and provided consulting services for Citrix products.

We use the product to give application access to external providers. It helps us publish remote desktops and applications.

Citrix DaaS’s most valuable feature is the virtualization of applications and desktops.

The product’s customization feature needs improvement.

We have been using Citrix DaaS for two years.

I rate the product’s stability an eight out of ten.

We have 400 Citrix DaaS users in our organization. We might increase its usage. I rate its scalability an eight out of ten.

The technical support services are good.

Positive

I rate the initial setup process a five out of ten. It is simple. However, you need to have some knowledge of how it works. It is a quality learning experience. It takes a few hours to complete for an advanced user. At the same time, it takes a day or two to study the process.

We recently received the product’s renewal quote, three times the last price. It is an expensive solution. I rate its pricing a nine out of ten.

I advise others to get training on how to use Citrix DaaS. It will help them understand the functionality before purchasing it. I rate it an eight out of ten.

Our usage of Citrix Workspace includes standard office applications as well as specialized ones, such as those for automotive design and engineering from a major car manufacturer.

This solution has been convenient for us and has our capital cost increased.

The most valuable feature of Citrix Workspace is the virtual desktop that we can use anywhere, at any time, and without taking our laptop.

I have noticed that the current compatibility issue with the latest version of Windows 11 is a concern for me and my client. While the client has support for Windows 11, it appears that the Citrix Workspace is only compatible with Windows 10, which does not support the newest version. This is an area that I believe could be improved upon.

I have been using Citrix Workspace for approximately two years.

Citrix Workspace is stable.

The solution is scalable.

We have approximately 6000 users using the solution.

Sometimes we escalate issues to the technical support of Citrix Workspace.

I rate the support from Citrix Workspace a seven out of ten.

Neutral

We have tried VMware but it did not fit our needs and this is why we are using Citrix Workspace.

The initial setup of Citrix Workspace is simple.

The process of deploying Citrix Workspace is simple and straightforward. All you need to do is download the front portion of the website, double-click on the package, and utilize the default settings. It should not require much effort to successfully implement this application.

We used a Microsoft solution called SCCM to automatically install Citrix Workspace.

The solution is straightforward to maintain.

I would recommend this solution to others.

I rate Citrix Workspace an eight out of ten.

We are using Citrix for remote connectivity. We have multiple types that are deployed in different clients. Some are desktops as services, some as workspaces, et cetera.

Our company is procuring the license for it; the customer is using it.

It's for engineers to remotely connect to the console or desktop of the client or the customer side for debugging or resolving issues. That's where we use it primarily.

The remote desktop connectivity is where we have our focus. That's the main use case. 

The product is stable.

We've never had scalability issues.

We want to reduce costs. They should offer a different pricing model. 

Some manual work is required now with Citrix, like installing some client agents, et cetera, which could be automated. We'd really like to see more automation in the future. 

It is not easy to set up. 

It's part of our application, so we've been working with the product for more than a year or so.

So far, the solution has been quite stable. I would rate it eight out of ten. There aren't bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. 

We haven't had any issues with scalability. That said, scaling also depends on how many users are trying to access it at a given time. As we move some of these applications to the cloud, we will face the scalability question. However, those issues will be addressed later. 

We currently have hundreds, or even thousands, of users on the solution right now.

Technical support is good. I would rate them eight out of ten. 

Positive

I've also worked with AWS Workspaces. I also have experience with Microsoft Remote Desktop Services.

I haven't previously worked with any other solution in this company.

The initial setup is not easy. For example, there are agents that need to be deployed and the agent deployment has some issues when the customer has certain patching or operating systems that are not compatible. 

While this solution is mostly on-prem, we are working to move more toward the cloud. We'll have to explore how we can leverage cloud capabilities in the future. 

I'm not sure how long the deployment takes precisely. 

There are a few ways customers may save costs by using this solution. 

It's basically to maintain the applications, especially medical devices. Typically, one way the product can save a company money is if a person would traditionally have to go to the site and find the problem. If there is no option for remote connectivity or desktop, then that can be expensive. That will add to the costs. 

A second issue is uptime. If you don't have the capability to jump on a machine and start troubleshooting right away, then it'll take more time to get the system up if something happens.

We'd like the solution to be less expensive and are looking for alternative options. The cost is on the higher side. We pay for the licensing on an annual basis.

The technical support costs depend on the contract. We have separate contracts that are different based on the customer. If the contract covers technical support, that is fine, however, if it's a basic contract, then we have to pay for the technical support.

I cannot speak to the exact amount the company pays at this time. 

We now want to see the other options in the market and make some comparisons. As we go forward with the next application, we will probably look at the whole picture and see the best product, especially from a feature and host perspective.

We need to see what's there in the market and which has less manual work. We want to see how we can reduce costs and also improve the overall CI/CD process of packaging something with the customer.

We're a partner. We are using Citrix both for ourselves and our customers. 

Citrix is one of the pioneers in this area and has been around for a long time. The technical support is good. From a usability standpoint, it's also good; however, there are some aspects, like hosting, and especially on-prem deployments, where some manual work is needed. It could be that we are not doing as per the latest guidelines or something, which we need to look at and see what we can improve. That said, overall, it's a good product for remote connectivity and remote desktop applications.

I'd rate the solution seven out of ten.