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

The Citrix Workspace is a little easier compared to Citrix Receiver. We used to use Citrix Receiver and then switched to Citrix Workspace. Previously, we had to install five browser components and a couple more things to launch these applications.

Six to seven months after we started using this solution, we had an issue when we were using the Citrix server. We needed to install the Citrix Runtime in the server where the application was hosted. When we installed the Runtime, we needed to restart the production server. So, whenever our EMR application was going live, we had to plan to upgrade all our other surrounding tools and applications, so we could complete one restart and achieve everything at once.

The engineering team installed certain things to fix the issue, and now it is resolved. There are so many links within the Citrix application, so when we tried to launch it, we initially used IE. Initially, we never had an issue, but when we made Chrome an enterprise browser, then we were facing some slowness. But later, we realized that it was not a Citrix issue, it was some additional components of the browser that we needed to install so that it would be rightly redirected to the EFC.

We have been using this solution for ten years from a configuration perspective and almost three years from an automation perspective. We are using the latest version.

We are planning our next upgrade around mid-September. The solution is deployed on-premises.

It is a stable solution.

We have more than 500 people using this solution.

We have not used the technical support from Citrix. However, we reach out to our technical team for any issues.

I rate the pricing a five out of five because it is a good price.

I rate this solution a nine out of ten. We have been using this solution for a long time and are comfortable using Citrix.

I'm an infrastructure architect.

We frequently use the Workspace Environment Manager service, which is a valuable feature. We're also happy with the interaction between our collaborative tools. 

I think the ITSM adapters need to be enhanced. Currently, even though it says the solution is a PaaS, there are a couple of activities happening between the cloud and on-prem environments that could use some additional detail. Even though we see our collaborative tools working well with Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops, on a practical level we face challenges due to various factors. Our users are in different regions; their endpoint device is in one location, but the collaborative controls are in a different data center. Given our VDA infrastructure, accessing collaborative tools is becoming a little challenging. It might be fine on paper, but when it comes to actually working with it, improvements could be made. From our end, we need to make sure our collaborator tools are working as expected.

I've been using this solution for four years. 

The solution is stable. 

When you compare the cloud version to the on-premise Citrix environment, the cloud version wins out. You don't need to worry about scalability. Once you have a license, you just start adding the load you want. We have around 8,000 users. 

We contact technical support when we are in urgent need. They have a process where they ask some basic questions and that seems unnecessary as it wastes time when you're looking for a rapid response. We get an engineer on the line and he asks the basic questions and then a new person is brought in and starts all over again with the same basic questions. 

If you know your prerequisites, the initial setup is simple. Without the proper advanced knowledge, you may end up in a situation where you will not be able to achieve what you need or want. 

We evaluated Horizon View as a possible option. Whenever anyone thinks of a virtual desktop environment, they think of Citrix. Horizon View comes into the picture when you don't need any extra features, just a reliable and secure infrastructure. Citrix fitted our needs more closely. 

There is still some room for improvement so I rate this solution eight out of 10. 

Our clients use the solution to access the virtual machines in their organization. We don't give laptops to the employees. Everyone comes to the office. We have a virtual machine ready for them. Everything, including files and file sharing, is done in the virtual environment. Even the machines they access for work are in the virtual environment.

The Citrix Workspace application is very good. We can use it across multiple platforms, like iPads and other devices. The interface is seemingly easy to use. It feels like a PC. The functions that we get along with it, the ability to switch to the keyboard, and the gestures are perfect. It is easier to troubleshoot. If we have any issues, we just have to reset Citrix to fix the problem. It has really great applications.

The product has a lot of background processes running. Citrix duplicates multiple processes. We can see multiple instances of Citrix running in the task manager. We don't get that problem when we use a remote desktop. Sometimes, when the user launches VDI, they click it multiple times if it is a bit slow. So, multiple instances appear. It’ll be great if Citrix can eliminate that.

I have been using the solution for about three years.

The tool is stable. I rate the stability a ten out of ten. Our users do not face any problems. Either they get a connection, or they don't. If they don't get a connection, it's always because multiple instances are running in the background.

The tool is highly scalable. The only problem is cost. Everything else is perfect. I rate the scalability a ten out of ten. Our clients are enterprise businesses.

The technical support team is efficient. The quality of support depends on the organization that is providing the support.

Positive

I rate the ease of setup a ten out of ten. The deployment is quick and straightforward. It takes half an hour.

The tool is expensive. A license costs $1000. If we want the best solution, we must pay for it.

It's pretty easy to handle and train employees. It's quite good. People can easily learn the product. Troubleshooting Citrix is pretty straightforward. People who want to use the solution must plan the budgeting properly. They must plan how many people will use Citrix because there shouldn’t be any unused licenses. The licenses are really expensive. If we plan it incorrectly, we will have a financial crisis. Overall, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

We've hybrid workers who work from home up to three days a week or four days a week in some cases. The staff is basically using Citrix as a solution to access all of the data and apps that they would need in order to do the work they do. We've got mostly data workers and analyst types working in our group. Others within the hospital use it for different purposes. I use it occasionally when I'm working from home or remotely. I'm not a frequent user like my staff.

It has given us access remotely. I work at a hospital. So, we had rules about limiting access to the hospital site for people who didn't need to be here to basically safeguard our clinical staff and other staff from exposure to COVID. It was a call to action to ensure that as many staff as possible could work from home safely. We were able to continue our operations relatively uninterrupted using Citrix. Since that time, we still have some restrictions in place, but we're pivoting back to hybrid work over the last year or so, and we'll likely continue that in the future.

Getting access to the applications for which we otherwise have to be on-site is probably the biggest advantage.

We're running into all kinds of speed issues and reliability issues. There are frequent disconnects, and we're not sure whether that's a problem with the product, with the way the product has been deployed, or with server capacity or bandwidth. Our IT department pays attention to that, but we are feeling the impact of that. 

It also gets a little dodgy when we're having to work remotely. We don't necessarily have all of the full functions that we would have with some of our in-hospital systems. There are times when we have gaps, but that's simply because our IT department hasn't set up all of the applications that we would normally have access to. So, that's not a Citrix problem as much as it is the way it has been deployed.

We're pivoting away from Workspace. We're being told we're going to get some of the newer, more robust tools that Citrix offers. That's where we're heading right now. We're not quite sure. We're hopeful that it's going to make some significant improvements for us and make work quite a bit easier, but we'll wait and see.

We've been using various versions of it for a number of years. We transitioned to Workspace at the start of COVID. There were some upgrades done.

Based on the deployment we have, I would rate it a six out of ten.

Our IT department would know about its scalability.  In our organization, I don't know the number of users we have, but I know that in our department, we have 17 people using it. We've got 3,000 staff and about 2,000 workers every day. Probably 200 or so are working remotely right now. 

We don't deal with technical support ourselves. We use our own. Our IT department provides tech support for us.

I've personally used some VPN solutions in the past. I know our IT department uses a VPN solution, but I don't know which one it is.

I didn't set it up. In terms of its deployment model, it's on-premises. We're running it on virtual servers in our office. It is on our server farm here.

I would imagine it was implemented in-house. We don't usually use third parties for doing that sort of work.

I would advise being mindful of what you need and ensuring that the functionality that you need is built into it, and the tool is capable of providing it. I would also advise ensuring that the deployment addresses it so that you're not left with missing functionality. 

I would rate it a seven out of ten.

Our primary use case of this solution is for secured access to design data.

The most valuable feature of the solution is that it supports team clients. That is the major advantage where a user can at one point in time work in a secure environment, where they don't have access to the internet, but just by switching the window, they can go to an environment from the same device and can start using the internet, the two are mutually exclusive. You can't share data unless there is authorization given.

The solution can use more promotion to spread awareness. The cost of the solution needs to be reduced to compete with the other competitive solutions that are available. The setup is currently complex and can be easier.

I have been using the solution for over five years.

The solution is stable.

The solution is scalable.

The technical support is good.

The initial setup is complex. The deployment can take over one day.

The implementation is completed in-house by our team.

The licensing is $125 USD per user. The cost needs to come down substantially.

I give the solution a ten out of ten.

Anyone interested in the solution should definitely evaluate it and carry out POC before deciding on the requirements. You should evaluate at least one case and then make a decision.

Citrix is used by many organizations to make it possible to streamline the way different developers work together from different locations. It is able to do this using a low bandwidth. Essentially it is used for remote application delivery. 

Citrix's functionality depends on you having access to Microsoft Azure. Microsoft offers a broad range of features and solutions. Overall, it may make sense for some users to move all their services to Microsoft services. The main challenge is that you need to have a Microsoft Azure subscription. 

This solution could be improved by adding features for authentication. 

I have been using this solution for 10 years. 

This is a stable solution, however, this stability can be impacted by networking changes. Citrix has developed its own in-house monitoring tool that assists in this regard. Security wise, they have lots of features that you can use for two factor authentication along with your password or biometrics.

This is a scalable solution. Citrix is able to increase its capacity and functionalities based on demand for both on-prem or cloud-based scenarios. 

The customer support team is responsive when we contact them. Citrix runs on top of Windows so it is important to first figure out whether the challenge you have is Windows or Citrix related. There is an option to pay for support from Citrix and this is based on whether you are a gold or premium customer. They have a dedicated technical team and technical relationship manager who will engage with your environment and provide suggestion. They also offer professional services for deployment and configurations.

Positive

The initial setup was straightforward but this may differ based on specific scenarios. This solution needs to be integrated with directory infrastructure and in accordance with basic requirements. The setup is simpler for smaller environment and more complex for larger environments that need integration with other cloud infrastructure. 

You have to install a cloud connector for on-prem environments that use separate Windows servers. In future, Citrix are planning to bypass that cloud connection. 

They offer licensing per user.  From time to time, they give discounts. Because it's a hybrid model, you can deploy some portion of it on cloud and some portion your on-prem. 

This is an expensive solution but the cost can be brought down by discount bargaining based on the volume of licenses you are purchasing. 

I would advise others to evaluate whether to use the Citrix VDI based on all the different applications you have in your environment. You should specifically consider those applications which are cloud based and those which are on-premise as well as where your data is kept. This will determine the complexity of adding Citrix. 

You need consider what infrastructure is required for an in-house solution and how will your team manage and monitor updates. 

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten. 

The primary use case is to allow our employees to work from home.

We are using the solution with some of our light users. There is less maintenance cost for the hardware.

The remote desktop feature is valuable because it allows employees to work from home.

USB devices are a common issue. I am not sure if this is a Citrix issue or an operating system issue because we are using Linux.

I have been using the solution for one year.

At this point, the solution has shown to be stable.

The solution is scalable.

I had to use customer service once or twice and they solve my issues immediately.

The initial setup is complex.

The implementation was done in-house. 

We recouped 60 to 70 percent of the hardware costs.

I rate the solution seven out of ten.

Although the initial setup is complex, deployment is easy. We already have the images used for deployments of the virtual machines through Citrix Studio. The thin client already has an operating system that connects directly to the Citrix server. All we have to do is assign the virtual machines and deploy them.

We currently have 97 users for the solution and are looking to increase that to 300. Two engineers are required to manage the solution.

I recommend you test everything first before implementing this solution. We are facing issues with Microsoft Teams, and the presentations which have no option to share with Bijo and Ojo. You should also test the hardware, especially the USB devices.

We have two primary use cases of this solution. One, the final users use their main interface to log in to the system. The Citrix team publish all the applications they are accessing with their laptops. We have an end terminal that is a small PC with just access to Citrix, so they don't have a real PC.

The other use case is my personal use case. I use Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops to access the network to jump into the infra. I am using it to access the network and to go through the infrastructure level for monitoring. I do not use the business application as I am from IT, we just support the IT infrastructure.

Centralization and security are the most valuable features of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops. You have a controlled environment that doesn't allow your employees to install software on the machines and connect to the network. It is more secure than personal laptops everywhere.

Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops is easy to manage. Our organization has a hybrid environment. We have a large percentage of our users that have their own laptops, which requires a lot of effort to manually maintain support, update and patch. With Citrix, we have three or four people that work on the infrastructure to support over 2,000 users.

The solution works as it is designed to work. However, when you are at the office you do need to log in and load your profile, which takes time. But that is the way it is designed.

I have been using Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops for four years.

Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops is very stable. It is our responsibility to have it up and running with good performance. The environment is very stable. Any impact on Citrix is immediately reported to the users. We are always one step ahead in checking performance and getting alerts.

Any issues we have are small and resolved quickly by our team. 

Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops is a complex solution. It requires many licenses in a big environment. Anyone considering the solution needs to assess and analyze the cost benefit. As a VDI solution, I do believe it is the best one out there.

I would rate Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktop an eight out of 10.