Horizon 8 and Amazon WorkSpaces compete in the virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) category. Horizon 8 takes the lead in enterprise-level integration and scalability, while Amazon WorkSpaces is favored for rapid deployments and lower initial costs.
Features: Horizon 8 excels in scalability, manageability, and VMware ecosystem integration, making it perfect for large enterprises. It offers seamless user experience, comprehensive management, and customization capabilities. Amazon WorkSpaces stands out for its quick global deployment and secure, scalable cloud-based services. It prioritizes ease of access and is especially beneficial for businesses already using AWS.
Room for Improvement: Horizon 8 could improve cross-platform integration and reduce deployment complexity, particularly for SMBs. Its dependency on Windows limits Linux user accessibility. Amazon WorkSpaces needs better conferencing capabilities, enhanced performance on VPNs, and improved third-party app compatibility. Both platforms would benefit from simpler licensing models and enhanced documentation.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Horizon 8 offers robust on-premises deployment tailored for enterprises needing high customization in hybrid environments. While its support is flexible, complex issues may face delays. Amazon WorkSpaces is optimized for public cloud use, ensuring fast setups and good scalability. Its customer support is responsive, particularly for cloud-related issues, though technical areas may require improvement. WorkSpaces is more effective at simplifying cloud use for faster support interactions.
Pricing and ROI: Horizon 8 incurs higher upfront costs due to licensing and infrastructure, yet offers a substantial ROI through reduced hardware and efficiency over time. It is more suited to enterprises that can capitalize on these benefits. Amazon WorkSpaces uses a subscription-based model, allowing for financial flexibility and appealing to businesses with lower initial expense priorities. While WorkSpaces is more cost-effective initially, Horizon 8's long-term ROI can be significant through reduced maintenance and enhanced administrative efficiency.
I would rate the technical support from Amazon as nine out of ten.
Resolving issues is often complicated due to it being a complex product.
Our support from VMware expired last December.
Compute can be increased or decreased as you pay as you go for Amazon WorkSpaces.
The solution is highly scalable.
Especially with the integration of NVIDIA, we experience multiple problems including crashing applications, crashing desktops, spontaneous logoffs, black screens, and systems that no longer respond or cannot reconnect.
A single orchestrator tool could assist with discovery, implementation, and image building for Amazon WorkSpaces.
I would like to see improvements in Horizon 8, specifically integration with NVIDIA for graphical performance upgrades because it creates many issues such as crashing and black screen systems, causing users to lose access to their current desktop and work.
We have limited capabilities since we are not using a multi-instance solution, just single instances.
After VMware was bought by Broadcom, the pricing was ridiculous, but now that Onmises has VMware Horizon 8, the pricing is back to an acceptable level.
I rate the cost-effectiveness of GenApp of Citrix equal to our CMS; it is quite cost-effective.
The solution is secured with strong encryption features in Amazon WorkSpaces.
From a security point of view, security in Horizon 8 is one of the main points in keeping the system resources from the company away from bad actors. You can keep the desktops completely isolated, and you don't need to share your file shares or database with the end-user system.
The solution has data leak prevention features that ensure data is not copied from the base machine to VDI.
| Product | Market Share (%) |
|---|---|
| Horizon 8 | 7.4% |
| Amazon WorkSpaces | 1.6% |
| Other | 91.0% |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 6 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 2 |
| Large Enterprise | 9 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 60 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 22 |
| Large Enterprise | 44 |
Amazon WorkSpaces is a fully managed desktop-as-a-service (DaaS) solution provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS). It allows users to access a virtual desktop environment in the cloud from various devices, including laptops, tablets, and thin clients.
With Amazon WorkSpaces, users can have a complete desktop experience with their familiar applications and data, while the underlying infrastructure and management tasks are handled by AWS. The virtual desktops provided by Amazon WorkSpaces are persistent, meaning that user data and settings are retained even when disconnected from the virtual desktop.
Amazon WorkSpaces Features:
Amazon WorkSpaces Benefits:
Reviews from Real Users
Sachin Narvekar, IT-IS LEAD at Tata Consultancy, writes that "Amazon WorkSpaces is a virtual desktop platform. So, instead of having your laptops, and desktops, you can have your data on the cloud.”, he also adds, "Security, streaming, faster performance, scalability, and the fact that it is very much cost-effective, are some of the solution's valuable features."
Ravi-Bhardwaj, Manager at Ravi RITS Enterprice, states that “The solution has improved the organization because now any user who doesn't have a corporate laptop can connect to the system, security is still high, and it uses very low bandwidth.”
VMware Horizon is a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) solution designed to allow users to create secure and scalable virtual desktops and applications that work on any device, from any location. These virtualization capabilities help simplify and speed up application delivery and greatly reduce enterprise costs.
VMware Horizon’s centralized management console provides IT admins with comprehensive control over all of their virtual desktops and applications, making them simple to manage and secure. The solution enables using features such as identity and access management, multi-factor authentication, and encryption, to ensure ultimate data protection.
Some of key the benefits of using VMware Horizon include:
Some of the top features of VMware Horizon include:
Reviews from Real Users
VMware Horizon stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Several major ones are its high performance, flexibility, and powerful virtualization capabilities.
Natnael A., a consultant at IWM Network Solutions, writes, “The app virtualizing is a great feature. The system developers use it to deliver apps to targeted staff. It basically reduces the server infrastructure resource. The solution provides good functionality.”
Rob M., a systems administrator at Saint Tammany Parish Hospital, says, “The solution has provided flexibility by allowing an end user to remote in, log in, and get their VM. VDI session and have all the icons and applications they need to use and retain the same booking view regardless of location.”
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