My company uses VMware Horizon View for educational institutions and for the student lists maintained. My company also uses the solution in the healthcare industry.
Sr. Technical Architect at StarOne IT Solutions
A product that offers a good UX and is easy to maintain
Pros and Cons
- "It is a very stable solution...It is a very scalable solution."
- "In VMware Horizon View, app volume is an area of concern where improvements are required."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
VMware Horizon View offers something called a security gateway, which allows users to get access to VDI without a VPN. The user experience provided by VMware Blast Extreme is also good. The USB redirection from the client to VDI is another good feature of VMware Horizon View.
What needs improvement?
In VMware Horizon View, app volume is an area of concern where improvements are required. For certain applications, a lot of tremendous effort from my company's end had to be put in to configure the app volume, making it one of the most difficult parts of the product. In VMware Horizon View, for a stateless VDI, the configuration part of app volume is straightforward, as it can be done in a. When a user needs some type of persistent VDI, some more configurations need to be done.
There are some shortcomings in VMware's support team, where improvements are required. My company can only use emails and not directly contact VMware's support engineer. Even if some issues suddenly crop up in the solution, my company is not in a position to contact VMware's support team.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using VMware Horizon View for five years. My company operates as an integrator of the solution.
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a very stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is a very scalable solution.
Owing to the VDI part in VMware Horizon View, my company caters to the requirements of enterprise-sized companies.
How are customer service and support?
The solution's technical support is good. I rate the technical support an eight out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have past experience with Citrix. I feel that VMware is better than Citrix. Citrix requires its users to have a bit of technical skill to carry out the deployment process.
How was the initial setup?
The product's deployment phase is difficult as it contains a lot of components, which requires a technician to have a technical understanding of integrations.
The solution can be deployed in a week, but it may vary depending on the requirements of a customer.
One architect and two engineers are required to take care of the deployment part of VMware Horizon View.
What about the implementation team?
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
VMware Horizon View is an expensive product. My company needs to opt for a subscription-based pricing model when it comes to the licensing costs attached to the product.
What other advice do I have?
The maintenance phase of VMware Horizon View is easy.
Two people are required to take care of the maintenance phase of VMware Horizon View as there are more than 100 VDIs.
I think that VMware Horizon View presently has a SaaS offering, an option with which the maintenance part can be made much easier. VMware and Azure have a partnership to offer a SaaS-based solution. If you are open to a product deployed on the cloud model, you can choose VMware Horizon View.
I rate the overall tool a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Integrator

Information Technology Consultant at Eta2u
Flexible and secure access to virtual desktops and applications, enhancing productivity and enabling remote work with high performance, centralized management, and robust security features
Pros and Cons
- "It offers great flexibility, allowing us to access it as a complete virtual machine or even just as individual applications."
- "There is room for a more cost-effective pricing structure, as it could be more affordable."
What is our primary use case?
We use it to gain access to our organization's applications.
What is most valuable?
One of the most valuable aspects is that I can connect from home, and the system operates seamlessly. It offers great flexibility, allowing us to access it as a complete virtual machine or even just as individual applications.
What needs improvement?
There is room for a more cost-effective pricing structure, as it could be more affordable.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using it for approximately four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would rate the stability capabilities eight out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I would rates its scalability abilities eight out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
Whenever we submit a ticket, there is a productive exchange of information, and more often than not, they manage to address our needs effectively. While there may be occasional challenges, the support is generally quite reliable. I would rate it nine out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We use a combination of Citrix, Horizon, and Microsoft for virtual apps and desktops based on specific requirements and customer needs.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was straightforward.
What about the implementation team?
The deployment was managed by our team, and I handled the installation. The client only had to perform the minimal configuration, such as setting the server's IP. It was highly adaptable and user-friendly, and it took approximately a couple of days.
What was our ROI?
We observed a return on investment in data protection, resulting in a time savings of around twenty five percent.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It falls on the more expensive end in terms of cost.
What other advice do I have?
You can consider using Microsoft Remote Desktop sessions, which provide a more basic set of features if you don't require all the advanced features offered by Horizon, such as speed optimization, visual enhancements, desktop printing, image resolution, and a seamless user experience. Overall, I would rate it nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
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Technical architect at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Helps to digitalize environments but has lots of bugs and issues
Pros and Cons
- "We use VMware Horizon to digitalize environments."
- "The solution has a lot of issues and bugs."
What is our primary use case?
We use VMware Horizon to digitalize environments.
What needs improvement?
The solution has a lot of issues and bugs.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with the solution for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would rate VMware Horizon's stability a six out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I would rate the tool's scalability on the cloud a ten out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
We have issues with the product's response time. The person assigned to us was entry-level experienced and we had to escalate our issues further numerous times.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
What about the implementation team?
We sought help for some areas of deployment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
VMware Horizon is priced high.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate the solution a six out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Technical Manager at Amidas Hong Kong Limited
The solution is easy to setup and maintain, but system integration needs improvement
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature is that VMware Horizon is easy to setup."
- "The system integration also needs some improvement."
What is our primary use case?
The solution is used for remote access and copying.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is that VMware Horizon is easy to setup.
What needs improvement?
The support can be improved because at present, there is some delay in responses even though they improved some Microsoft Team support. The system integration also needs some improvement.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the VMware Horizon for five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is not easy to scale for large enterprises.
How are customer service and support?
VMware Horizon's support team is not well-equipped to provide answers or give details on how to fix the problems.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is easy. The solution's deployment takes one day and requires a maximum of five engineers. VMware is easy to maintain.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution's pricing depends on certain factors. It would be best if you know which components you are looking for, as you may have other hardware costs. It is recommended if users want to use the VMware HPE as the hypervisor.
What other advice do I have?
As we are in an enterprise environment, we may have many use cases. Compared to Citrus, they have a single industry token that supports many use cases. If we enable users and the portal, Horizon needs a collection of different authentication methods. It's quite competitive for users and complex for enterprises if they have many use cases.
I rate VMware Horizon a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Integrator
Project Leader and IT Transition Manager at Data Communication & Software i Grondal Aktiebolag
Stable solution and accessible from home or remote locations
Pros and Cons
- "From my standpoint, the desktop is the most valuable feature."
- "What I would like to see improved is not so much about the product. It's more about how to get information about products. It's always too much sales pitching and fancy works and stuff."
What is our primary use case?
In our case, it's for our own internal use. Let's say I am at home, and there's an issue with our customer. Something has happened. I can connect using Secureline and log on to this virtual desktop, accessing the system from there. So it's only for internal use.
What is most valuable?
From my standpoint, the desktop is the most valuable feature.
What needs improvement?
What I would like to see improved is not so much about the product. It's more about how to get information about products. It's always too much sales pitching and fancy works and stuff. This helps you improve this and that but doesn't tell me how.
It's just hard to find information when you want to set up a system or find what can be good for a specific customer. You want to find something. That's where the documentation comes in, and explains how it will improve. So that's my biggest problem with everybody who makes a product.
It says this will make your life so much better. Yes, but how would it make it better? That's the hard part to find. That kind of information is hard to find, really. So it makes it hard to find products.
Therefore, I always have to call the vendor and ask for a meeting, and they have to make a demonstration. The process becomes so lengthy and exhausting sometimes because you have to make notes for everything. "Okay, this works like this," and "You can use it for that." And then you have to talk to the next one, compare. So I would like that to be my opinion. If they could think from the perspective of a technician, he doesn't want to hear all this fancy talk. That's my opinion.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for over half a year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I've only used it a few times, and it was very stable. The performance was good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
About 15 of us in our organization are using the solution. Our current size is sufficient.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is easy. It's a remote desktop, not that fancy. It's easy to manage with just one guy.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I have used Citrix.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I would rate the solution a ten out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Good virtual desktop infrastructure, but login capabilities could be better
Pros and Cons
- "The support from VMware is very good and they have amazing experts."
- "The system is not designed to allow the client to log in easily."
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use case for this solution is the virtual desktop infrastructure.
What is most valuable?
We have found this solution valuable because it has cut our costs for purchasing new hardware.
What needs improvement?
The product could be improved by correcting how information is provided because we have issues with the client and the backend. The system is not designed to allow the client to log in easily and multiple passwords are required. This could be improved by requiring the client to input only the active directory username and password.
The primary problem we are facing is logging in locally on the SIEM client as a local, then click on the Horizon Seven and then call or connect to the server connection, then use the administrative username and password to log in, which is difficult for the students when we are dealing with the student. This is the most challenging stage because the rest of the backend is okay. We would like to see improvements to this problem and understand why there is no compatibility between the SIEM client and the backend.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using this solution for about four years and are currently working with Horizon Seven. It is deployed on-premises.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable. There are 200 people using it in our organization. However, it is difficult to maintain because the handover from our third party was bad. There was no adequate knowledge transfer.
How are customer service and support?
The support from VMware is very good and they have amazing experts. Whenever I raise a case to VMware technical support team, they respond immediately and fix any issues we have. They are very professional.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was difficult. I rate it a seven out of ten.
What about the implementation team?
We used the resellers to set up. However, the reseller we used is no longer in the market anymore. The company closed.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The product has high license costs. I cannot give an exact figure on the price as our procurement department handles this. However, we would rate the licensing fees a nine out of ten because of how high it is.
What other advice do I have?
I rate this solution a seven out of ten. The product is good, but improvements can be made to how information is provided. We recommend this solution to new users who want to start working with it.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Senior IT Strategy Consultant at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
It's relatively flexible and scalable.
Pros and Cons
- "Horizon View provides virtual desktops on demand."
- "Horizon View could be more stable."
What is our primary use case?
We use Horizon View to provide virtual desktops for internal use. There are about a thousand users.
What is most valuable?
Horizon View provides virtual desktops on demand.
What needs improvement?
Horizon View could be more stable.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Horizon View for a couple of years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate Horizon View's stability seven out of 10.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Horizon View is relatively flexible and scalable.
How was the initial setup?
Setting up Horizon View is somewhat complex, but we got some professional services from VMware. It would probably be complicated if you tried to set it up on your own.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I rate Horizon View four out of 10 for affordability. It was pretty expensive.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We have performed some benchmark tests before deciding to go with Horizon View, but we chose VMware because most of our existing setup uses VMware.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Horizon View eight out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Enterprise Architect / Data Solution Architect at Hewlett Packard Enterprise
It simplifies management of remote devices, but support is kind of hit or miss
Pros and Cons
- "VMware Horizon View is easy to configure and deploy."
- "VMware support is okay, but sometimes it's a little bit hit or miss trying to get somebody who knows what they're doing and talking about."
What is our primary use case?
Horizon is used to create virtual desktops. It's helpful for people who want to transition from large desktops and laptops to more virtual desktops. More people are working remotely, and that freaks out IT departments when they can't get access to an employee's desktop. We are seeing a lot of demand for virtual desktops for remote working.
How has it helped my organization?
Horizon allows us to sell a solution to customers.
What is most valuable?
VMware Horizon View is easy to configure and deploy.
What needs improvement?
The cost of licenses is always a challenge. I would also like the deployment to be simplified and automated to be more streamlined. It would be helpful for managing. For example, if you are deploying 900, it would be nice to automate the management of groups of 30 or 40 or whatever you're doing. Automation and deployment tools would be good.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've used VMware Horizon View off and on since it was first introduced in 2006. I have been messing around with VMware since early in my career. It's probably been about 18 months since I last did a direct Horizon solution.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Horizon View is pretty stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Horizon View has been scalable enough for everything I've done so far. The last deployment was about 900 users. It was a mixture of office workers and managers.
How are customer service and support?
VMware support is okay, but sometimes it's a little bit hit or miss trying to get somebody who knows what they're doing and talking about.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Our customers switched from more of a traditional laptop or desktop environment where they were maintaining 900 different systems and trying to keep them patched and updated. A VDI is helpful for tracking ransomware or viruses because you can lock down systems more easily when they're centrally controlled.
How was the initial setup?
Setting up Horizon is probably not easy for an inexperienced person. You can't just read the manual and do it. You need some experience to set it up. It's not overly complex, but it also isn't so simple that you could deploy it yourself if you've never done it before.
It took about two or three months because you can't just roll it out. You have to migrate the users in batches. If you're rolling out a thousand users, you can't just turn it on and have at it with a thousand. You deploy 30 and migrate a department and then do another. That's the case with any virtual desktop solution. Rolling it out is always going to be a more gradual process than a big bang all at once overnight.
What was our ROI?
VMware has tools to calculate projected ROI. The customers don't hit that projection, but they get relatively close. Typically the projected return is higher than what customers actually see.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing can be relatively competitive, but sometimes you have to go back to VMware and ask for additional discounts. You can make it competitive If you're prepared to put in the work. The list prices and standard discounts may not be competitive, but if you push hard enough, you can get the price to where you need it to be.
When you deploy the solution, the goal is to reduce normal operating costs by making it easier to keep your devices updated and patched. Obviously, there are hardware costs for running virtual machines, so there are additional costs depending on where you're running it, especially if you're using the standard hybrid cloud. If you use the Horizon Cloud, it's a different pricing model.
What other advice do I have?
I'd rate VMware Horizon View seven out of 10. If you want to simplify management and retain control, give it some serious thought. If you're allowing users to work on their own devices, it's necessary. If everybody has their own laptops, you want to use something like Horizon or VDI to manage your corporate applications. It's absolutely essential for that type of environment.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

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