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

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. 

The challenges we were looking to deal with by using Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops were: How do we protect our data and how do we make sure that our data is not leaked out? We have deployed Citrix for most of our critical applications so that our users are using the Citrix VDI.

We have deployed it for a small number of users, between 1,500 and 2,000. To deploy it, we are using some Cisco hardware that we had available and some of the existing hardware within our data center. We have it on the web right now, but going forward, we are also moving some of their solution to the cloud.

We are using the application virtualization capabilities, on-premise desktop virtualization, cloud-hosted desktop virtualization, remote PC and physical desktop access.

The solution simplifies adherence to industry regulations for data protection and for compliance. Overall, from a cyber security point of view, in terms of data leakage as well as patches and upgrades that are required to be deployed to multiple endpoints, Citrix makes it very simple. That clearly helps in terms of mitigating risks at a very early stage.

The security of our intellectual property and data is enhanced because of the roles we have defined very precisely. People only have access to the data they are supposed to have access to.

The most valuable features of Citrix are the remote desktop advantages and the remote desktop environment for our remote users.

When it comes to the security and protection of critical business applications and desktops, it works very well. We were able to achieve what we were looking to do using the Citrix solution. It provides all of the features required for the protection of data. For example, we don't want to allow any copy/paste of data to an outside environment, and we are able to restrict the VDI to not allow any data transfer from the VDI to the local laptop's hard drives. That is one of the greatest advantages the solution provides. We also lock the USB.

We get complete control using the single, cloud control pane of Citrix. Using it, we can control the deployment of VDIs, which helps.

There is room for improvement because it has a lot of dependency on Active Directory and other things. If they could come up with something similar and native, a complete solution portfolio would help.

We have been using Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops for about one year.

As of now, we don't have any plans to increase our usage. Our consumption has been good during COVID, but we have been able to achieve what was required from our existing licenses.

There were some issues initially, in terms of the requirements, and there were some delays.

We did not have a previous solution.

Once we entered into an agreement to use the service, it took three to four months before we could start using it. The initial setup at our end to use the service took about a month to a month and a half. It was complex to some extent in our scenario, but as we worked on it and did a deep dive, we were able to do what was required for the deployment.

In general, they met our expectations for services delivered on time, on budget, and on spec.

We had our enterprise architect team and the project teams deploying the solution, as well as the respective business people who would be working very closely with their end-users. It was a team of 45 to 50 people. For maintenance, we have administrators as well as people who handle the required setup for the environment and who do troubleshooting.

We had help from a Citrix partner. From a project management standpoint, I would rate them at eight out of 10. The project management resources are not available from Citrix itself. They have to rely on partners and, sometimes, the partners also have to rely on the OEM.

The prices quoted initially were on the very high side, and there was room for negotiations, considering the competition and the options that are available directly from Microsoft now. The Microsoft options were not that mature at the time we were looking for a solution.

We looked at other solutions to some extent, but Citrix had already been in the market for a long time, so we started using Citrix. 

Citrix does not have its own hypervisor and VMware was very close competition. It would have also been a good, equivalent choice and there would not have been a problem using it. Then we looked at the financials and that aspect was left to the procurement department for negotiations. Overall, we gave a slightly higher rating to the VMware product, but senior management said that they would like to go with Citrix.

My advice would be to look at the options available and at your specific requirements. You need to find the best match for the overall integration of your ecosystem in terms of how it is with Office 365. And you may be using multiple SaaS solutions. The product you choose should be able to match all of those requirements.

The biggest lesson is that, during COVID, Citrix has come in handy for us for working remotely. It's a good solution.

The solution provides the flexibility of being used on most devices, but not on every device. It covers 80 to 85 percent of devices. In terms of the user experience, when we asked employees to work on the VDI, they were not entirely happy, considering the performance compared with a normal laptop or a desktop. But overall, the user experience is good, an eight or 8.5 out of 10.

The solution has enabled us, as an organization, to embrace thin-client computing, but I wouldn't say we have seen savings as a result. Citrix cannot function alone for organizations that have Office 365 deployed. Office 365 forces you to pay for a lot of other solutions and services that Citrix also has to rely on.

I am using Citrix Workspace when I work from home. I use Citrix to remote in.

Since COVID, we are able to work. That is how half the state is functioning right now, is through remoting in through Citrix Workspace.

The most valuable feature is connectivity. The remote connection is the reason we are using this solution.

We have other in-house software that we use to fix our issues.

This solution is resource-intensive, it takes a lot of Bandwidth and a lot of the resources of the server.

In the next release, I would like to see it support dual monitors.

I have been using Citrix Workspace for the last seven months, since March.

We are using the latest version and we just completed an upgrade.

I support the helpdesk and use this solution to remote into other users' PCs to help them with their issues, such as word processing, email issues, and things of that nature.

It's stable, providing you have the bandwidth to run it. Also, it depends on your internet provider.

It's not really glitchy. It's just that if you have the bandwidth to run it.

We have at least 25,000 to 30,000 users using it in this state.

We have directors, we have nurses, and we have doctors. We even have our state schools on it. It's like everybody that works for the state is using it.

It's a scalable solution, I have no issues with it.

I have never had to use technical support.

I have never used another solution. This is the first time we've ever had this situation come up, and the first time that I've ever had to work from home and remote in.

The initial setup was pretty easy. 

All that you have to do is download the Workspace app to your home computer, and you have to load the receiver onto your work computer and connect.

For others who are interested in using this solution, I would say try it, go with it. It's not a bad product. Just make sure that you have the bandwidth to run it, and a decent PC, because it is resource-intensive.

I would rate Citrix Workspace a nine 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.

It was used to publish internal resources for our clients.

Our clients were very happy with the technology because they could continue with their work. For example, one of our customers had headquarters and branches. All users in the branches were using Citrix Virtual Apps and they were very happy because they could work from the branches. It helps the company or the environment to centralize all its resources and allows all users from all the branches to reach those resources without needing them in every branch. It saves costs, operations, and maintenance—everything.

It's a very useful solution for on-premise environments because it creates flexibility by serving the resources and providing accessibility to users who are far away.

In addition, when remote users are using the solution it provides security for the organization's intellectual property and data.

The solution provides everything in one integrated platform, which is great for our customers.

Citrix Virtual Apps is the most valuable feature. Many customers use this feature to publish only applications, and not the full desktop. They can publish the internal resource or allow the end-user to reach a site or an application without having the full desktop. That's why they love this feature. It helps them save on resources.

It also provides the flexibility of being used on any device. It makes for a good employee experience because they are able to log in using any device and reach the resource.

We also utilized the centralized policy to apply things to all users or to categorize the users. Once users were categorized we could apply policies based on the categories. It was very helpful. We could allow users in category "A" to reach some of the resources, and allow users in category "B" to reach other resources, based on their requirements. For example, we could block USB for some categories and allow it for other categories.

There is also access control based on device, location, end-user device, or application. This is a good feature because it adds to the flexibility. You can give access based on many factors.

The Endpoint Management solution needs improvement when it comes to mobile device management. For example, they are still not supporting Windows 10 and this feature is required by many customers.

I have used Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops for about six years. I have done many deployments.

It's stable.

It's also scalable.

We have deployed it to companies that have between 500 and 3,000 employees.

There are people who respond quickly, but others take a long time to solve things. They need to focus on support and to improve support procedures.

The initial setup is "medium," between complex and straightforward. It still depends on an SQL database, and there are many components, compared to other solutions. Other solutions are easier than Citrix.

On average, deployment takes one week.

Our implementation strategy is just to follow the installation guide.

I have worked with VMware Horizon. To be frank, Horizon is easier to use because it's an endpoint solution. Horizon covers everything, one of the main points being that it covers Windows 10 for mobile device management. With Citrix, this does not exist. Many customers who are looking for this feature cannot use Citrix. At the end of the day, the customer is looking for one solution to manage everything: Android, iOS, Windows 10, virtual applications, and virtual desktop.

Just follow the guide.

Our clients used the following for protecting their environment: Citrix Gateway/Single Sign-on; Citrix Secure Browser; Web/URL Filtering; Web App Gateway; Citrix Endpoint Management; Citrix ADC.

I use Citrix DaaS to connect to devices.

Citrix DaaS is pretty slow. In Citrix DaaS, I have to connect to the computer in another form and always have to keep waiting. Sometimes, I click on Microsoft Teams or Outlook, but it doesn't work at all. We use a few PDM (product data management) software in another company, and they're pretty slow through these things. So we always have to keep waiting, and a lot of time goes wasted.

The speed and connectivity of Citrix DaaS could be improved. Most of the time, it doesn't work for any colleagues. At least one or two employees complain about the solution's speed every day.

I have been using Citrix DaaS for a month.

Citrix DaaS is not a stable solution. I rate Citrix DaaS two out of ten for stability.

I rate Citrix DaaS ten out of ten for scalability because it is scalable and it's been used in a huge form. Around 1,000 users are currently working with the solution in our organization.

The initial setup of Citrix DaaS is very easy. I rate Citrix DaaS ten out of ten for its ease of initial setup.

Getting access to Citrix DaaS took a while, but installing the solution took five to ten minutes. Just one person is enough for the solution's deployment.

I won't recommend Citrix DaaS to other users. I don't know if there are any other better solutions. However, Citrix DaaS is also a good solution if the speed issue is resolved.

Overall, I rate Citrix DaaS a four or five 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.

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.