Microsoft Remote Desktop Services and Amazon WorkSpaces compete in the virtual desktop space, each with unique advantages. Amazon WorkSpaces gains the upper hand with superior speed and low-latency support suitable for multimedia and distributed teams.
Features: Microsoft RDS offers ease of use, seamless integration with Microsoft products, and centralized management, facilitating IT control over software installations and updates. It supports independent sessions and load balancing. Amazon WorkSpaces is distinguished by fast, low-latency performance and robust security. It integrates well with AWS ecosystems, offering scalability across various locations.
Room for Improvement: Microsoft RDS struggles with user interface optimization and network bandwidth constraints affecting remote access. The complexity of Single Sign-On and Citrix integration with RDP protocol security concerns are noted. Amazon WorkSpaces needs improvement in pricing structure and third-party app support, with some users finding initial setup complex and management slow.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft RDS is primarily on-premises and hybrid cloud-based, providing familiar deployment paths within Microsoft's ecosystem. Community support is valued, though technical assistance is inconsistent. Amazon WorkSpaces uses public cloud deployments, enabling rapid setup and scalability for cloud-first strategies. However, technical support ratings are lower, with a preference for better self-service tools.
Pricing and ROI: Microsoft RDS is often included in Windows licensing, viewed as affordable despite complex licensing models. ROI is positive, with efficient resource management in controlled environments. Amazon WorkSpaces uses a pay-as-you-go model, with cost based on usage and configurations. While some find it costly, the scalable offerings align with user-demand agility.
By unlocking a locked situation, I mean we couldn't connect to a server in any other way, so we had to use RDP.
Microsoft Remote Desktop Services has helped us to be efficient; we are a team of five serving the entire region of Africa and the Middle East, and it has truly improved our overall efficiency as a team.
I would rate the technical support from Amazon as nine out of ten.
I would rate the customer support of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services a 10.
Interacting with Amazon's customer support seems to route the request to the correct team almost immediately, resulting in quicker responses.
Compute can be increased or decreased as you pay as you go for Amazon WorkSpaces.
The solution is highly scalable.
Microsoft Remote Desktop Services scales very well; I could scale it to however many users I would want.
My impression is that most of the solutions, especially today, make sense for large corporations with 2000 seats or more.
Amazon WorkSpaces can sometimes function as a black box, making it difficult to diagnose why a workspace is slow on any given day due to limited visibility into network latency from the client, real-time CPU and GPU utilization, and storage bottlenecks.
A single orchestrator tool could assist with discovery, implementation, and image building for Amazon WorkSpaces.
I also understand that this tool is in an end-of-life state now, with Microsoft actively pushing people towards Azure Virtual Desktop or Windows 365.
On macOS, we sometimes experience keyboard connectivity issues.
Microsoft Remote Desktop Services can be improved by better integrating it within Teams or providing a Teams integration to connect to customer support teams or other systems' accesses using Remote Desktop internally, rather than as a separate individual tool.
These licenses are not cheap, as they add up in cost.
I understand it can get quite expensive and also complex to manage these different licenses.
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Microsoft Remote Desktop Services was that the licensing was acceptable, but I think the cost was fair.
The positive impact of Amazon WorkSpaces on the organization includes teams becoming productive on day one, reduced cost per employee, the ability for contractors to join instantly and leave without paying for the full term, easier compliance, lower risk of data loss, peace of mind when using contractors and remote staff, easier onboarding, easier offboarding, and security cleanup.
The solution is secured with strong encryption features in Amazon WorkSpaces.
The main benefits that Microsoft Remote Desktop Services provide to me include streamlining my working process, ensuring security, and offering flexibility to connect to virtual desktops and apps from multiple devices.
Using Microsoft Remote Desktop Services has helped my team save time and improve productivity because we had Microsoft servers that were impossible to connect from our MacBook Pro laptops, and once we started using RDP, we could connect and move forward to deliver the project.
The best features Microsoft Remote Desktop Services offers include providing me administrator access, certain inbuilt client tools, and the ability to remotely access enterprise applications, as well as helping me validate whether certificates exist or are missing, or near to expiry.
| Product | Mindshare (%) |
|---|---|
| Microsoft Remote Desktop Services | 5.9% |
| Amazon WorkSpaces | 2.1% |
| Other | 92.0% |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 6 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 2 |
| Large Enterprise | 10 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 41 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 16 |
| Large Enterprise | 34 |
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.”
Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is a highly regarded remote access tool in addition to being a top-ranked Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) solution in the marketplace today.
Microsoft Remote Desktop Services (RDS) is a suite of valuable elements of the Windows operating system (OS) that serve specific desired objectives. Microsoft RDS integrates various features that allow approved users to gain access to graphical desktops and Windows applications remotely. Approved users are able to deploy applications or even a complete desktop without having to install anything on their devices. Everything remains in the cloud. This ensures that there are never any compatibility issues and keeps the organization's original network secure at all times. Administrators are also able to ensure that data cannot be stored in any unapproved location, such as the local device, unapproved drives, or any other location.
Microsoft RDS makes it easy for business organizations to access Windows Desktops and other Windows applications remotely to ensure today’s busy enterprise organizations are able to maintain the highest levels of productivity at all times. There are two basic ways organizations can effectively utilize RDS.
Microsoft Remote Desktop Services Benefits
Microsoft Remote Desktop Services has many benefits. Some of its most valuable benefits include:
Microsoft Remote Desktop Services makes it easy for busy enterprise organizations to stay productive and remain competitive in today’s aggressive marketplace. An organization's end-users can be given access to their own specific desktops from any location, anytime, using any approved device. Additionally, users can access Microsoft applications without having an effect on their device's resource capacity or performance.
Reviews from Real Users
“What I found most valuable in Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is accessibility because the solution lets you take control of your computer remotely, and that's a good feature.” Pascal B., IT consultant at Secoptrial
“The most valuable features of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services are unification, central management, and accessibility.” Jan S. Solution Architect at a tech services company
“The most valuable features are that it is fast and cost-effective. I am not aware of a replacement currently on the market.” Ramon H. Director at Empaco
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