

Citrix DaaS and Horizon 8 are competing products in the virtual desktop infrastructure category. Citrix DaaS often has the upper hand due to its broader feature set and comprehensive management capabilities across diverse environments.
Features: Citrix DaaS offers comprehensive management features, flexibility across environments, and secure access from multiple devices. It is well-regarded for WAN optimization, user profiling, and efficient workload provisioning. Horizon 8 excels in seamless application management with embedded features, user-friendly setup, and tight integration with VMware environments.
Room for Improvement: Citrix DaaS struggles with complex Active Directory configurations and high costs due to licensing issues, along with occasional performance lags. Horizon 8 requires significant investment in training and can be costly, especially with licensing. Enhancements are needed for simplifying cross-platform usage and security improvements.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Citrix DaaS offers a mix of on-premises and cloud-based deployments, providing flexibility but sometimes leading to complexity. Its customer service is generally positive with some variability. Horizon 8 focuses on integration within VMware environments, receiving praise for technical support but needing more accessible resources.
Pricing and ROI: Citrix DaaS is viewed as expensive due to its complex licensing but promises long-term savings through reduced hardware costs. It targets extensive setups with a gradual ROI. Horizon 8 offers competitive but sometimes expensive pricing, contingent on scale of use, benefiting larger organizations more with its efficiencies and features.
If support comes from Ireland, it can be good, rated at nine or ten.
The first level often wastes time because I usually have to escalate to an engineer for proper support.
Citrix support is better than Microsoft support.
Resolving issues is often complicated due to it being a complex product.
The main areas needing improvement are response speed and quality of answers.
Our support from VMware expired last December.
It supports over 100 apps and 20,000 users in our organization, demonstrating impressive scalability.
The platform can scale to very large numbers.
Citrix DaaS offers vast scalability options as workloads can be deployed across multiple data centers like Azure, Google, or AWS.
I evaluate Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) as a very stable solution and very sturdy in how it operates.
Citrix DaaS allows for satisfactory stability by facilitating workload deployment in various data centers including Azure, Google, or AWS.
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.
We can scale by adding additional servers and connection servers.
Citrix should have different pricing based on company size.
Creating App-V applications is not an easy task and could take from hours to weeks without success.
This makes it challenging to remain with them, and it becomes necessary to explore alternatives to achieve the same performance with less expense.
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.
The integration with Workspace ONE to make it more simple and easy for customers to adopt is another aspect.
We have limited capabilities since we are not using a multi-instance solution, just single instances.
Citrix DaaS is considered expensive, especially for companies that do not require multi-cloud.
I rate the cost-effectiveness of GenApp of Citrix equal to our CMS; it is quite cost-effective.
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.
With Citrix, all connections are outgoing, minimizing firewall vulnerability.
The scalability of Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) is impressive, supporting over 100 apps and a user base of 20,000 within our organization.
Users can use Teams solutions and open a bridge where video and audio are encapsulated within the ICA protocol, which is protected by SSL and certificates for security.
The solution has data leak prevention features that ensure data is not copied from the base machine to VDI.
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.
Centralized management of desktops is one of the main reasons customers choose this solution.
| Product | Mindshare (%) |
|---|---|
| Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) | 13.6% |
| Horizon 8 | 6.8% |
| Other | 79.6% |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 45 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 21 |
| Large Enterprise | 69 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 62 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 23 |
| Large Enterprise | 44 |
Citrix DaaS provides centralized administration, high security, and app and desktop flexibility, offering excellent user experience and robust remote access. It is known for low bandwidth seamless performance and ease of use, ensuring consistent experience on diverse devices.
Citrix DaaS is a comprehensive service for virtual application delivery and remote access, ideal for distributed teams and mobile workers. Its support for application virtualization, data regulation compliance, and business continuity makes it valuable in remote work environments. Organizations use it for centralized management and secure remote workflows, benefiting from low-bandwidth delivery in multi-city deployments. However, enhancements in speed, performance, and scalability are necessary, along with better monitoring and pricing improvements. Users face cloud compatibility challenges, and improvements in virtual desktop functionality and multimedia experience are desired.
What are the key features of Citrix DaaS?In healthcare, Citrix DaaS supports secure access to patient records and applications essential for telemedicine. Financial services benefit from compliance with data regulation and secure workflows. In education, virtual desktops offer accessible learning resources, aiding remote teaching initiatives. Retail uses it for streamlining operations across dispersed locations, ensuring quick access to inventory systems and data management.
Horizon 8 offers centralized management and robust security with ease of deployment and scalability. It provides virtualization and remote access to devices across platforms, ensuring improved performance and reliable remote desktop experiences.
Horizon 8 integrates instant clone technology, a security gateway, and supports USB redirection while minimizing bandwidth consumption for efficient resource utilization. Featuring a powerful administrative console, it simplifies backend control with a user-friendly interface. While effective, it can improve in areas like audio redirection, app volume configuration, and Azure integration. Enhanced connectivity, performance, and monitoring capabilities could elevate user experience alongside clearer licensing terms.
What are Horizon 8's key features?Horizon 8 is widely implemented in industries like education, healthcare, and finance where it enhances remote work by securing virtual desktops and applications. It supports virtual desktop infrastructure enabling secure connection to internal resources, data center consolidation, and application delivery meeting specific industry needs.
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