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Dell Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Services vs Horizon 8 comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 5, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Dell Virtual Desktop Infras...
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
15th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
2.2
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
Hosted Virtual Desktop Services (1st)
Horizon 8
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
6th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
117
Ranking in other categories
User Virtualization (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category, the mindshare of Dell Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Services is 1.1%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Horizon 8 is 6.8%, down from 7.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Horizon 86.8%
Dell Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Services1.1%
Other92.1%
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
 

Featured Reviews

SA
IT Lead at a outsourcing company with 51-200 employees
Centralized virtual desktops have boosted secure client access and daily productivity
Dell Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Services is hosted centrally in data centers where I log in to the virtual desktop interface to work on client applications. I get access to all client applications on a daily basis, including application permissions and working access, all related to client applications with the help of a VPN network. Dell Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Services has had a huge impact on getting connected to a customer's application. It provides seamless access to the client's network, and with the help of a VPN, I connect to the client system and take a remote session to work on daily tasks. It has increased productivity significantly, and Dell Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Services is stable and scalable. It has been able to grow with our needs.
SF
Architect at Softcat plc
Architects have improved desktop environments and now optimize operations for diverse clients
From my perspective, there is significant room for improvement in Horizon 8. Many customers are actively seeking alternatives to VMware due to recent licensing changes after Broadcom's acquisition, necessitating upgrades or bundles that they often do not require. Given that Omniser builds on VMware technologies, this creates a negative perception, pushing customers to consider different brands or solutions.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"It has increased productivity significantly, and Dell Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Services is stable and scalable."
"Dual E5-2600 v3 Xeons, DDR4 memory and the best storage potential makes the PowerEdge T630 a highly versatile server."
"VMware has a lot of experience in virtualization — they are the pioneers in virtualization."
"VMware Horizon View is an easy-to-use solution."
"The benefits of this solution are that it is modern and it works perfectly well with the rest of the VMware environments we have. Having this vertical integration is what matters to us as an organization and this solution excels in this area. You deploy it and it works without much hassle."
"I appreciate the ability to have a more centralized environment."
"I think this is the best solution for VDI in VM for VM users and developers."
"The most valuable feature of VMware Horizon 7 is its ease of use."
"If it is a uniform VDI client, such as all Windows 10 systems for users to log in, like on host environment, or it's all a server farm, etc., for those kinds of environments, Horizon is a no brainer."
"The most valuable feature in this solution which really helped for my use case was the stand out three dimensional acceleration, which was really important for enhancing the performance for certain clients based on their scenarios."
 

Cons

"The service needs to work on strong integration with the VMware ecosystem and improve vendor support."
"App volumes introduces longer login times, printer mapping issues (print spooler crashes), and short cut configuration timing issues."
"VMware Horizon needs to integrate with Azure, Teams, and Zoom."
"VMware has purchased by Dell, they started to remove a lot of their support for non-Intel hardware and that's a bit of a problem. They dropped a lot of support for hardware that people commonly use and it just so happened that this hardware is not Intel. It makes it difficult to get assistance."
"From a performance point of view, we do have stability and reliability issues with Horizon 8. 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 are not satisfied with the storage vendor. I would like to see the VDP or other features for backing up the VMs."
"VMware Horizon View has worked a lot to improve the solutions. There are some issues in the delivery of the applications, such as network problems. You can lose your connection at times."
"The vendor must move the infrastructure into the public cloud."
"The initial setup was complex, and you need system experience to walk through it."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"We are happy with the price."
"The VMware Horizon 7 license is for three months. We are in the testing stage, we are still evaluating the product. We are sure now that we need to buy a license for the production environment."
"There is a monthly subscription for the use of this solution and it is expensive."
"I don't know about the price. I know there are different tiers with the license, but I'm not sure exactly what it costs anymore."
"I rate the solution's pricing a five out of ten."
"I rate the product cost a six on a scale of one to ten, where one is high price, and ten is low price."
"VMware Horizon only has one license, which is a license to run desktops."
"The price of VMware Horizon 7 is more than some other solutions."
report
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908,834 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Manufacturing Company
11%
Construction Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business62
Midsize Enterprise23
Large Enterprise45
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Dell Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Services?
Dell Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Services can be improved by integrating more features with AI and incorporating an AI bot. Additionally, it should have strong integration with the VMware ...
What is your primary use case for Dell Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Services?
Dell Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Services functions as a peripheral for virtual desktop infrastructure that I use similarly with Citrix Virtual Desktop apps to work in a customer environme...
What advice do you have for others considering Dell Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Services?
Dell Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Services works on multifactor authentication to authenticate each user according to their MFA access, which secures registered users and gives permission t...
How does VMware Workspace One compare with VMware Horizon 7?
VMware Workspace One has a powerful set of helpful features. The solution offers very good documentation, the initial setup is easy, and the product is very stable and reliable. I think the fact th...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware User Environment Manager?
Regarding the pricing aspect of Horizon 8, I find it currently quite acceptable. After VMware was bought by Broadcom, the pricing was ridiculous, but now that Onmises has VMware Horizon 8, the pric...
What is your primary use case for VMware User Environment Manager?
I have experience with products from Horizon 8, and I am currently working with Omniser version. I have been working with Horizon 8 from Omniser for nearly two years now. I am currently working in ...
 

Also Known As

Dell Hosted Virtual Desktop Services
VMware Horizon, VMware Horizon View, Mware Dynamic Environment Manager
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Royal Opera House, University of the Sciences, Noritz America, University of the Incarnate Word (UIW), Fulton County
LCMC Health
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Services vs. Horizon 8 and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
908,834 professionals have used our research since 2012.