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Amazon WorkSpaces vs. Omnissa Horizon vs. Unidesk (Discontinued)

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Amazon WorkSpaces

    Score8.7 out of 10
    N/AAmazon WorkSpaces is a managed, secure cloud desktop service. Amazon WorkSpaces removes the complexity in managing hardware inventory, OS versions and patches, and Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI).

    $21

    per month

    Omnissa Horizon

    Score8.1 out of 10
    N/AA VDI solution used for the secure delivery of virtual desktops and apps from on-premises to the cloud. It is used to deploy, manage, monitor and scale desktops and apps across private, hybrid and multi-cloud infrastructure using a cloud-based console and SaaS management services.

    $4.67

    per month per user

    Unidesk (Discontinued)

    Score5.7 out of 10
    N/AUnidesk was a virtual desktop technology from the Massachusetts company of the same name, and acquired by Citrix. It has reached End of Life (EOL).N/A
    Pricing
    Amazon WorkSpacesOmnissa HorizonUnidesk (Discontinued)
    Editions & Modules
    Starting Price
    $21.00
    per month
    Maximum Price
    $140.00
    per month
    Horizon Apps Standard
    $4.67
    per month per user
    Horizon Standard Plus
    $5.79
    per month per user
    Horizon Apps Universal
    $6.00
    per month per user
    Horizon Enterprise Plus
    $10.71
    per month per user
    Horizon Universal
    $12.50
    per month per user
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Amazon WorkSpacesOmnissa HorizonUnidesk (Discontinued)
    Free Trial
    NoNoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details———
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Amazon WorkSpacesOmnissa HorizonUnidesk (Discontinued)
    Considered Multiple Products
    Amazon AWS
    Chose Amazon WorkSpaces
    Amazon WorkSpaces has been a simpler experience for me. I've used multiple versions of VMware (hosted and installed) and each has their positives and negatives. Amazon WorkSpaces just works. I've never had performance issues, persistence issues, or really any issues with it.
    Incentivized
    Omnissa
    Chose Omnissa Horizon
    I think the reason VMware Horizon View has done so well is the lack of competition in this area. We have considered the Microsoft equivalent, but are concerned that their support will be worse than VMware (which can be pretty frustrating, to be honest).
    Incentivized
    Discontinued Products
    Chose Unidesk (Discontinued)
    Unidesk provides a very simple to use interface that makes it easy to use and manage. Everyone in our department wears many hats, so minimizing complexity is essential to our ability to manage a stable system with minimal overhead.
    Incentivized
    Chose Unidesk (Discontinued)

    While we implemented Unidesk through a VMware Horizon View front-end, VMware's actual holdings in persistent/non-persistent desktop deployment leans more towards the side of non-persistent desktop optimization. VMware Horizon Persona management and other tie-ins often cost more …

    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    7 Answers
    100%
    Would buy again
    19 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    6 Answers
    94%
    Delivers good value for the price
    16 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    7 Answers
    84%
    Happy with the feature set
    16 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    92%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    11 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    80%
    Implementation went as expected
    4 Answers
    92%
    Implementation went as expected
    12 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Best Alternatives
    Amazon WorkSpacesOmnissa HorizonUnidesk (Discontinued)
    Small Businesses
    VMware Fusion
    Score7.4 out of 10
    VMware Fusion
    Score7.4 out of 10
    VMware Fusion
    Score7.4 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    VMware Fusion
    Score7.4 out of 10
    VMware Fusion
    Score7.4 out of 10
    VMware Fusion
    Score7.4 out of 10
    Enterprises
    VMware Workstation Player
    Score9.9 out of 10
    VMware Workstation Player
    Score9.9 out of 10
    VMware Workstation Player
    Score9.9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Amazon WorkSpacesOmnissa HorizonUnidesk (Discontinued)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.0
    (7 ratings)
    8.5
    (40 ratings)
    8.1
    (7 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.1
    (7 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    1.0
    (11 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.7
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Amazon WorkSpacesOmnissa HorizonUnidesk (Discontinued)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Amazon AWS
    With a substantial free tier, AWS is a solution for fast, reliable and secure access to tools and workflows for any project. AWS is still the most intimidating cloud solution to approach. While there is no shortage to power and solutions, it is not for the faint of heart. It is easy to get lost while using AWS though the solution is there. Amazon WorkSpaces (VDI) requires an IT manager with experience deploying applications and building databases. Comparably, Parallels is a much easier UI to navigate, along with many open source and free options.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Omnissa
    VMware is well suited to a business where there will be many remote users needing to connect to the companies desktop. The installation on a remote computer is simple and is easy to use remotely but can be complicated to set up on the back end on the office system. It may not be worth the effort for a company that has few people who need remote access.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    Right now, I would advise it to anybody who has 1,500 or fewer users they wish to provide desktops for. I would advise to go with persistent desktops or use a UEM solution like AppSense or RES Workspace Manager when trying the non-persistent desktops. I would suggest that using an AppVirt product like App-V with Unidesk still makes a lot of sense as you can use Shared Content Store Mode and sequence once for many. AppVirt solutions still have value with isolation. I would suggest looking at Turbo browsers for their redirect feature to an sandboxed browser running legacy IE or a browser with Java or Flash (to eliminate security threats related to these running locally on the system). Also, I would suggest looking at Atlantis for deduplicating those desktops and allow them to perform quicker with less storage required. Unidesk by itself is awesome. It really simplifies things. Throw it together with other products and each compliments the other well. Also, Unidesk makes some of those other products more valuable as you're not completely reliant on them like you would be without Unidesk.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Amazon AWS
    • Quick, clean access to the VDI images.
    • Easy provisioning of images to use based on multiple criteria.
    • Integrating with our other products (AV/AM, productivity, etc.).
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Omnissa
    • It provides a robust, secure, rich desktop environment that is able to access all internal network resources.
    • Addresses security and compliance concerns as all data resides within the internal network. All data accessed stays within the internal network and does not need to traverse a VPN to the local desktop where it may be cached, etc.
    • The connection is thin client that does not require large amount of bandwidth.
    • Client application is available for all common devices and O/S’s.
    • No need to install, configure and maintain applications on local desktop.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • Creating application layers is easy to do. It's just a matter of installing the applications as you would normally do on a computer.
    • Unidesk's technology isn't sandbox like VMware's ThinApp technology so it works much better and is more compatible with other software.
    • The admin console and technology in general is easy to learn for the administrator while it's transparent to the end users.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Amazon AWS
    • Copy and paste does not work well
    • The performance is degraded during the day being slow at the end of the journey
    • Some user interface issues displaying the page
    • Sometimes when I type a word a letter is pasted many [times]
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Omnissa
    • Move away from Adobe Flash version in UI, currently on the path but they need to hurry up
    • Speed up the boot process of the environment when servers need maintenance
    • Provide clear steps on what should be upgrade path in terms of components, the order
    • price! A bit too much
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • Disaster recovery options for the Unidesk solution are not easily accessible or require personalized attention from support.
    • Issues when creating software layers do not always have a obvious fix. Make sure to look for and follow Unidesk's published "recipes."
    • The software/OS layering introduced by Unidesk is not "sanctioned" behavior by Microsoft, and thus you're at the mercy of Unidesk's ability to keep up with widespread changes to operating systems.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Amazon AWS
    No answers on this topic
    Omnissa
    We are committed to VMware Horizon and we plan to stick with it for the future unless something drastically changes.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    Unidesk has been a solid product for us. We continue to rely on its simplicity and scalability.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Amazon AWS
    For its Primary purpose in our organization, providing developers and testers a clean, isolated and configurable environments which saves hours. The usability is nearly perfect. Usability is only suffering when user is into more intensive task like any kind of graphic works. At that time user is not experiencing the smoothness like a local machine
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Omnissa
    Because it delivers what it promises, I am giving this rating. While there is scope for improvement, it does the job and meets our requirements reasonab;y well. It helps our remote resources connect to our environment securely and improves their productivity. We also get to access our client environment from remote locations and complete the tasks assigned to us.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Amazon AWS
    No answers on this topic
    Omnissa
    There are a lot of things that went into my rating from the ease of use compared to other systems to the limited amount of issues I have had with this one. Any issue with this system has been identified and resolved in a much quicker manner than I have seen with like systems.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Amazon AWS
    AWS support in general is pretty good, and WorkSpaces is no exception. We haven't had too much need for support but on the occasion we have, they've been quick to respond and helpful. Our issues have been resolved rapidly.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Omnissa
    It is surely way better than Citrix, but it could improve a bit. Usually, they send us the solution without saying what was the root cause so we can avoid breaking something in the future. Besides that, VMWare support answers in an OK time-frame and even speaks our language (Portuguese).
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Amazon AWS
    Cisco AnyConnect is a VPN client and using a VPN can reduce the internet speed. It is not quite reliable as workspaces. Cisco AnyConnect is not at all optimised for linux machines. They suffer a lot from crashing and loss of internet speed. Workspaces works quite well even on linux machines
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Omnissa
    Although I really prefer Microsoft Remote Desktop for accessing Windows servers (from Windows machines especially), and this can be done from off-site with a VPN, this entails much more effort, namely getting everyone's Active Directory in the correct group to have access. VMWare Horizon is a much simpler solution in terms of granting access. Chrome Remote Desktop and TeamViewer are really not viable solutions for remotely accessing servers in business settings, although they work alright for home servers and such, especially from off-site.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    AppVolumes seems to be a lot less mature as a product. It does have some benefits over Unidesk e.g. the fact it doesn't include the OS Layer (image management) side means I can just use it for the app layering piece if I like. I can also deploy my application layers to physical desktops BUT I have had less success compatibility wise with my applications as AppVolumes 'AppStacks'. I believe Unidesk has a better handle on the do's and don'ts, or at least may be a little more honest about them. I also don't enjoy the Console with AppVolumes and while I can use it without the image management or tied into the stack the way Unidesk is...you also lose that image management and need to couple it with another product in some scenarios. FlexApp to me is stronger than AppVolumes. FlexApp is coupled with a profile management solution called ProfileUnity which makes it a more attractive alternative (at least at the time of me posting this). However, I prefer other UEM products at this moment in time. I also value the image management and ease of a single console for all of Virt Desktop management that Unidesk provides.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Amazon AWS
    • Faster project deliverables
    • Security of our database
    • Have complete control over virtual networking
    • Vds Lagging issues at times due to heavy usage
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Omnissa
    • Saved money on PC purchases.
    • Save a lot of man hours by not having to image new PCs. We just create one Template VM and clone the others from that.
    • Bit of a learning curve to get the deployment right for the environment.
    • Ability to make sure VMs always turn back on once they are shutdown. This speeds up load times for users.
    • Less management for our PCs. If one gets a virus or something corrupts we just refresh it and within 5 minutes the user is back to work.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • Storage density with Unidesk (via the use of OS/application layering) is 60-70% improved over standard persistent one-to-one virtual desktops.
    • Unidesk virtual machines can be deployed in under 10 minutes by a lower tier of technician without the need to "touch" the vCenter hypervisor.
    • Reliable performance across Unidesk virtual workstations. Added desktops/layers does not adversely effect performance nearly as bad as older persistent desktops.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots