Cisco Webex Support (discontinued) vs. XenServer

We use WebEx Support Center in the IT department to support users as well as work with vendors remotely. This applies to physical desktops, laptops, and Virtual Desktops. We have around 200 employees. Most employees work in one of our offices, but we do have at least 5-10 users who are more frequently remote than they are in the office. It helps us remotely access machines we wouldn't otherwise have access to, due to lack of physical access. It's excellent for troubleshooting access problems from users' personal machines, as well.

Incentivized

It can be really helpful & useful if we are using Citrix Hypervisor with other provisioning tools. Here are some specific scenarios where Citrix Hypervisor (formerly Citrix XenServer) is well-suited: Server Consolidation, Virtual Desktops, Disaster Recovery, Development & Testing Environments. On the other hand, there are some scenarios where Citrix Hypervisor may be less appropriate: Small-scale Deployments, Highly Heterogeneous Environments, and Limited Virtualization Requirements.

Incentivized

• Simple Remote Access - WebEx Support Center works with either a permanent install or temporary executable, so you don't have to worry about users being particularly comfortable or knowledgeable about software installation. It also doesn't matter if the user is on an account without admin rights, you can still connect and see what's going on using the temporary executable.
• Robust Access Options - You can take see the user's screen, take control of their screen, send files, and retrieve files. It's a great tool for troubleshooting issues that users might be experiencing and doesn't depend on them being able to find the files that you need to properly troubleshoot their issues.
• Great performance - Even when users don't have a particularly great internet connection, you can still typically get good results and help them quickly. You're not going to do it over dial-up (if that even still exists for anyone), but it works acceptably well even over very modest DSL or satellite internet connections.

Incentivized

• Citrix hypervisor does price very well for small organizations. It is free.
• Since this product is open source it does not have any type of vendor lockdown issues.
• Allows live migration of VM's so you can keep systems up and running when changes are needed to the hardware in the background.
• The GUI management tools are quite easy to learn.
• Has Snapshot capability which is a great way to protect against malware as well as do risk-free upgrades.

Incentivized

• During initial setups it can be a little confusing.
• The look and feel is a little rigid. It feels like it is in need of a smoother UI update.
• When a new user is introduced to webex and they are asked to share their desktop, it maybe a little difficult for the user to navigate to the correct buttons.

• Adding or presenting additional storage to the host can often be a task that is far more involved than competitive products.
• The product can require reboots more frequently than competitors due to the DOM kernel getting "hung up".
• Sometimes when a virtual machine is deleted it still leaves behind orphaned vdisks.
• Recovering from the loss of a host can sometimes cause virtual machines to require lengthy command prompt scripting to fix so they can be powered back on from another host.

Incentivized

The Enterprise package we purchased (Event Center, Remote Support, Meeting Center, and Training Center) for 100 users is the same annual price as GoToMeeting for 25 users. We will renew as it is a package deal. If it were just WebEx Remote Support, we would not renew at all.

With the knowledge and usage of solutions from VMware and Microsoft offering more compelling cloud integrated options it makes it more compelling in many environments which I consult. XenServer is a good product and fits the bill in many smaller environments but as clients look to the cloud or a hybrid cloud it can in some cases make it a bit more difficult.

Incentivized

Honestly, there are people available. But none of them will help you with your issues. They just keep assigning new service engineers who are often clueless.

XenServer is a good product in its use and probably free if you have the right Citrix licenses already. However, it does require specific knowledge to manage, which makes it harder to manage if you don't have that knowledge in house.

Incentivized

It's been a little problematic in the past at larger VDI deployments requiring a bit more care and feeding than other vendors. But the latest releases (6.5.x) have brought about huge improvements in the stability and availability.

Incentivized

When running like a top XenServer is a fantastic hypervisor. There is relatively low overhead on the Dom0 so workloads get the most of the resources.

Incentivized

As a user of Cisco Webex Support, I have never had to contact Cisco for technical support as it is a very easy to use tool.

Incentivized

The staff I've worked with are very knowledgeable or able to get a very well articulated and capable support team member on the phone or helping them if necessary and they always want to ensure the best experience possible for you on the platform. The ability for the support team to reach out to hardware vendors for assistance is a nice plus too.

Incentivized

Part of a training for certification to become a trainer for Citrix included an in-person training with a Master CCI. The XenServer training at this time was pretty simplified due to the product primarily being installed however you did have to work with it and mildly configure the system.

Incentivized

Haven't given it a real go with any online training however there are some options out there. I have taught a course following Citrix material for XenDesktop which leverages XenServer and it is pre-built so not the best for XenServer specifically for installation but configuration is mildly touched on

Incentivized

Ensure you review the HCL (hardware compatibility list) and reach out to the hardware vendors to ensure they support the platform and in case they have documentation that can be followed for the implementation. Also ensure the prerequisites are completed prior to implementation so that as few unexpected delays occur as you can control.

Incentivized

I would say that Cisco Webex Support stacks up pretty evenly in capability, but in some regards (video clarity, toll-free access, etc.) they were even better. Where they did provide a better solution for toll-free access on audio bridges, their audio quality was worse for those that wanted to use VoIP for the audio conference bridge.

Feature for feature they are neck and neck. I have used Hyper-V 2012 and 2016, VMware ESXi and XenServer evenly. XenServer is a fast install, good documentation, with enterprise features out the box that compare or exceed what VMWare offered with a higher cost of entry.

Incentivized

The servers latest versions have made massive improvements to scalability. But from past experience there have been issues when running workloads for extended periods of time without reboot on the hosts. I would need to run similar workloads on the 6.5 release which has changed much of the bottlenecks or issues so I'd imagine its far more capable now, Perhaps able to stand near the best in the market.

Incentivized

• WebEx Support Center works pretty excellently for us as we are a small shop. We are experienced and have pretty good skill sets. WebEx Support Center is an excellent product for our use cases with our users and client to troubleshoot issues.
• WebEx Support Center is more expensive than our previous product MXIE or Logmein. It has a more user-friendly UI, and overall performance is better and reliable.

Incentivized

• Xenserver is easy to learn. We paid for support only for installation and deployment in the first three years, and now our team has the knowledge to solve most problems.
• Low CAPEX if you have a team that uses open source software day by day.
• But paid support is necessary to solve critical problems. The open source community is not enough. Actually, we have difficulty solving some bugs without paying for support.
• Medium OPEX if you have a team that uses open source software day by day.

Incentivized