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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Citrix DaaS

    Score8.7 out of 10
    N/ACitrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops, or XenDesktop) is a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and application virtualization solution from Citrix.

    $375

    Remote Desktop Services

    Score7.7 out of 10
    N/ARemote Desktop Services from Microsoft is virtual desktop and remote user session technology.N/A
    Pricing
    Citrix DaaSRemote Desktop Services
    Editions & Modules
    Virtual Apps
    $375
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Citrix DaaSRemote Desktop Services
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Citrix DaaSRemote Desktop Services
    Considered Both Products
    Cloud Software Group
    Chose Citrix DaaS
    We have tried two alternates, one of which is not listed in this web sites database. Normal MS Remote Desktop Services/Terminal Services and 2X Applications Services. Both had similar offerings to Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops (formerly XenDesktop), but both had the same …
    Incentivized
    Chose Citrix DaaS
    Citrix Virtual Apps & Desktops is platform agnostic (we can use any underlying hypervisor technology) and really flexible for any use case. Using a golden image and provisioning it (with Machine Creation Services or Provisioning Services) is powerful and really straightforward, …
    Incentivized
    Chose Citrix DaaS
    Other products were more cost efficient, offered a better support contract, were much simpler to configure, and had better documentation.

    We chose Citrix over the alternatives, because one of our customers required the use of Citrix for the connection of third-party vendors.
    Incentivized
    Chose Citrix DaaS
    Easier to utilize, implement and manage.
    Incentivized
    Microsoft
    Chose Remote Desktop Services
    Mainly licensing optimization, as Remote Desktop Services CALs are needed anyway for other products.
    Incentivized
    Chose Remote Desktop Services
    We have reviewed Citrix Xen Desktop and VMware's VDI solutions. For the cost, when compared to what Remote Desktop Services can provide us there was no contest. Remote Desktop Services can provide us all the features we require with little to no cost since we are an EA customer …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    22 Answers
    100%
    Would buy again
    8 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    21 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    8 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    22 Answers
    88%
    Happy with the feature set
    7 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    94%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    16 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    6 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    94%
    Implementation went as expected
    17 Answers
    88%
    Implementation went as expected
    7 Answers
    Features
    Citrix DaaSRemote Desktop Services
    Remote Administration
    Comparison of Remote Administration features of Citrix DaaS and Remote Desktop Services
    Feature
    Citrix DaaS
    -
    Ratings
    Remote Desktop Services
    4.7
    5 Ratings
    51% below category average
    Screen sharing00 Ratings8.35 Ratings
    File transfer00 Ratings4.75 Ratings
    Instant message00 Ratings1.01 Ratings
    Secure remote access with Smart Card authentication00 Ratings6.02 Ratings
    Access to sleeping/powered-off computers00 Ratings1.12 Ratings
    Over-the-Internet remote session00 Ratings6.85 Ratings
    Initiate remote control from mobile00 Ratings3.64 Ratings
    Remote management of servers & workstations00 Ratings8.24 Ratings
    Remote Active Directory® management00 Ratings8.64 Ratings
    Centralized management dashboard00 Ratings2.23 Ratings
    Session record00 Ratings2.23 Ratings
    Monitoring and Alerts00 Ratings3.13 Ratings
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    Citrix DaaSRemote Desktop Services
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    Score9.6 out of 10
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    Score9.9 out of 10
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    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Citrix DaaSRemote Desktop Services
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.0
    (55 ratings)
    7.8
    (20 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.2
    (4 ratings)
    6.0
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    9.0
    (7 ratings)
    8.4
    (5 ratings)
    Availability
    8.4
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    7.4
    (4 ratings)
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.9
    (8 ratings)
    3.0
    (1 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    8.3
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.0
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    8.4
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    2.4
    (4 ratings)
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    9.2
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    5.2
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    7.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Citrix DaaSRemote Desktop Services
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Cloud Software Group
    DaaS is ideal in large-scale environments that require centralized, secure management. Remote workforces at large organizations. Highly regulated industries like finance. It allows for easy security and monitoring over one aspect instead of multiple remote machines. DaaS is not ideal for organizations with small budgets due to the pricing and organizations with lousy network connectivity. This would make the end-user experience terrible.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    This is well-suited if you need to log in to a remote machine on occasion to make updates or change configurations. It is also good for a production environment or for environments where people need to log in to use common applications, so you don't need to install the application on each individual client.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Cloud Software Group
    • Enables remote access anywhere, to any device which eliminates managing the endpoints how traditional VPN would require.
    • Integrates well with modern applications to offer optimized user experiences similar to native applications which increases user acceptance.
    • Extremely flexible in how policies are applied to different use cases to ensure the appropriate security mitigations are in place with minimal effort.
    • Easy to maintain and expand environments to fit business needs.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • When you connect with RDS, everything looks and feels (and is) exactly like you're sitting at that desktop. This is great for us and for users.
    • You can sign in with RDS and the desktop will be the same as when you left it (if you choose to set it up that way).
    • Although they take some setup, RemoteApps are a very handy way to let users access a program without requiring them to actually connect to a remote desktop on the server.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Cloud Software Group
    • A single console to manage the environment.
    • The configuration is a bit complicated and we have hired Citrix administrators. But it's a good solution.
    • User profiles need improvement. They could use more stability and more functionality as well as user profile redirection.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Remote Desktop Services currently does not support multiple monitors on the terminal server. Unlike other applications such as Teamviewer, there's no feature to toggle between multiple screens even if they were connected to the terminal server.
    • Remote Desktop Services should provide an option to scale up or down the screen size after a connection is established. Currently you can only adjust the screen size prior to a connection is established. So you'll have to take a best guess at what display screen resolution will fit best on your screen.
    • Remote Desktop Services should offer some kind of menu to send special key strokes like Ctrl+Alt+Del to the terminal server. Currently the substitute for that particular combination is Ctrl+Alt+End. But I have yet to discover a replacement for other combination keystrokes such as Alt+PrintScrn.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Cloud Software Group
    Because it has been a mainstay of our business for many years.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    Cloud Software Group
    Getting the environment setup took me three months of off and on work, with 3 complete rebuilds of the environment. Utilizing the WebUI to access the environment had presented so many random issues that we had to require end users to use the Citrix Reciever App. As it was the only stable solution. Aside from that, it hasn't required much admin intervention since the stand-up was completed.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    The initial setup for Remote Desktop Services is complex, and licensing is costly. Each user connects to their virtual desktop hosted by a single server or group of servers, so a change or issue with servers quickly impacts every single user at the same time. Aside from that, users appreciate seeing their same personal desktop from any device or geographical location.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Cloud Software Group
    Xendesktop did a great job with HA of all the components.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Cloud Software Group
    The performance of XenDesktop is the best in the industry because of the fine-tuned protocol and years of updating. Overall, I don't think there is a better performer on the market. The question is if the added complexity of running XenDesktop is really worth the performance gain. While the latest version of XenDesktop is the easiest to deploy so far, it is still more challenging than the competitors.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    There are some third party tools available that allow you to manage multiple connections.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Cloud Software Group
    The support is great when you get an engineer that knows what they are doing but getting that individual sometimes takes a while. Overall, they are professional and polite and competent in their knowledge. Sometimes the cases are open for an extended period of time which becomes very frustrating when dealing with critical issues.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    As with any Microsoft Server product, support for Remote Desktop Services requires a paid support package. These are license-based and very costly, on top of the already costly product licensing. Microsoft's licensing is complicated to begin with, so setting up licensing alone essentially requires a licensing expert's counsel. There is community documentation and support available on Microsoft websites, as well as community websites.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    Cloud Software Group
    I was self trained
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    Cloud Software Group
    Easy to understand and learn at my own pace
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Cloud Software Group
    Take it slow and read the directions each step of the way. If you are not familiar with Citrix products, use a reseller or other experienced engineer to assist you in the setup of your environment
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Cloud Software Group
    Citrix Virtual Apps & Desktops is platform agnostic (we can use any underlying hypervisor technology) and really flexible for any use case. Using a golden image and provisioning it (with Machine Creation Services or Provisioning Services) is powerful and really straightforward, compared to the complexity in Microsoft RDS of maintaining a coherent farm, or the limitation of VMware Horizon to run on VMware Products.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    We selected Remote Desktop Services based upon price alone. Other solutions on the market are significantly more expensive, but if your company can foot the bill you should seriously consider products that have been on the market for longer. The lack of an ability to easily upgrade farm servers has been a challenge for us - although it is still faster than updating an application on 2000+ machines. The lack of a centralized management console in 2008 R2 is also challenging, but you get by with the tools available to you. If you don't have the money to spend on Citrix or VMWare Horizon, Remote Desktop Services is a decent replacement.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Cloud Software Group
    Easily scalable
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Cloud Software Group
    • XenApp has allowed us to continue support of legacy applications and all access of those applications to users across the globe with any device.
    • XenApp can also manage software licenses by restricting number of users, number of concurrent sessions, or combination of both to required specification.
    • While initial investment in XenApp can be costly, continuing support and upgrade are very cost effective and product stability is excellent.
    • While there are competing products from Microsoft and VMware, when it comes to remote application access, XenApp is the best of breed.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Allowed remote users access from home
    • Shared file access for multipolar users from a centralized location
    • Cost to add additional users when maxed out
    • Purchase multiple licenses for programs to run in virtual machines. Or unable to run on a virtual machine
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots