Citrix Virtual Apps (formerly XenApp) vs Parallels RAS

• Xenapp uses a proprietary system (IMA/FMA) to more quickly deliver the screen shots, mouse clicks, etc...being done on the servers back to the users screen. This system is faster than any other app delivery programs protocols and for most users the apps are fairly seamless and run as if they were local as to speed.
• Xenapp does require some training but overall is not overly technical in nature which helps in quickly ramping up into managing and configuring it.
• XenApp's one main goal is to publish applications to user desktops. It does that better than any other solution on the market. There are alternate ways of doing this including simply using Microsoft's built in App delivery product but you will encounter more issues and a less than happy user experience if you try to pay less and skip adding XenApp into the mix.

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• Speed: Connection times are dramatically improved with Parallels, and overall, we experience less latency.
• Stability: We see far fewer hiccups with disconnect issues and reconnections are much faster after internet issues.
• Customization: Parallels has excellent tools for configuring web portals, endpoints and farms on the fly without needing to fire up entire farms to make changes.

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• Cost - Licensing costs are not cheap.
• Local printing is not installed by default. It took some time getting printing set up for each individual user.
• Application compatibility is an issue when Citrix XenApp is updated, we were forced into purchasing not only an update, but also new office software.

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• Remote install is one of the coolest features, but sometimes doesn't play well with domain policies such as recommended CIS Baselines in different VLAN zones.
• Would be nice if seamless apps showed up as dock icons in macOS the way Parallels for Desktop does.

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• Allowing staff to complete time sensitive work. i.e. Accounting processing payroll, billing. Staff meeting deadlines for client production products.
• Time installing and configuring software occurrences is externally cut down. Such as personal profile configuration of toolbar's, files, shortcuts, etc.
• Software licenses reduced.

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• The ROI with RAS can be measured in no downtime for our users versus the previous product we used. It seems that the prior product we used was always having connection issues, but RAS runs smoothly and without worry that we're going to have an outage.
• In today's world, the ability to provide access to LOB applications is crucial. The major part of our sales team works on the East Coast with the main office in Western Pennsylvania. Having a stable platform for our remote workers was crucial to the success of our business.

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