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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Remote Desktop Services

    Score7.7 out of 10
    N/ARemote Desktop Services from Microsoft is virtual desktop and remote user session technology.N/A

    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

    Pricing
    Remote Desktop ServicesOmnissa Horizon
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    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
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Remote Desktop ServicesOmnissa Horizon
    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
    Remote Desktop ServicesOmnissa Horizon
    Considered Both Products
    Microsoft
    Chose Remote Desktop Services
    Overall, remote desktop is so much easier to use if you are OK with the limited tools that it offers. If you're just looking to simply connect to another computer and make some quick changes, it is the way to go and the fastest way to do it. It is very simple and no frills!
    Incentivized
    Chose Remote Desktop Services
    We used RDS on-site primarily because of how easy it is for users to transition from their own desktop to a remote desktop. However, from off-site, there are VPN and other security considerations to take into account, and the process gets a little more complex. In this …
    Incentivized
    Chose Remote Desktop Services
    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 …
    Incentivized
    Omnissa
    Chose Omnissa Horizon
    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. …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    8 Answers
    100%
    Would buy again
    19 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    8 Answers
    94%
    Delivers good value for the price
    16 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    88%
    Happy with the feature set
    7 Answers
    84%
    Happy with the feature set
    16 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    6 Answers
    92%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    11 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    88%
    Implementation went as expected
    7 Answers
    92%
    Implementation went as expected
    12 Answers
    Features
    Remote Desktop ServicesOmnissa Horizon
    Remote Administration
    Comparison of Remote Administration features of Remote Desktop Services and Omnissa Horizon
    Feature
    Remote Desktop Services
    4.6
    5 Ratings
    53% below category average
    Omnissa Horizon
    -
    Ratings
    Screen sharing8.25 Ratings00 Ratings
    File transfer4.65 Ratings00 Ratings
    Instant message1.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Secure remote access with Smart Card authentication6.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Access to sleeping/powered-off computers1.12 Ratings00 Ratings
    Over-the-Internet remote session6.85 Ratings00 Ratings
    Initiate remote control from mobile3.64 Ratings00 Ratings
    Remote management of servers & workstations8.24 Ratings00 Ratings
    Remote Active Directory® management8.64 Ratings00 Ratings
    Centralized management dashboard2.23 Ratings00 Ratings
    Session record2.23 Ratings00 Ratings
    Monitoring and Alerts3.13 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Remote Desktop ServicesOmnissa Horizon
    Small Businesses
    N-able Take Control
    Score7.2 out of 10
    VMware Fusion
    Score7.3 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Remote Desktop Manager
    Score9.6 out of 10
    VMware Fusion
    Score7.3 out of 10
    Enterprises
    BeyondTrust Privileged Remote Access
    Score9.1 out of 10
    VMware Workstation Player
    Score9.9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Remote Desktop ServicesOmnissa Horizon
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.8
    (20 ratings)
    8.5
    (40 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    6.0
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    8.4
    (5 ratings)
    8.1
    (7 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (4 ratings)
    Support Rating
    3.0
    (1 ratings)
    1.0
    (11 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.7
    (3 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Remote Desktop ServicesOmnissa Horizon
    Likelihood to Recommend
    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
    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
    Pros
    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
    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
    Cons
    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
    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
    Likelihood to Renew
    Microsoft
    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
    Usability
    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
    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
    Performance
    Microsoft
    There are some third party tools available that allow you to manage multiple connections.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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
    Support Rating
    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
    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
    Alternatives Considered
    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
    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
    Return on Investment
    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
    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
    ScreenShots