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Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops (formerly XenDesktop) is a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and application virtualization solution from Citrix.XenDesktop is a win!XenDesktop is being used by multiple departments across the entire organization in order to facilitate safe and fast connections to company resources remotely.,Fast connection Secure connection Ease of use for new and existing users Simple user interface,Can run a little slow depending on the applications Overall desktop lag is present Works with Mac but not without issue occasionally.,8,It has decreased the need for more and more company PCs Saved money long term Fewer computers for IT to service,,10,Microsoft Office 2016, Skype for Business (formerly Lync), Adobe PhotoshopIf XenDesktop wasn't required by a customer, I would use something elseCitrix XenDesktop is utilized at our Datacenter to provide our third-party offshore developers access to internal company resources while maintaining a good security standing. XenDesktop prevents customer data and/or proprietary code from being downloaded external to the company and leaked to competitors or our customer's competitors.,All Management resources can now be installed on a single server. Reducing the overhead required to maintain a citrix environment. Granularity of the Delivery groups allow you to define allowing a remote user to connect to a random XenDesktop VM or individually assigning VMs to users. HDX RealTime Optimization Pack has stabilized some of the issues of utilizing all of the features of Skype for Business in a ZenDesktop VM.,Product documentation is bloated with information and lacks documentation on assisting with first time setup. Customer service offers very little assistance when it comes to using your support contract. Default Policy, out of the box, allows Clipboard, File Share, Printer Sharing, Drive redirection, and others security risks that should be disabled by default. Screenshots are not prevented, other products blank a screenshot or sniping tool image. Watermarks are the only security citrix offers and are disabled by default. Renewal cost of support contract is 80% of initial purchase price. Other companies renewal cost is significantly less. End users who do not properly log off can leave a hung connection, and requires manual deletion of the connection for users to re-connect.,1,Performing windows and ESXi updates have had to be delayed because of conflicts with Citrix code. This required time consuming justification, memos, and approvals from customers. Developers installing packages on their VMs to test new code have caused a VM to lose connectivity with Delivery controller and sometimes unregister the VM. Security Audits from a majority of our customers approve the use of Citrix without much scrutiny, as it is trusted to be a secure solution. Expediting over that section of the audit.,Remote Desktop Services, VMware Horizon (formerly VMware View) and Parallels Desktop,XenApp, Citrix ADC (formerly NetScaler ADC), Cisco Umbrella, Mitel Applications Suite, Team Foundation Server,7,8,1High performance and ease of managementWe use XenDesktop across the organization to bring high performance to an application whose client would otherwise operate far too slowly across the WAN link from our central data center. The management of the solution is the biggest reason we continue to use it because it requires low effort to maintain and the support is very good.,Management of the entire solution is central and intuitive. Printing is simple and easy to manage.,Deploying the client and updating it are a challenge at times.,8,We have yet to hire another person because the demand on staff to support the product is not too high.,VMware Horizon (formerly VMware View),VMware Horizon (formerly VMware View), Rubrik, Microsoft SQL Server,9,9,9Work from anywhere at your speed!My company uses the XenDesktop as a way to access our work environments from anywhere. This offers employees the flexibility to access our work and perform our job anywhere there is an internet connection. Life is busy, things happen, and having the ability to work remotely without any complications is a signification stress relief.,Fast connectivity Easy installation Stable connection, no drops,Connection can sometimes "stutter" when moving between screen setups (example: docked laptop, multiple monitors, etc.),8,Increased employee productivity,XenDesktop For Ease of Use & ManagementXenDesktop is used to give Windows access across all of our locations while at the same time giving our IT department easy access to troubleshoot and update software. We have multiple locations across many states and XenDesktop enables our company to make Windows sessions manageable.,XenDesktop runs Microsoft Office software very well. It's as speedy as running on your own hard drive. XenDesktop enables users to easily share files across shared servers. XenDesktop makes it easy for IT in other locations to troubleshoot user issues.,XenDesktop is not good for running Adobe Creative Suite. XenDesktop is not good for color accuracy when compared to print output. XenDesktop is not good for fast response when accessing large image files.,8,Lessens hardware costs. Lessens on-site IT costs. Lessens IT headcount needed for multiple locations.,Adobe Illustrator CC, 1&1, Google AnalyticsGood Product, Functionality Could be ImprovedMost of our organization uses XenDesktop--we run Outlook through it, our database system, and store all our files on it. It allows everyone who uses it to access all the files and information from anywhere, which is really convenient. We have people who work offsite, as well as 2 different office locations, so it's really helpful to have one place for everything.,Can be accessed from anywhere One central location for everything to be stored,Sometimes the system freezes I've run into issues where it tells me I have multiple instances of a program running even if I don't I wish the mobile versions worked better,6,Ease of access to information Ability for people to work offsite as needed Increased opportunities due to the ease of access,Cision PR Software, Hootsuite FreeXenDesktop for Secure MobilityXenDesktop is used as our virtual desktop when we are working remotely. It is used for all employees who telecommute to ensure a secure connection to our servers. It allows us to work on anything we have saved wherever we are working remotely without concern of security.,Security Authorization Desktop mirroring,Speed could be improved. But this will always be an issue for connecting to servers. Direct mirroring of desktop would be better than a similar desktop setup for all employees.,6,It has enabled more access to telecommuting.,Trello, OneNote, Microsoft ProjectCitrix VDIWe use XenDesktop for the whole organization. The business problem it address is that we are in the process of using XenDesktop for remote access with NetScaler Access Gateway so we can shutdown our VPN. The reason [for this] is so we don't have to open a hole into our network with a VPN. Since XenDesktop is just a screen refresh it solves the security issue on that front. We also use XenDesktop for fast roll out since upgrading and patching is done on one master image. On the client side we use Wyse Zero client. Using all these technologies helps streamline IT as a whole to cut costs in the long run. We can focus on backend projects instead of fixing physical computer issues.,Remote access. Even with high latency, HDX helps with working no not so ideal situations PVS server lower IOPS and faster image management USB redirection is a nice for remote users,Technical support is lacking. Flash or HTML Videos lag with Zero clients. Support cost is expensive when their support is really poor.,7,Saves on help desk FTEs since we only need one - since we use Zero clients which has no moving parts and goes right to storefront. Going from physical to VDI helps on speed of not having to re-image a system. With VDI we just have to log off and back on. The up front cost is expensive compared to physical, but once you start expanding VDI it's easier to roll out vs. physical. The cost will go down over time with more users.,,AppSense, GoToMeeting,300,2,Remote access speed Secruity Roll out and repair,We are using Xendesktop to roll out to a business we acquired We use it for external vendors,We will use it for our DR plan,7,No,Price Product Features Product Usability Product Reputation Prior Experience with the Product Vendor Reputation Existing Relationship with the Vendor Third-party Reviews,None since I been working with Citrix product for over 10 years.,Implemented in-house,Yes,Change management was a big part of the implementation and was well-handled,Profile PVS write cache IOPS,9,Self-taught,10,10,The product is easier to install, but to learn I would say no. Training will cover the basics, but it won't cover all the tuning you will need to do to make it run smoother. There is a lot of resource on the web for anyone to get started, but the best way is to build an environment and start playing whit it.,10,Get an expert to help deploy and configure the environment.,No - we have not done any customization to the interface,No - we have not done any custom code,None,Yes,7,Yes,Most of the time CItrix product just works. I can't remember a time I gave them an good review for support since it's lacking.,Install is now easier Storefront is easier now remote access is easier when using Netscalers with Xendesktop,Understanding how everything works as a whole isn't easy Can't just know Xendesktop also have to know how windows and GPO work,No,7,10,10,10,NetScaler VMware,Third party patching software Security devices,Single Signon,10,None.,3,2,It was very hard to negotiate with the vendor if you are a small shop.,Make sure you buy more license and more product to get the discount %.,Yes,HTML5 FrameHawk New storefront,Faster storefront access Remote access without having Citrix receiver using HTML5 Bug fixes,No,NoAccess Company Servers Anywhere With XenDesktop!XenDesktop VDI is used by those in our organization who need to remotely access servers with a virtual machine interface. This is accessed through Citrix XenApp and then through and RDP client to connect to the server and launch a virtual machine to manage it. To date, there have not been any problems reported with using the XenDesktop that I'm aware of.,It makes connecting and managing a server through VDI simple. Easy to access through the Citrix XenApp for anyone regardless of location. Gives options for Dedicated, Full Screen, and Partial Desktops.,Sometimes the VDI system can be in maintenance mode which keeps users from being able to connect to them. No other issues reported.,10,Positive - Allows multiple users to access remote servers from anywhere in the world with a web browser and internet connection. This allows server administration to run more smoothly and troubleshooting to be instantaneous.,,Skype for Business, Microsoft Office 365, Avaya Aura Platform, SnagitXenApp is a powerful, but complex Desktop/Application virtualization systemWe use XenDesktop (XenApp) in published desktop mode to facilitate users at remote rehabilitation clinics to perform their clinical work with patients on wireless laptops and desktops at the clinics. Typically the clinic will only have a T1 WAN connectivity back to the datacenter on a MPLS network and bandwidth is a real concern. It is also used for remote workers and as a work from home method.,XenDesktop 7 provides two effective methods of managing session host updates and keeping them consistent within a machine group. In prior versions of XenApp/Metaframe, each host had to be updated individually resulting in inconsistencies across the resource pool. XenDesktop 7 provides several efficient methods to maximizing session performance while minimizing bandwidth utilization. We can effectively facilitate an average of 8-10 clinicians at a remote site across a 1.5MB WAN link, working in multiple applications, printing, scanning and streaming video. XenDesktop 7 enables user mobility by using a common interface across multiple platforms - Windows/Linux/IOS and OS X.,Monitoring and troubleshooting tools are lacking. Unless you can afford the costly step up to Platinum licensing, there is little native visibility into the Inner workings of the system, or into the ICA tunnel protocols. there are third party tools available, but because ICA is licensed by Citrix, there are only a few vendors who have the ability to really see what is occurring under the covers. Profile management is very sloppy. Once again, a third party tool is required to effectively manage roaming profiles and keep login times down to a manageable level. UPM allows profiles to grow dramatically and requires careful monitoring and frequent intervention. The Citrix Receiver client (Windows) is quirky and often causes end user performance and UX issues. Installing and upgrading the client is not straightforward or easy, although Citrix has been improving this weakness in recent releases.,6,It has enabled us to do more with less. WAN bandwidth and optimization products are very expensive. This product has allowed us to avoid expensive network upgrades or costly WAN optimization products. End User satisfaction has been largely poor. With its lack of native troubleshooting tools, users tend to blame any network or application issue on Citrix, and support often cannot dispute their claims without laborious investigation. XenDesktop 7 has been a huge improvement over XA6 and 5, and is heavily relied upon by about 40% of our business.,,VMware ESXi, Veeam Backup & Replication, Veeam ONE,800,,Remote office clinicians Home workers remote workers,By publishing applications rather than entire desktops. This requires careful planning and testing, and is a project that we are evaluating.,9XenDesktop - A cut above the restWe utilize XenDesktop to provide seamless access to virtualized desktops and applications across our 16 satellite locations.,Ease of Management Scalability Ease of Use,Integration with third party server and storage vendors,9,Better customer service Ease in troubleshooting,MIcrosoft Remote Desktop Services and Microsoft Terminal Services,300,5,Ease of Use Managability Scalability,Deliver access to personal desktops through storefront,Not sure,10,No,Price Product Features Product Usability Prior Experience with the Product Vendor Reputation,I would not.,Implemented in-house,No,staging training,9,Self-taught,,8,Yes. Very easy to learn,8,not really,No - we have not done any customization to the interface,No - we have not done any custom code,storefront rebranding,No,8,No,Support ticket for Netscaler for use with XenDesktop. Support team understood and resolved problem quickly.,deployment catalog and delivery group creation,Intregration with vmware integratioj with netscaler,Yes, but I don't use it,8,9,8,9,netscaler vmware,No,,9,Use it. Its great,8,6,Xendesktop licensing and support,no,Yes,Advanced features of XenDesktop and support for multiple OS's,Not sure,No,NoIf you're going to do VDI, go with XenDesktopWe leveraged XenDesktop internally for our cloud hosted product, which allowed SMBs to leverage our hosted infrastructure and use their applications. I also helped other enterprise businesses implement XenDesktop in their environment. As a consultant it was used across an entire organization as well as per department. The business problems it addresses is accessing data and applications from any device across a geographically diverse organization.,XenDesktop gives speedy access to a full Windows desktop using its own ICA protocol. This is far and away better; a better experience than remote desktop which can "draw" slowly over low bandwidth connections. XenDesktop can leverage local resources like dual monitors, and printers to provide a rich multimedia experience and make the user feel like they are using a local desktop. XenDesktop eliminates data residing on local devices, which can help in the event of an endpoint being stolen or damaged. The user can be assigned a new laptop/desktop, download the Citrix client, and immediately re-connect to all their applications and data.,XenDesktop can benefit from application virtualization suites like Microsoft App-V, however this functionality isn't built into XenDesktop. Some products are close like personal vDIsk, but the ability to manage a single image and stream users' application to that image would lessen maintenance. XenDesktop used to offer a free 10 user version (Express) in XenDesktop 5.X however this is no longer available in 7.6 and is sorely missed to help ease customers into XenDesktop. Most all of the Express installs that I performed in 5.X became licensed and paying customers after 10 seats. Remote access requires Netscaler which can be tricky to setup. This would mostly be a request to make NetScaler setup more seamless, intuitive, and wizard driven.,7,XenDesktop allows remote access to data from any device, allowing users to even BYOD, even allowing users to work from home and telecommute. Saving costs on office space. XenDesktop helps a company attain a higher level of security as data does not reside on the device, and you have more control over the users' access to your environment. XenDesktop is pricy from a licensing standpoint. It requires a special Windows VDI license as well as some decent infrastructure to run it. If your environment has room to grow, you should be fine with XenDesktop. If you are already strapped for resources, prepare to make a substantial investment.,VMWare ViewXenDesktop thoughts found hereWe use XenDesktop as a global solution for our company's users to access resources in several different regions. It allows our users to work closer to where their applications and data are opposed to trying to access those resources directly from their endpoint device.,Flexibility to find the best configuration for your company's needs. Good options/tools for managing the environment. Suite of products that support XenDesktop like Storefront and NetScaler. Well established company in Citrix that has been developing this technology for over 20 years.,While you can present multiple global sites in one pane of glass to users, from an administrative standpoint they must be managed separately. XenDesktop is more complex than previous Citrix products (XenApp).,9,Faster turn around when on-boarding new users. Faster and simpler application updates or upgrades. Some initial difficulty for user's change in workflow and administrative/help desk understanding when coming from a legacy workstation environment.,VMware Horizon ViewIf you're still debating on trying XenDesktop, Here's why I approve it!XenDesktop is mostly used by Finance, HR and Management. It is a great light weight solution as opposed to desktops. Mixed with our Citrix environment, we couldn't be happier.,App Streaming Connectivity Ease of use Powerful and Secure,None that I can point out at this time.,10,Lower hardware costs Flexible between devices Easy policy implementation Users are generally happy about their new desktop experience,XenDesktop in healthcare can lead to happier staff and healthier patientsXenDesktop serves as our platform for delivering virtual desktops to doctors and nurses throughout the hospital. It improves productivity by allowing users to easily move between patient rooms and other areas of the hospital without having to repeat the login process and application startup each time. Coupled with proximity card authentication and single-sign on, password reset requests and login times are considerably reduced.,Minimizes new desktop provisioning time. Allows for a standard desktop image which increases stability, decreases downtime, and simplifies updating. Increases user productivity while moving between devices.,For 2008 R2 Hyper-V environments, if VMM goes offline no new connections to desktops can be made. VMM cannot be clustered making it a single point of failure. Desktop Director could be more robust.,8,Increased productivity of nursing of ER and inpatient staff, leading to faster and more accurate patient care. Very positive feedback from VDI users who could not imagine having to go back to the "old way". Thin-clients and 0-clients should double the workstation life cycle versus traditional workstations. Large initial investment for server and storage infrastructure, Microsoft and Citrix licensing, and configuration of the virtual platform, XenDesktop, and other product integrations (single sign-on, provisioning services, third-party personalization and management apps, etc.) Integration of all components that compliment and support XenDesktop create a complex environment that increases quality and quantity of supporting staff.,8,NoCitrix XenDesktop 7.6 Rocks!!!XenDesktop is primarily being used by our IT, operations and off source resources. We are looking to expand it to other business units in coming months. XenDesktop facilitates us to deliver the same desktop environment from any device, anywhere over any type of network. It provides secure access to our enterprise desktop offerings whether it is VDI or RemotePC.,Key strength lies in Citrix's proprietary protocol ICA/HDX. It can handle traffic over high latency network very well. New FMA (Flexible Management Architecture) is a unified platform to deliver virtual desktops, application & physical PC access. XenDesktop is Hypervisor agnostic. We can run it on VMware ESX, Citrix XenServer or Microsoft Hyper-V.,Support for webcam & softphone. Definitely want to see improvement & bug fixes in RemotePC access. Offline VDI & application access to offset threat from Microsoft's Direct Access technology.,10,Citrix provides and supports and end-to-end delivery solution addressing many business requirements which is a positive impact on selection criteria. Citrix products provide a robust platform to offer different remote access scenarios to improve end user efficiency. Citrix definitely has upper hand when it comes to end user computing. They have been providing constant improvement to remote access technology for over 25 years since MODEM (dial-up telephony) days.,VMware Horizon ViewXenDesktop - Top of the packXenDesktop empowers our users to work from anywhere while maintaining a consistent and persistent user experience. Our mobile workforce is able to access the information vital to their job functions from any device, anywhere. XenDesktop allows us to present our apps and desktops to our staff in a way that is familiar and customizable to them for the context in which they are working.,XenDesktop allows for connections from any type of device. XenDesktop has fantastic delegated administration, allowing for large IT organizations to delegate tasks to support desk, junior and senior engineers. XenDesktop integrates desktop and application delivery seamlessly and is backed by the leader of the industry for decades. Provisioning XenDesktop with Provisioning Services provides unparalleled scalability and performance at a fraction of the time, cost and effort of other solutions.,Some legacy features have not yet made it to newer versions of XenDesktop architecture, specifically around troubleshooting information from EdgeSight. Citrix level 1 support can be painful at times. While nothing else compares to XenDesktop in terms of features and functionality, the lesser-featured rivals can be less expensive, so it can be a battle to demonstrate the total cost of ownership (TCO) against alternative solutions that have hidden costs.,10,Faster onboarding - A standard environment can be delivered in near real time as soon as accounts are made. Business Continuity - Even in a small hardware outage, users can resume work from any device. Consistent experience ensures hardware replacements go smoothly.,Remote Desktop, VMware Horizon View and VMware ViewReal Life Citrix Experience from a Citrix Service ProviderWe are a Citrix service provider and with Citrix, we deliver a hosted virtual desktop to our clients. Citrix XenDesktop allows us and our clients to seamlessly work from any location, with any device. We have several Citrix farms (sites), and utilize most, if not all, of the Citrix features.,Delivery of a virtual desktop across a high latency/high packet loss connection: When Citrix introduced Framehawk, we were excited to get it into production. The feature seems to work pretty well, but even the base implementation, when correctly configured, works well across the WAN. Access Interface: When users access the Web front-end or Receiver interface, it is a visually pleasing experience and invites users to connect to "Work". Scalability: Citrix allows us to scale our deployments in a quick and easy way with Machine Creation Services (MCS), or Provisioning Services (PVS). We have many small clients with dedicated images and with MCS we can give them the benefit of a fresh "Golden Image" without the added cost of additional servers.,File accessibility: Currently, Citrix offers the ability to transfer files to and from their virtual desktop via client mapped drives. This works ok, but can be clunky and a little slow at times. ShareFile is a good segueway, but can be a little cumbersome to set up in a Hosted-Shared environment. Offline access: With XenClient, users can run offline instances of virtual machines and still get the benefit of the virtual machine managed from the datacenter. The process isn't very seamless and could be more integrated into XenDesktop. If a XenDesktop virtual desktop could be delivered to a users local machine and then cached, that would be a great solution.,9,This has helped us scale in a fast and secure manner. When our clients acquire new business, we can easily spin up new machines and add to their capacity quickly. With Citrix, we allow all of our clients to work from anywhere which is a huge selling point. They are able to work from the office and then pick right back up from where they left off when they get home (or to the beach). Citrix has provided us with some great out of the box management tools such as Director, Studio, and HDX insight center for monitoring and customer service.,Just another XenDesktop reviewWe design and deploy XenDesktop solutions for large enterprise customers in a wide range of verticals as well as use it for demos in our lab environment.,More features NetScaler,Name changes Vaporware Platinum tax,9,VMware Horizon View,VMware Horizon ViewXenDesktop Pros and ConsWe use XenDesktop as a BYOD platform for knowledge workers and as a VDI platform for call center agents.,Easy to provision machines Easy to update systems Easy to apply policies,Better user control Better reporting More open API,8,It has provided positive ROI We have less desktop support staff Faster turn around for fixing issues,VMware Horizon View,Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager, VMware Horizon View, SplunkXenDesktop for increasing productivity and simplification of infrastructure managementXenDesktop is used to manage internet bandwidth at our remote locations as well as creating a standard set of applications, which are centrally managed and maintained. Our remote locations generally have T-1 or less connections, so bandwidth has to be carefully used. By keeping their applications and desktops on our data center end, it has lowered the amount of bandwidth used at the locations.,XenDesktop does a very great job at load balancing our applications and desktops across servers. It uses a load evaluator index to gauge the load on the server and sends new connections to the server in the group with the lowers LEI. The integration into our VMware environment has been critical. Using Machine Creation Services, I am able to create an image and all machines created from that image are reset to it upon reboot. No more worrying about a user corrupting one server and having to rebuild it or deploy again from a VMware template. Creating a new server in a group is easy and fast. Management of user sessions within XenDesktop's Director is simple and straight forward. Finding and managing a user's session is without complication.,The Director leaves a lot to be desired. I have had to resort to scripts and a custom page to get the information I need to properly manage our environment. The previous EdgeSight had detailed information that this just seems to leave out. There is no way to customize views, add or remove content, or otherwise customize for our brand. One thing left out from this version that was in previous versions, was the ability deploy applications from all servers, not just those in a delivery group. As it is set up now, you can only deploy an app to a specific set of servers in a delivery group. If I have Group A running SAP and Group B running Office, only Group B can host Office for the users, even if Group A has Office installed. It would make better use of my servers if I could have on application run from both groups and still load balance properly. It is possible to have it run from both delivery groups, but the load balancing functionality appears to not work correctly. A new functionality in the Feature Packs (1 and 2) was session recording. The functionality is useful, but is still clunky and uses a large amount of storage space. I have yet to see a way to auto purge old recordings without manually deleting them. Storage may be cheap now, but it still needs to be managed and used wisely. Being able to purge old recordings would go a long way.,9,Our ROI has come primarily from costs of network services to our remote sites. Most have T-1 services and 10+ users. Connection to Exchange, using remote applications, and general internet usage would put these sites over the bandwidth available on those circuits. Using Citrix to host the applications and only send minimal packets to the end user, has kept us from needing to order bonded circuits. We are now able to provide better customer service by being able to remote control the user's session and able to go back and watch a previously recorded session to see exactly what was happening. Our third ROI is increased employee productivity. With applications and desktops centrally managed, we can perform updates without impacting the user experience. Updates are done on the template and then deployed to the server on its next scheduled reboot. Servers can be put into maintenance mode and not in group usage while maintenance is performed. It has increased our helpdesk productivity, by decreasing the amount of individual desktop maintenance needed.,VMware Horizon View,800,6,Usage of SAP for our remote users and centrally managing updates Desktops deployed for some remote locations for running multiple applications where deploying apps would be less practical. Microsoft Office usage across the company to standardize and simplify management of the software.,Deploying our web based time clock in a central location. PowerShell scripting for the product is available. I have built scripts that look for common issues and initiates actions to resolve the issues.,We may begin using thin clients and deploy desktops via XenDesktop solely.,10,No,Product Features Product Usability Product Reputation Prior Experience with the Product,I believe I got the selection process done right the first time. I may take a longer look at alternatives and pricing, but the selection process was done well and the product functions for us exactly as we need it to .,Implemented in-house,Yes,Change management was a minor issue with the implementation,Ensuring users had the most recent version of the Citrix Receiver and connecting to the server was the most significant issue. This took a lot of help desk man hours to complete. A minor issue was the configurations of the StoreFront servers with the correct secure certificates. StoreFront will not work insecure (HTTP) if you are using NetScalers (which we are.),10,Yes,7,No,I was struggling with an issue in StoreFront where the certificates were installed, but kept getting error messages on the user side. The engineer assisted and found the root of the problem to be in the NetScaler.,The deployment of applications to the user are easy and without complication. The end user experience is also without issue. After launching the Citrix Receiver, the users simply need to choose their application and it launches and connects automatically.,Initial setup of StoreFront and Netscalers take a large amount of work. Configuring XenDesktop with delivery groups can take some time to sort out. All of the policies available take a great deal of time to go through. While there are defaults, there are no starting policies which are industry standard to maximize the efficiency.,Yes,10XenDesktop - The answer to most of your end user problems.We've used XenDesktop across the whole organization to solve a few challenges. Initially it has been set up as a solution for the remote offices to address the latency issue. Later it has expanded as a disaster recovery solution when deployed with Citrix Access Gateway, which later has been replaced by the NetScaler product.,Great for remote office deployments as it usually resides in the same data center as the servers and provides much quicker access to the resources avoiding high latency that is common on the intercontinental connections Good choice for the DR as it can be migrated between the data centers if needed. Good solution for remote access providing extra security over a VPN connection.,Using XenDesktop on a non computer device is a bit cumbersome. Not ideal for traveling users, who would need to work offline and carry a laptop with them to be able to use the XenDesktop.,8,Shorter lead time Longer hardware lifespan Better customer service and support,
  3. Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops (formerly XenDesktop) Reviews
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Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops (formerly XenDesktop)
52 Ratings
Score 7.2 out of 101
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Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops (formerly XenDesktop) Reviews

Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops (formerly XenDesktop)
52 Ratings
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Score 7.2 out of 101

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Lochan Kalicharan profile photo
September 09, 2019

XenDesktop is a win!

Lochan Kalicharan
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
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XenDesktop is being used by multiple departments across the entire organization in order to facilitate safe and fast connections to company resources remotely.
  • Fast connection
  • Secure connection
  • Ease of use for new and existing users
  • Simple user interface
  • Can run a little slow depending on the applications
  • Overall desktop lag is present
  • Works with Mac but not without issue occasionally.
Where access to company resources or shared drives are required. Because we are utilizing a large number of shared drives with various resources, XenDesktop becomes a must-have, especially for offsite users.
Read Lochan Kalicharan's full review
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June 13, 2019

If XenDesktop wasn't required by a customer, I would use something else

Verified User
Score 1 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Review Source
Citrix XenDesktop is utilized at our Datacenter to provide our third-party offshore developers access to internal company resources while maintaining a good security standing. XenDesktop prevents customer data and/or proprietary code from being downloaded external to the company and leaked to competitors or our customer's competitors.
  • All Management resources can now be installed on a single server. Reducing the overhead required to maintain a citrix environment.
  • Granularity of the Delivery groups allow you to define allowing a remote user to connect to a random XenDesktop VM or individually assigning VMs to users.
  • HDX RealTime Optimization Pack has stabilized some of the issues of utilizing all of the features of Skype for Business in a ZenDesktop VM.
  • Product documentation is bloated with information and lacks documentation on assisting with first time setup.
  • Customer service offers very little assistance when it comes to using your support contract.
  • Default Policy, out of the box, allows Clipboard, File Share, Printer Sharing, Drive redirection, and others security risks that should be disabled by default.
  • Screenshots are not prevented, other products blank a screenshot or sniping tool image. Watermarks are the only security citrix offers and are disabled by default.
  • Renewal cost of support contract is 80% of initial purchase price. Other companies renewal cost is significantly less.
  • End users who do not properly log off can leave a hung connection, and requires manual deletion of the connection for users to re-connect.
Citrix XenDesktop is useful when your company utilizes third party offshore developers that need to access internal resources with restrictions. And useful when you need to provide contractor or support technician temporary access to resolve an issue.

It can prevent customer data and/or proprietary code from the unsanctioned removal of company premise.
External auditors have been quicker to approve (and sometimes mandate) the use of Citrix as a trusted tool for external access.
Read this authenticated review
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January 25, 2019

High performance and ease of management

Verified User
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Review Source
We use XenDesktop across the organization to bring high performance to an application whose client would otherwise operate far too slowly across the WAN link from our central data center. The management of the solution is the biggest reason we continue to use it because it requires low effort to maintain and the support is very good.
  • Management of the entire solution is central and intuitive.
  • Printing is simple and easy to manage.
  • Deploying the client and updating it are a challenge at times.
Xendesktop makes the most sense in larger environments where multiple servers are needed to support the end users.
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Brad Rothwell profile photo
August 17, 2018

Work from anywhere at your speed!

Brad Rothwell
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Review Source
My company uses the XenDesktop as a way to access our work environments from anywhere. This offers employees the flexibility to access our work and perform our job anywhere there is an internet connection. Life is busy, things happen, and having the ability to work remotely without any complications is a signification stress relief.
  • Fast connectivity
  • Easy installation
  • Stable connection, no drops
  • Connection can sometimes "stutter" when moving between screen setups (example: docked laptop, multiple monitors, etc.)
Perfect for those who desire flexibility in where / how they connect to their online workspace.
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Emily P profile photo
August 09, 2018

XenDesktop For Ease of Use & Management

Emily P
Score 8 out of 10
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XenDesktop is used to give Windows access across all of our locations while at the same time giving our IT department easy access to troubleshoot and update software. We have multiple locations across many states and XenDesktop enables our company to make Windows sessions manageable.
  • XenDesktop runs Microsoft Office software very well. It's as speedy as running on your own hard drive.
  • XenDesktop enables users to easily share files across shared servers.
  • XenDesktop makes it easy for IT in other locations to troubleshoot user issues.
  • XenDesktop is not good for running Adobe Creative Suite.
  • XenDesktop is not good for color accuracy when compared to print output.
  • XenDesktop is not good for fast response when accessing large image files.
XenDesktop is well suited for normal business applications such as Word and Excel. It is also good for basic internet access and email usage. I have found it is not good for graphic design and using applications such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe InDesign. The colors, resolution, and response time is just not as good as running software locally.
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Brianna DeWitt profile photo
May 01, 2017

Good Product, Functionality Could be Improved

Brianna DeWitt
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
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Review Source
Most of our organization uses XenDesktop--we run Outlook through it, our database system, and store all our files on it. It allows everyone who uses it to access all the files and information from anywhere, which is really convenient. We have people who work offsite, as well as 2 different office locations, so it's really helpful to have one place for everything.
  • Can be accessed from anywhere
  • One central location for everything to be stored
  • Sometimes the system freezes
  • I've run into issues where it tells me I have multiple instances of a program running even if I don't
  • I wish the mobile versions worked better
It's really helpful to have everything in one central place and for everyone to be able to access it. The functionality is not always as great--it can be frustrating when it says there are multiple instances of an application running even when there aren't. If I didn't work in the same building as the people with administrative access, this could cause delays in my work.
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Mary Kylee Rice profile photo
April 21, 2017

XenDesktop for Secure Mobility

Mary Kylee Rice
Score 6 out of 10
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XenDesktop is used as our virtual desktop when we are working remotely. It is used for all employees who telecommute to ensure a secure connection to our servers. It allows us to work on anything we have saved wherever we are working remotely without concern of security.
  • Security
  • Authorization
  • Desktop mirroring
  • Speed could be improved. But this will always be an issue for connecting to servers.
  • Direct mirroring of desktop would be better than a similar desktop setup for all employees.
XenDesktop is suited for working remotely when you need to be connected to a site that has top security. XenDesktop is not well suited for productivity work.
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Khanh Thai profile photo
February 27, 2017

Citrix VDI

Khanh Thai
Score 7 out of 10
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We use XenDesktop for the whole organization. The business problem it address is that we are in the process of using XenDesktop for remote access with NetScaler Access Gateway so we can shutdown our VPN. The reason [for this] is so we don't have to open a hole into our network with a VPN. Since XenDesktop is just a screen refresh it solves the security issue on that front. We also use XenDesktop for fast roll out since upgrading and patching is done on one master image. On the client side we use Wyse Zero client. Using all these technologies helps streamline IT as a whole to cut costs in the long run. We can focus on backend projects instead of fixing physical computer issues.
  • Remote access. Even with high latency, HDX helps with working no not so ideal situations
  • PVS server lower IOPS and faster image management
  • USB redirection is a nice for remote users
  • Technical support is lacking.
  • Flash or HTML Videos lag with Zero clients.
  • Support cost is expensive when their support is really poor.
I gave it a 7 because support is lacking.
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Michael Wachter profile photo
April 20, 2017

Access Company Servers Anywhere With XenDesktop!

Michael Wachter
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
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XenDesktop VDI is used by those in our organization who need to remotely access servers with a virtual machine interface. This is accessed through Citrix XenApp and then through and RDP client to connect to the server and launch a virtual machine to manage it. To date, there have not been any problems reported with using the XenDesktop that I'm aware of.
  • It makes connecting and managing a server through VDI simple.
  • Easy to access through the Citrix XenApp for anyone regardless of location.
  • Gives options for Dedicated, Full Screen, and Partial Desktops.
  • Sometimes the VDI system can be in maintenance mode which keeps users from being able to connect to them.
  • No other issues reported.
XenDesktop is best suited for those who do not work on company property and wish to remote in to servers or other devices off property. However, the fact that it can be accessed through the Citrix XenApp from any PC as long as an individual has access to sign in is a nice feature.
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May 06, 2016

XenApp is a powerful, but complex Desktop/Application virtualization system

Denis Peach
Score 6 out of 10
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We use XenDesktop (XenApp) in published desktop mode to facilitate users at remote rehabilitation clinics to perform their clinical work with patients on wireless laptops and desktops at the clinics. Typically the clinic will only have a T1 WAN connectivity back to the datacenter on a MPLS network and bandwidth is a real concern. It is also used for remote workers and as a work from home method.
  • XenDesktop 7 provides two effective methods of managing session host updates and keeping them consistent within a machine group. In prior versions of XenApp/Metaframe, each host had to be updated individually resulting in inconsistencies across the resource pool.
  • XenDesktop 7 provides several efficient methods to maximizing session performance while minimizing bandwidth utilization. We can effectively facilitate an average of 8-10 clinicians at a remote site across a 1.5MB WAN link, working in multiple applications, printing, scanning and streaming video.
  • XenDesktop 7 enables user mobility by using a common interface across multiple platforms - Windows/Linux/IOS and OS X.
  • Monitoring and troubleshooting tools are lacking. Unless you can afford the costly step up to Platinum licensing, there is little native visibility into the Inner workings of the system, or into the ICA tunnel protocols. there are third party tools available, but because ICA is licensed by Citrix, there are only a few vendors who have the ability to really see what is occurring under the covers.
  • Profile management is very sloppy. Once again, a third party tool is required to effectively manage roaming profiles and keep login times down to a manageable level. UPM allows profiles to grow dramatically and requires careful monitoring and frequent intervention.
  • The Citrix Receiver client (Windows) is quirky and often causes end user performance and UX issues. Installing and upgrading the client is not straightforward or easy, although Citrix has been improving this weakness in recent releases.
XenDesktop is an effective all around VDI/Published App system, but lacks the native manageability that would be expected of an enterprise product. While a basic deployment can be performed easily using the deployment wizard, significant planning and expertise is needed to fully maximize the capabilities and effectiveness of the product in an enterprise. An in-house Citrix expert is essential to manage any mid to large scale deployment. The product has gained an poor reputation among end users, which is somewhat unfair, due to its reliance on a number of external platforms and ecosystems in order to work efficiently.
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John Pasqualicchio profile photo
September 23, 2016

XenDesktop - A cut above the rest

John Pasqualicchio
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
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We utilize XenDesktop to provide seamless access to virtualized desktops and applications across our 16 satellite locations.
  • Ease of Management
  • Scalability
  • Ease of Use
  • Integration with third party server and storage vendors
From a small business to an enterprise, XenDesktop's flexibility lends itself to a broad audience for adoption.
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Jay Oliphant profile photo
October 08, 2015

If you're going to do VDI, go with XenDesktop

Jay Oliphant
Score 7 out of 10
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We leveraged XenDesktop internally for our cloud hosted product, which allowed SMBs to leverage our hosted infrastructure and use their applications. I also helped other enterprise businesses implement XenDesktop in their environment. As a consultant it was used across an entire organization as well as per department. The business problems it addresses is accessing data and applications from any device across a geographically diverse organization.
  • XenDesktop gives speedy access to a full Windows desktop using its own ICA protocol. This is far and away better; a better experience than remote desktop which can "draw" slowly over low bandwidth connections.
  • XenDesktop can leverage local resources like dual monitors, and printers to provide a rich multimedia experience and make the user feel like they are using a local desktop.
  • XenDesktop eliminates data residing on local devices, which can help in the event of an endpoint being stolen or damaged. The user can be assigned a new laptop/desktop, download the Citrix client, and immediately re-connect to all their applications and data.
  • XenDesktop can benefit from application virtualization suites like Microsoft App-V, however this functionality isn't built into XenDesktop. Some products are close like personal vDIsk, but the ability to manage a single image and stream users' application to that image would lessen maintenance.
  • XenDesktop used to offer a free 10 user version (Express) in XenDesktop 5.X however this is no longer available in 7.6 and is sorely missed to help ease customers into XenDesktop. Most all of the Express installs that I performed in 5.X became licensed and paying customers after 10 seats.
  • Remote access requires Netscaler which can be tricky to setup. This would mostly be a request to make NetScaler setup more seamless, intuitive, and wizard driven.
If the user base is all 'task workers' sometimes XenApp can be leveraged instead of XenDesktop. However this doesn't allow the level of individual customization that XenDesktop allows. XenDesktop is a 1 to 1 ratio of VM to user (unless you have shift workers that can share the same desktop) whereas XenApp is akin to a terminal server environment that is multiple users to a single VM. While this doesn't allow for as much customization and personalization as XenDesktop does, your user density can be far greater.
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Ben Tusa profile photo
October 16, 2015

XenDesktop thoughts found here

Ben Tusa
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
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We use XenDesktop as a global solution for our company's users to access resources in several different regions. It allows our users to work closer to where their applications and data are opposed to trying to access those resources directly from their endpoint device.
  • Flexibility to find the best configuration for your company's needs.
  • Good options/tools for managing the environment.
  • Suite of products that support XenDesktop like Storefront and NetScaler.
  • Well established company in Citrix that has been developing this technology for over 20 years.
  • While you can present multiple global sites in one pane of glass to users, from an administrative standpoint they must be managed separately.
  • XenDesktop is more complex than previous Citrix products (XenApp).
XenDesktop is well suited for reducing latency. When you have applications and data in one location and have users in another this is one of the best products for improving their experience. It's also useful for creating a security boundary around your apps and data. You can secure it at a network level then require your users to connect to the XenDesktop environment to access that information.
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Leon Benjamin profile photo
October 09, 2015

If you're still debating on trying XenDesktop, Here's why I approve it!

Leon Benjamin
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Review Source
XenDesktop is mostly used by Finance, HR and Management. It is a great light weight solution as opposed to desktops. Mixed with our Citrix environment, we couldn't be happier.
  • App Streaming
  • Connectivity
  • Ease of use
  • Powerful and Secure
  • None that I can point out at this time.
Key questions always linger around scalability and a business need for implementation. Although the desktop counterpart isn't going anywhere in the near future, XenDesktop provides an unmatched solution. Though it relies on the network for utilization, it is rather lightweight and its deployment is simple.
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Brad Eley profile photo
October 09, 2015

XenDesktop in healthcare can lead to happier staff and healthier patients

Brad Eley
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Review Source
XenDesktop serves as our platform for delivering virtual desktops to doctors and nurses throughout the hospital. It improves productivity by allowing users to easily move between patient rooms and other areas of the hospital without having to repeat the login process and application startup each time. Coupled with proximity card authentication and single-sign on, password reset requests and login times are considerably reduced.
  • Minimizes new desktop provisioning time.
  • Allows for a standard desktop image which increases stability, decreases downtime, and simplifies updating.
  • Increases user productivity while moving between devices.
  • For 2008 R2 Hyper-V environments, if VMM goes offline no new connections to desktops can be made. VMM cannot be clustered making it a single point of failure.
  • Desktop Director could be more robust.
The best-case scenario is when you can standardize on one to three "master" images. Personalizing desktops should be a layer and is best done by using a third party product. It is also not suited for applications that are graphic intensive unless considerable investment is made installing robust GPUs in the virtualization hosts. Users who have lots of "one-off" applications, and those who are constantly uninstalling/installing different applications also would not be well suited for VDI.
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Jay Mody profile photo
October 08, 2015

Citrix XenDesktop 7.6 Rocks!!!

Jay Mody
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
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XenDesktop is primarily being used by our IT, operations and off source resources. We are looking to expand it to other business units in coming months. XenDesktop facilitates us to deliver the same desktop environment from any device, anywhere over any type of network. It provides secure access to our enterprise desktop offerings whether it is VDI or RemotePC.
  • Key strength lies in Citrix's proprietary protocol ICA/HDX. It can handle traffic over high latency network very well.
  • New FMA (Flexible Management Architecture) is a unified platform to deliver virtual desktops, application & physical PC access.
  • XenDesktop is Hypervisor agnostic. We can run it on VMware ESX, Citrix XenServer or Microsoft Hyper-V.
  • Support for webcam & softphone.
  • Definitely want to see improvement & bug fixes in RemotePC access.
  • Offline VDI & application access to offset threat from Microsoft's Direct Access technology.
User location - If VDI offering is strictly for internal LAN access then I would look at other vendors for comparison. Cost - If budget is a big constraint then there are other cheaper solutions available for evaluation. XenDesktop is definitely well suited for enterprises that are already invested in other Citrix technologies such as NetScaler and XenApp.
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Preston Gallwas profile photo
October 06, 2015

XenDesktop - Top of the pack

Preston Gallwas
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
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XenDesktop empowers our users to work from anywhere while maintaining a consistent and persistent user experience. Our mobile workforce is able to access the information vital to their job functions from any device, anywhere. XenDesktop allows us to present our apps and desktops to our staff in a way that is familiar and customizable to them for the context in which they are working.
  • XenDesktop allows for connections from any type of device.
  • XenDesktop has fantastic delegated administration, allowing for large IT organizations to delegate tasks to support desk, junior and senior engineers.
  • XenDesktop integrates desktop and application delivery seamlessly and is backed by the leader of the industry for decades.
  • Provisioning XenDesktop with Provisioning Services provides unparalleled scalability and performance at a fraction of the time, cost and effort of other solutions.
  • Some legacy features have not yet made it to newer versions of XenDesktop architecture, specifically around troubleshooting information from EdgeSight.
  • Citrix level 1 support can be painful at times.
  • While nothing else compares to XenDesktop in terms of features and functionality, the lesser-featured rivals can be less expensive, so it can be a battle to demonstrate the total cost of ownership (TCO) against alternative solutions that have hidden costs.
XenDesktop is the absolute standard if you need any of the following:

  • Connectivity from any device
  • Secure remote access into your environment
  • Tight integration with mobile workforce, mobility management and application delivery
  • Delegated administration

If you are deploying XenDesktop at scale, the value that Provisioning Services brings is tremendous and it is included in the licensing.
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Josh Farlow profile photo
October 06, 2015

Real Life Citrix Experience from a Citrix Service Provider

Josh Farlow
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Reseller
Review Source
We are a Citrix service provider and with Citrix, we deliver a hosted virtual desktop to our clients. Citrix XenDesktop allows us and our clients to seamlessly work from any location, with any device. We have several Citrix farms (sites), and utilize most, if not all, of the Citrix features.
  • Delivery of a virtual desktop across a high latency/high packet loss connection: When Citrix introduced Framehawk, we were excited to get it into production. The feature seems to work pretty well, but even the base implementation, when correctly configured, works well across the WAN.
  • Access Interface: When users access the Web front-end or Receiver interface, it is a visually pleasing experience and invites users to connect to "Work".
  • Scalability: Citrix allows us to scale our deployments in a quick and easy way with Machine Creation Services (MCS), or Provisioning Services (PVS). We have many small clients with dedicated images and with MCS we can give them the benefit of a fresh "Golden Image" without the added cost of additional servers.
  • File accessibility: Currently, Citrix offers the ability to transfer files to and from their virtual desktop via client mapped drives. This works ok, but can be clunky and a little slow at times. ShareFile is a good segueway, but can be a little cumbersome to set up in a Hosted-Shared environment.
  • Offline access: With XenClient, users can run offline instances of virtual machines and still get the benefit of the virtual machine managed from the datacenter. The process isn't very seamless and could be more integrated into XenDesktop. If a XenDesktop virtual desktop could be delivered to a users local machine and then cached, that would be a great solution.
If a company has users that work in very remote locations with limited connectivity, XenDesktop would not be a great fit.
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April 11, 2017

Just another XenDesktop review

Verified User
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Reseller
Review Source
We design and deploy XenDesktop solutions for large enterprise customers in a wide range of verticals as well as use it for demos in our lab environment.
  • More features
  • NetScaler
  • Name changes
  • Vaporware
  • Platinum tax
XenDesktop is well suited for scenarios that VDI is well suited for and less appropriate in places that do not have the requisite budget or talent to properly invest in and deliver upon a solid VDI strategy.
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May 06, 2016

XenDesktop Pros and Cons

Verified User
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Review Source
We use XenDesktop as a BYOD platform for knowledge workers and as a VDI platform for call center agents.
  • Easy to provision machines
  • Easy to update systems
  • Easy to apply policies
  • Better user control
  • Better reporting
  • More open API
XenDesktop is well suited to a large corporate environment or for very secure installations.
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October 09, 2015

XenDesktop for increasing productivity and simplification of infrastructure management

Verified User
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
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Review Source
XenDesktop is used to manage internet bandwidth at our remote locations as well as creating a standard set of applications, which are centrally managed and maintained. Our remote locations generally have T-1 or less connections, so bandwidth has to be carefully used. By keeping their applications and desktops on our data center end, it has lowered the amount of bandwidth used at the locations.
  • XenDesktop does a very great job at load balancing our applications and desktops across servers. It uses a load evaluator index to gauge the load on the server and sends new connections to the server in the group with the lowers LEI.
  • The integration into our VMware environment has been critical. Using Machine Creation Services, I am able to create an image and all machines created from that image are reset to it upon reboot. No more worrying about a user corrupting one server and having to rebuild it or deploy again from a VMware template. Creating a new server in a group is easy and fast.
  • Management of user sessions within XenDesktop's Director is simple and straight forward. Finding and managing a user's session is without complication.
  • The Director leaves a lot to be desired. I have had to resort to scripts and a custom page to get the information I need to properly manage our environment. The previous EdgeSight had detailed information that this just seems to leave out. There is no way to customize views, add or remove content, or otherwise customize for our brand.
  • One thing left out from this version that was in previous versions, was the ability deploy applications from all servers, not just those in a delivery group. As it is set up now, you can only deploy an app to a specific set of servers in a delivery group. If I have Group A running SAP and Group B running Office, only Group B can host Office for the users, even if Group A has Office installed. It would make better use of my servers if I could have on application run from both groups and still load balance properly. It is possible to have it run from both delivery groups, but the load balancing functionality appears to not work correctly.
  • A new functionality in the Feature Packs (1 and 2) was session recording. The functionality is useful, but is still clunky and uses a large amount of storage space. I have yet to see a way to auto purge old recordings without manually deleting them. Storage may be cheap now, but it still needs to be managed and used wisely. Being able to purge old recordings would go a long way.
A key question in the selection process is whether this product will have enough return on investment. For a large company, such as ours, the ROI is quite good. We have a lot of remote sites, a large amount of users, and a large VM environment to handle the loads. Smaller environments can run editions lower than Platinum, but you do lose functionality within the EdgeSight component of the Director. If you have a group of users where maintaining desktop applications is time consuming, this is definitely a product for you. The cost will be less than hiring additional staff to keep up with applications and desktops, as well as keeping the overall bandwidth needs down. If you have remote sites and applications hosted in a data center, this is the product for you.
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October 09, 2015

XenDesktop - The answer to most of your end user problems.

Verified User
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Review Source
We've used XenDesktop across the whole organization to solve a few challenges. Initially it has been set up as a solution for the remote offices to address the latency issue. Later it has expanded as a disaster recovery solution when deployed with Citrix Access Gateway, which later has been replaced by the NetScaler product.
  • Great for remote office deployments as it usually resides in the same data center as the servers and provides much quicker access to the resources avoiding high latency that is common on the intercontinental connections
  • Good choice for the DR as it can be migrated between the data centers if needed.
  • Good solution for remote access providing extra security over a VPN connection.
  • Using XenDesktop on a non computer device is a bit cumbersome.
  • Not ideal for traveling users, who would need to work offline and carry a laptop with them to be able to use the XenDesktop.
It definitely has a lot going for it. I can save on hardware expenses, as well as solve latency issues and provide security for remote access users, to name just a few. May not necessarily be a great choice for an environment with a lot of mobile users especially with the requirement to work offline. The key questions to ask during the selection process would be the ones that would allow to determine the use case for the XenDesktop in the environment.
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Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops (formerly XenDesktop) Scorecard Summary

Likelihood to Recommend (52)
7.2
Likelihood to Renew (4)
8.2
Usability (5)
8.5
Availability (2)
8.4
Performance (4)
8.0
Support (5)
10.0
In-Person Training (1)
10.0
Online Training (2)
8.3
Implementation (3)
9.0
Product Scalability (2)
9.2

About Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops (formerly XenDesktop)

Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops (formerly XenDesktop) is a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and application virtualization solution from Citrix.
Categories:  Application Virtualization,  Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops (formerly XenDesktop) Technical Details

Operating Systems: Unspecified
Mobile Application:No