Item: Azure Virtual Desktop
Rating: 9
Author: Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Azure Virtual Desktop

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Azure Virtual Desktop has been our replacement for Citrix XenDesktop. While we deploy laptops with VPN tunnels, we have always found the need to have some virtual desktop presence. It has its place in our DR Planning, as well as proving a valuable tool for temporary access during hardware issues. Although it is not heavily used, it can be scaled up to meet demands.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Provides excellent remote access method for non-firm hardware.
Since OS is multi-session windows 11, users receive a more familiar experience to their laptops.
Integrations such as FSLogix and Nerdio have led to a consentient user experience.

Cons

Logging and monitoring rely on Azure backends. A dedicated dashboard specific to AVD would be welcomed.
Learning curve upon initial deployment. Although I hear this is better now.
Some management and reporting tools are lacking. We supplement this with Nerdio.

Return on Investment

We already have M365 E3, so not having to purchase additional licensing helped cover our user pool.
Automatic scaling sets allow us to run what is actually needed, compared to having servers running constantly in our previous environment.

Usability

From an administrative perspective, managing the Azure Virtual Desktop is the one piece that I do think is lacking. Our Azure Virtual Desktop team is not as familiar with Azure, and there was definitely a learning curve. We largely solved this my deploying Azure Virtual Desktop with Nerdio, which acts as our management plane our Azure Virtual Desktop team.

Alternatives Considered

XenServer

Licensing is much more cost effective as our users are not regularly using remote access. Having to purchase user cal's "just in case" was expensive. Citrix over the last few years has become more difficult with licensing and support. We were glad to move away. As our users use Azure Virtual Desktop as a fallback, it proved to be a much more cost effective solution, and FSLogix and W11 provide a better end user experience.

Key Insights

Do you think Azure Virtual Desktop delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Azure Virtual Desktop's feature set?

Yes

Did Azure Virtual Desktop live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Azure Virtual Desktop go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Azure Virtual Desktop again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Nerdio, Azure Data Factory, Azure Data Lake Storage, Azure Databricks, Azure Automation

Likelihood to Recommend

1. Overall we had excellent cost reduction after migrating from Citrix. We no longer need per-user CALs, and can scale our environment down to match usage.
2. Since the hosts are in Azure, Multi-session Windows 11 is fantastic.
3. Ability to Scale up to meet usage has saved us during several critical outages.

Comments

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Highly Recommend Azure Virtual Desktop over Citrix