Citrix Cloud/DaaS vs. Azure Virtual Desktop [Comparison].

A few years ago, I wrote a comparison of Citrix Cloud vs Azure Virtual Desktop, where I concluded Citrix pretty much ran away with it from a feature comparison standpoint. However, we are in very interesting times, so an update was in order.

It was never quite the year of VDI, and we’re quickly moving to Desktop as a Service, but even so, will DaaS ever grow much more than VDI ever did? ...

In the DaaS market, there have been some big movements this year with both VMware and Citrix acquisitions (pending clearance) by Broadcom in the case of VMware and Equity Partners and Evergreen Coast Capital in the case of Citrix.

These acquisitions come at a very interesting time. ... cloud adoption and remote access solutions have increased enormously. In 2020, Microsoft claimed AVD grew 3x, and overall cloud services led by Teams as much as 7x. Supply chain issues and increased demand for laptops made cloud desktops more attractive. Citrix, as an example, saw an initial boon early in the pandemic.

Fast forward to the present day, ... I would put money on Microsoft winning more customers with Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365. BUT does that make Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365 the best choice from a product and feature perspective?

In 2020 and 2021, my comparisons brought me to the conclusion that Citrix Cloud had the better feature set and offering, but what about in 2022? Let us take another look!

Flexibility

... Citrix wins on flexibility.

Image Provisioning and Tooling

To expand on the aspect of the management tools, ... Citrix wins on image provisioning and tooling.

Client-Side

The Remote Desktop Client on the client-side is not as rich of an experience as using Citrix Workspace with the Workspace App. ... Citrix gets the nod from me due to how they handle and display disconnects

Profile Management

This one is getting very interesting. ... I’m still going to give it to AVD, but it is close!

Application Management Delivery

AVD customers can choose to deploy applications in MSIX App Attach ... Citrix obviously has App Layering, which has ...

Monitoring

... it would be best to work with a 3rd party product like ControlUp for richer real-time data and advanced management and automation features

Honourable Mention

...

Security

With Citrix Cloud, you get:

Analytics that can highlight bad actors trying to access your environment and behaviour or access anomalies.
Citrix Policies for granular tweaking to restrict or enable certain features and functions.
Access criteria and achieve context-based app access with Citrix Cloud.
Secure Browser for publishing some of those SaaS apps you want your users to access but in a more locked-down browser.
...

Citrix Cloud is pretty stacked when it comes to security features.

Conclusion

I have already stated it multiple times, ... Citrix is also now offering HDX Plus for Windows 365 so that partnership is alive and kickin’.

Which one is best for you?

As always, it depends. Go out and try both or reach out to us, and we can help provide information specific to your needs and size.