Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) has seen significant changes recently, especially with VMware Horizon being sold to Omnissa.

This shift has raised many questions among customers, leading many to reconsider their VDI strategy and look for alternatives.

As businesses evaluate their options, Citrix has emerged as a strong contender for customers seeking more flexible, secure, and scalable solutions.

This is highlighted in the latest Gartner Critical Capabilities for Desktop as a Service (DaaS) report where Citrix has been ranked highest across all four use cases, solidifying its position as the top choice for organisations seeking robust VDI solutions.

The comprehensive capabilities of Citrix’s VDI solutions offer unparalleled flexibility, security, and scalability for businesses whether operating on-premise or in hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

Gartner’s recognition underscores Citrix’s commitment to providing a seamless, secure, and highly efficient virtual desktop experience, which is a key factor in why so many customers are transitioning away from Omnissa Horizon, in favour of Citrix’s advanced solutions.

Let’s delve into why so many customers are making the switch to Citrix VDI, specifically Citrix DaaS and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops (CVAD), as their preferred VDI solution.

Hybrid and multi-cloud flexibility

One of the most compelling reasons customers are turning to Citrix is the platform’s unparalleled flexibility in hybrid and multi-cloud environments. Citrix Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) is a trusted platform, designed from the ground up to integrate seamlessly with on-premise and public cloud platforms, including Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, Nutanix NC2, and VMware vSphere, among others.

This gives businesses the freedom to choose the infrastructure that best suits their regulatory, financial, and performance needs. Whilst Omnissa is attempting to make strides in improving their compatibility with other hyperscalers, VMware’s legacy platform limitations, historically being tied to the vSphere platform, will take some time to overcome.

Simplicity and ease-of-use

Managing a VDI environment should not be a complex task, and Citrix is continuously improving and simplifying its platform for administrators. Citrix’s DaaS and CVAD solutions come with a streamlined, user-friendly interface that reduces the learning curve for admins and users alike.

A major focus has been to modernise and simplify the admin experience, with easy-to-use wizards, quick-deployment options, and straightforward deployment processes all from a single pane of glass.

In contrast, since the acquisition, Omnissa has started to introduced additional complexity into its setup. Customers looking to integrate Horizon on-premise with Horizon Cloud must use the Horizon Edge Gateway, leading to more infrastructure overhead and administrative tasks.

Moreover, VMware’s historical reliance on its vSphere platform limits deployment options and complicates scaling across multiple cloud and on-prem environments.

Context-aware security and conditional access

Security is a critical consideration for organisations adopting VDI. Citrix stands out for its advanced context-aware security and conditional access features, which allow IT admins to define security policies based on the user’s device, location, or security posture.

These capabilities are available when the NetScaler Gateway is integrated into your Citrix deployment.

With over 100 session policies and the ability to enforce security measures like screenshot protection, watermarking and dynamic session recording, Citrix ensures that users have secure access without compromising on user experience.

With Citrix’s new bundled Universal Hybrid Multi Cloud (UHMC) licensing, customers gain access to a range of extensive security features like WAF, DDoS Protection, Cross-Site Scripting and SQL Injection.

While Omnissa Horizon provides some basic security controls, such as session recording and screenshot protection, its security features are less mature and more limited in scope.

Operational efficiency with minimal infrastructure

Another area where Citrix shines is in its ability to minimise the infrastructure requirements for complex, multi-site environments.

For example, in a hybrid cloud setup spanning two Azure regions and an on-prem data centre, Citrix DaaS requires only a pair of Cloud Connectors in each site and the Virtual Delivery Agent (VDA) on each desktop and or application to be delivered.

This streamlined approach drastically reduces the complexity and infrastructure footprint, making it easier to deploy and scale.

On the other hand, Omnissa Horizon requires multiple infrastructure components and management consoles, both on-prem and in the cloud. For businesses with multi-location setups, this translates to more moving parts, additional hardware, and increased operational complexity, especially when integrating Horizon Cloud with on-prem Horizon environments.

Flexibility in operating systems

As organisations increasingly adopt Linux, macOS, and other non-Windows operating systems for secure app delivery, Citrix offers greater flexibility than Omnissa Horizon. Citrix DaaS and CVAD support a wide range of operating systems, including Windows, Linux, and macOS, enabling businesses to deploy virtual desktops that meet diverse user needs.

In comparison, Omnissa Horizon offers Linux VDI support for various distributions, but the range of supported distributions and features may not be as comprehensive as its Windows offerings.

It is suitable for organisations that need to virtualise Linux desktops but may not be ideal for complex use cases requiring extensive customisation.

Citrix, on the other hand, offers superior support for Linux workloads, including the ability to deploy multiple Linux virtual desktops in mixed environments alongside Windows and macOS.

Improved User Experience

A standout reason why customers consistently choose Citrix VDI over Omnissa Horizon is the superior user experience delivered by Citrix’s advanced technologies.

Citrix has consistently prioritised the end-user experience, ensuring seamless interactions regardless of device, location, or network conditions. This commitment translates into a platform that empowers employees with a productive and frustration-free digital workspace, boosting engagement and efficiency.

Citrix employs cutting-edge High-Definition User Experience (HDX) technology to optimise performance, providing fast and reliable access to virtual desktops and applications.

Features like adaptive display technology, multimedia redirection, and GPU acceleration ensure smooth operation even under challenging network conditions.

Whether handling complex 3D graphics, multimedia workloads, or unified communications tools like Microsoft Teams, Citrix delivers high-quality experiences with minimal lag and crisp visuals, no matter the endpoint or connection.

As showcased in the 2024 Gartner report on the critical capabilities of available DaaS solutions, Citrix outperforms all other vendors in high performance use cases, thus delivering a superior user experience.

Simpler migration from Omnissa Horizon

For organisations currently using Omnissa Horizon, migrating to Citrix may seem daunting, but Citrix has extensive resources and proven methodologies to ease the transition.

Citrix’s migration tools and partners like Troye make it easier for businesses to switch from Omnissa Horizon to Citrix DaaS and CVAD, offering better ROI and a smoother overall experience.

As Omnissa Horizon undergoes significant changes, many organisations are finding Citrix’s flexible, secure, and user-friendly solutions to be a compelling alternative.

Citrix’s deep integration with multi-cloud environments, ease of use, advanced security features, and unmatched flexibility across operating systems make it a strong choice for businesses looking to modernise their VDI infrastructure.

For companies currently using Omnissa Horizon, the transition to Citrix might require some planning, but the long-term benefits, including improved scalability, security, and simplified management, make it a worthwhile investment.

 The availability of cloud credits for third-party purchases through the hyperscalers’ marketplaces and the emergence of new digital-first buyers are reshaping enterprise customer procurement behavior, vendor sales strategies and channel models.

While most vendor sales via these marketplaces are today “direct” to end customers, channel partners are playing an increasingly important role. By 2027, Canalys expects more than 50% of marketplace sales to flow through the channel.

This trend is explored in a new Canalys research report: Now and next for hyperscaler marketplaces.

Enterprise customers have committed to spend over US$360 billion on the top three hyperscalers’ cloud services on a multi-year basis.

Spend is shifting to the hyperscalers’ marketplaces as customers seek to burn down a portion of their cloud credits on third-party software and SaaS.

AWS Marketplace remains the clear leader in terms of sales volume, but Microsoft and Google Cloud are focused on closing the gap.

With enterprises facing IT budget pressure, the opportunity to use pre-approved cloud budgets to source a wide array of software and cybersecurity products while taking advantage of simplified billing and consolidated purchasing can be highly compelling.

This is tempting vendors from across the technology spectrum to sell through the hyperscalers’ marketplaces. CrowdStrike and Snowflake were among the first to publicly claim US$1 billion of total cumulative sales through marketplaces, and a host of the largest software and cybersecurity vendors are actively embracing this route to market.

Cisco, Citrix, IBM, NetApp, Nutanix, Red Hat, Salesforce, ServiceNow and Zoom are just some of the vendors that have launched or grown their sales on the hyperscalers’ marketplaces so far in 2024.

At the same time, many smaller “digital native” ISVs built on one of the three top hyperscalers’ cloud platforms are using their respective marketplaces as their primary routes to market.

The hyperscalers meanwhile are funneling substantial investments into marketplace co-sell resources, demand generation, sales incentives and channel programs (along with cuts to marketplace fees) to attract vendors to their cloud platforms.

The channel is becoming a focal point in the battle between the hyperscalers as vendors prioritize partner-first marketplace strategies.

Through models such as AWS’ Channel Partner Private Offers, Microsoft’s Multiparty Private Offers and Google Cloud’s newly launched Marketplace Channel Private Offers, vendors can enable their partners to create customized offers for their customers on the hyperscalers’ marketplaces while seeking to maintain margins for the channel.

“The channel has concerns about the rise of marketplaces, but both hyperscalers and vendors acknowledge the vital role of channel partners in driving customer adoption and growth,” said Alastair Edwards, chief analyst at Canalys. “Customers often prefer buying through trusted partners for help with managing cloud commitments and accessing professional services and technical expertise when sourcing complex technologies from multiple marketplaces.”

IT distributors are facing increasing competition from hyperscaler marketplaces that are themselves acting as digital distribution platforms.

Yet distributors will be important to reduce operational challenges for partners and vendors as adoption grows globally and to support the growing number of second-tier partners whose customers want to buy this way.

Canalys expects the development and expansion of new programs, such as AWS DSOR, to support greater distributor involvement.

Channel partners are vital to ensure customers can access the technologies they need, regardless of their buying preferences.

“A seamless buying experience is essential, and success will depend on greater API-led integration between hyperscalers, distributors and partner platforms,” said Edwards.

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