Kurt Goodall, Technical Director at Troye, discusses shifts in virtual desktop infrastructure.
The virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) market is shifting. The recent sale of VMware Horizon to Omnissa has left many organisations questioning their VDI strategy. Change brings uncertainty, and for businesses running critical applications and remote workforces, stability and flexibility matter.
Many are now looking at Citrix as an alternative. Known for its flexible, multi-cloud capabilities and strong security, Citrix has been ranked highest across all four Gartner Critical Capabilities for Desktop as a Service (DaaS) use cases. But beyond rankings, businesses need practical, scalable solutions that support hybrid work, security needs, and multi-cloud strategies.
Why businesses are making the switch
Cloud flexibility without lock-in
Most businesses now use a mix of on-premise, public cloud and private cloud infrastructure. Citrix DaaS and CVAD integrate with Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, Nutanix NC2 and VMware vSphere, letting businesses choose the setup that works best for them.
Omnissa is working to improve multi-cloud integration, but vSphere dependencies still create compatibility challenges. Businesses wanting to future-proof their cloud strategy are prioritising platform-neutral solutions that don’t force them into specific ecosystems.
Simpler management and deployment
Setting up and managing VDI should be straightforward, but that’s not always the case. Citrix’s cloud-based control plane provides centralised management, with quick deployment tools and an intuitive interface that simplifies administration.
By contrast, Omnissa Horizon has introduced Horizon Edge Gateway for hybrid cloud setups, adding more infrastructure overhead and administrative complexity. Businesses trying to reduce IT workload are looking for solutions that don’t require additional management layers.
Security that adapts to the user
Security is a major concern, especially for remote workforces. Citrix offers context-aware security and conditional access, allowing IT teams to apply security policies based on a user's device, location or security posture. When integrated with NetScaler Gateway, Citrix VDI can enforce screenshot protection, watermarking and dynamic session recording.
With its new Universal Hybrid Multi-Cloud (UHMC) licensing, Citrix also includes WAF, DDoS protection, cross-site scripting prevention and SQL injection prevention. Omnissa Horizon provides some security controls, but its approach is more limited, particularly in handling granular, real-time security policies.
Lower infrastructure demands
Multi-cloud environments don’t have to mean more infrastructure. In a hybrid cloud setup with multiple Azure regions and an on-prem data centre, Citrix DaaS requires only a few Cloud Connectors and Virtual Delivery Agent (VDA) installations.
Omnissa Horizon, however, requires multiple infrastructure components, both on-premise and in the cloud. This means more moving parts, additional hardware and higher operational complexity, particularly when trying to integrate Horizon Cloud with on-premise Horizon environments.
Better operating system support
As businesses expand beyond Windows, VDI solutions must support Linux, macOS and other platforms. Citrix offers strong multi-OS support, letting businesses run Windows, Linux and macOS desktops in mixed environments.
Omnissa Horizon supports Linux, but its feature set is more limited than its Windows offerings. For businesses needing flexible, cross-platform compatibility, this can be a key consideration.
Improving the user experience
End users don’t care about infrastructure—they care about whether their virtual desktop works smoothly. Citrix prioritises performance, using High-Definition User Experience (HDX) to deliver fast, reliable access to desktops and applications.
HDX includes adaptive display technology, multimedia redirection and GPU acceleration, ensuring consistent performance, even with low bandwidth or graphics-intensive applications like Microsoft Teams.
Gartner’s 2024 DaaS report highlights Citrix as the leading solution for high-performance VDI use cases, reinforcing why many businesses are choosing it.
Migrating from Omnissa Horizon to Citrix
For organisations already using Omnissa Horizon, migration is a key concern.
With Omnissa Horizon undergoing major changes, businesses are looking for alternatives that offer multi-cloud flexibility, stronger security, simpler management and better user experiences. Citrix is proving to be a reliable and future-proofed choice for those making the switch.
