“We’re going with AVD—that’s the standard, after all.” You hear that phrase more often than you might think, usually before anyone has even seen the first invoice. And that’s where the problem begins: the decision has already been made, and the justification comes later.
A clear picture emerges from the first seventeen responses to our survey. Azure Virtual Desktop is currently the most common choice among new customers, but a significant portion of respondents do not always consider it the best option. When choosing an EUC platform, Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is the most important factor: ten of the seventeen respondents cite TCO as the most important factor.
Which EUC platform do you encounter most often?
Azure Virtual Desktop is the most frequently mentioned solution among new customers, with Citrix a close second. Twelve of the seventeen respondents expect to still be managing AVD in three years. Most conversations therefore revolve around Citrix or Azure Virtual Desktop, with Parallels RAS and Omnissa as the third and fourth options.
Almost everyone who works with Parallels cites price as the reason. A significant number view Parallels RAS as an alternative to Citrix, although some still consider the platform too limited for large organizations. The shift toward Microsoft and Azure is clearly visible, but that shift does not automatically constitute a recommendation.
Why are AVD costs higher than expected?
Because usage costs only become apparent once the environment is up and running. Nearly half of the respondents cite higher-than-expected costs with AVD as the biggest pitfall, followed by management complexity.
An AVD environment charges by the hour, per host, and per storage tier. These items are rarely fully accounted for in the business case, even though together they make up the largest portion of the monthly bill. We’ve observed that the bill usually doesn’t receive the attention it deserved at the start until the third or fourth month.
Is Citrix still a good choice?
For many of our peers, yes. When asked which platform they prefer to implement, Citrix still tops the list.
At the same time, nearly two-thirds cite price as the biggest pain point, and following the acquisition by CSG, a striking number of people are uncertain about the platform’s direction. As a result, the discussion is shifting less and less toward the technology and more and more toward costs, contracts, and the platform’s direction. What stands out here is that organizations often pay for functionality that’s already included in their existing agreement. Read more about this in our article on getting the most out of your Citrix licenses.
What will happen to Omnissa following the spin-off from VMware?
Omnissa is falling off the radar for many industry peers. More than a third of respondents say the platform is no longer part of their portfolio, and nearly half aren’t actively following its developments.
Those who do follow Omnissa tend to be positive: five respondents say their confidence has increased since the spin-off. If you have an existing Horizon environment, there’s no reason to panic—but there is a need to make an informed choice for the coming years.
Why does TCO carry such significant weight in platform selection?
Because the platforms have become increasingly similar from a technical standpoint. Various solutions now support many of the same use cases, making the technology less and less of a differentiator.
As a result, the focus is shifting to what it will cost to properly manage the environment over the next three to five years. The TCO of a digital workplace is not just about licenses, but also about management hours, training, infrastructure, and the time your team spends dealing with disruptions.
What goes wrong once the platform is up and running?
The tracking stops. Extensive calculations are made beforehand, but afterward, one-third of the respondents do not know which platform generates the most support tickets. Only one respondent cites a demonstrable decline in tickets as a measure of success. This eliminates the ability to evaluate the business case. We therefore advocate for proactive management of the digital workplace, in which you systematically measure user experience and costs rather than relying on the number of complaints.
How does New Yard help with platform selection?
The question of which VDI platform is right for your organization cannot be answered with a simple table. We advise on the selection, provide the licenses, and implement the environment, while taking into account what you already have. This often starts with an EUC health check or a second opinion on your IT costs. You can read more about our approach on the page about End User Computing and DEX.
Would you like to share your thoughts? The questionnaire is still open.
With only seventeen responses, it’s not possible to identify major market trends. The group is too small for that. For the sake of completeness: some of the respondents work on the supplier or distribution side, and that influences their answers.
Do you work as a consultant, architect, administrator, IT manager, vendor, or in any other capacity with EUC platforms? If so, we’d love to hear about your experience. It takes about three minutes to complete the survey, and it’s anonymous. If you’ve already filled out the questionnaire, you don’t need to do anything.
Take part in the EUC Platform Survey. As soon as we have enough responses, we’ll publish the full analysis with all the figures on this site.
Want to discuss your own platform choice?
Are you trying to decide between different platforms, or are you unsure whether your current environment is still worth the cost? Schedule a no-obligation introductory meeting. We’ll review your situation, your licenses, and your costs—with no obligation to accept a quote.