The seismic shift of pandemic to remote work has created an increasing demand for solutions to secure remote access for organizations of all sizes. As a result, virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) has risen sharply in popularity, as it delivers more robust security than older remote access technologies, such as virtual public networks (VPNs) and remote desktop protocols (RDP). .
Citrix offers a range of products to support desktop-as-a-service (DaaS) and VDI solutions. To them, Citrix Workspace, formerly known as Citrix Workspace Cloud, directly provides remote workers with secure remote connections to a desktop containing company data and applications.
See below to learn all about Citrix Workspace and where it stands in the VDI market:
Citrix and the VDI market
The 2020 pandemic began in the slow growing VDI market. In fact, in 2016, experts predicted a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of Only 11.4% and for the market to grow to $ 13.45 billion by 2022.
In late 2019, only CAGR became adjusted to 14.4% with a forecast of $ 12.97 billion in 2027. However, after the pandemic, revised forecasts target a more stable CAGR between 18.2% at 19.4% and to grow the market by $ 33.42 billion by 2028.
In 2021, Citrix reported revenue of their Workspace category grew 5% to reach $ 600 million with subscriptions providing 53% of revenue. Citrix was a pioneer and market leader in the category and first began offering virtual desktop solutions in the early 1990s.
Other competitors in this market include Amazon Web Services, Cisco Systems, Evolve IP, IBM, IGEL Technology, Microsoft, NetApp, Nutanix, Oracle, Paperspace, Parallels, SolarWinds, and VMware.
Features of Citrix Workspace
Citrix Workspace delivers a virtual desktop to client computers that integrates user applications and data sources. Key features of the Citrix solution include:
- Advanced analytics with individual user risk scores
- Application virtualization, delivery, and management
- Cloud app security
- End-to-end secure connections
- Workflows integrated into the desktop
- Single-sign on (SSO)
- SD-WAN and secure access service edge (SASE) solutions.
- HD video and unified communication support
- Unified endpoint management
Benefits
Ang most modern employees want to continue to work remotely, and companies still need to protect their data. Citrix Workspace solves both company and user needs through the core benefits of VDI.
Consistent experience
Even though employees may be working remotely, they still want access to all of their applications whether they are working on their laptops or their cell phones. Citrix Workspace delivers a consistent and efficient desktop experience hosted remotely and delivered to devices located anywhere. As a result, users enjoy consistent access and performance anywhere from the coffee shop to the cubicle.
Corporate control
Companies are not required to control endpoints in a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) environment or home networks. Deploying a virtual desktop provides full control over company assets even without control over the endpoint device. Critical applications and data can be delivered via Citrix Workspace’s encrypted communications and data exfiltration can be removed by refusing copy-paste or download.
Secure access
Traditional technologies for remote access, such as VPN and RDP, possess significant security vulnerabilities and are constantly under attack. VDI solutions make fully encrypted connections to virtual containers for more stringent and controlled security.
Use cases
Hollands Kroon
The local government of Hollands Kroon region of the Netherlands aims to provide online access to all services to their citizens and hold government employees to results measured by output rather than hours spent in office. To achieve these goals, Hollands Kroon needs an easily accessible infrastructure that requires minimal support and will not expose citizen data to data breaches.
Hollands Kroon uses microapps integration to integrate SAP, Microsoft, Google G Suite, Salesforce, Workday, Atlassian, Zendesk, Tableau, and ServiceNow into standard VDIs within Citrix Workspace. Despite the large number of apps, the time required to set up new accounts has been reduced from six hours to 30 minutes.
“Everything employees need to do their job is now accessed through one portal, our Citrix environment,” said Frank van Hoolwerff, ICT advisor at Hollands Kroon. “The Workspace app makes an entry point to all data, all applications. It allows staff to be more focused. ”
Össur
Ang 4,000 employees of Össur designs and manufactures prosthetic limbs from 100 locations in 26 countries. The five members of the IT staff need a time-efficient and simple way to deploy secure, robust IT resources suitable for scientists, engineers, and other company specialists without costing big amount.
Össur only uses three desktop images for the entire company. However, Citrix Workspace still allows Össur to automatically deploy resource-intensive 3D CAD apps supported by extended cloud resources, so hard-working applications work well on any endpoint.
“We use Citrix as much as we can to reduce the cost of end-user equipment,” said Infrastructure and Cloud Architect Einar Dagfinnur Klemensson. “We are exploring how we can use cell phones as a primary end-user device. We’re deploying Raspberry Pi devices and looking at Google Grab and Go Chromebooks. ”
summary
Security constitutes the summary on silicon chips to boost secure application delivery. As a security company, Synopsis needs robust security to stay in place to protect their IP chip design, even if their employees move to remote jobs during a pandemic.
“Citrix is our primary access model for employees when they interact with applications hosted in our internal data centers, in public clouds, or delivered as SaaS,” says Joe Fu , IT director of engineering and applications at Synopsis. “Especially critical during the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting work-from-home situation, we implemented a very rigorous process for data protection and data transfer.”
Variations
Although Citrix may have been one of the first VDI solutions, many competitors followed suit. This is often done by customers who choose Citrix Workspace because of the following key differences.
Extensive flexibility
Citrix supports the widest range of possible deployment options to fit all types of companies.
- Deployment options: Users can choose cloud-based hosting or integrate fully controlled local resources.
- Hypervisor selection: Unlike other solutions that only support one type of hypervisor, Citrix can deploy their own solution or support the deployment of VMware ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V, Azure, and Amazon Web Services (AWS).
- Host OS selection: Citrix supports Red Hat Linux AS, Novell Linux Desktop, Linux WS, and Windows Server 2008/2012/2016/2019.
- Client OS selection: Citrix supports Windows, Mac, Linux, ChromeOS, and HTML5.
Strict security
The most bare-bones version of Citrix Workspace uses SSO logins to create end-to-end encrypted VDI connections that span user data, local resources, and SaaS applications.
Security only improves from therewith options for smart analytics, adaptive security controls, multi-factor authentication for apps, zero-trust feature, browser isolation, and app protection.
User reviews
pricing
The license for Citrix Workspace is per user based on the billing period and has a minimum of 25 users. Citrix published sample pricing for 500 users and a three-year subscription for them four levels of Citrix Workspace licensing:
- Workspace Essentials: $ 2 per month
- Workspace Standard: $ 7 per month
- Workspace Premium: $ 18 per month
- Workspace Premium Plus: $ 25 per month
Conclusions
Even as workers move into unregulated spaces at home and public networking, critical and controlled data needs to remain secure and controlled. Citrix Workspace provides a powerful VDI solution with extensive capabilities to protect workers and data.
The Citrix Workspace solution will help IT teams deploy powerful and secure DaaS with ease and to scale for different applications and different endpoints. Citrix’s long history, strong reputation, and feature set are merit considerations for companies looking for a remote desktop solution.