Why Citrix VDI is better, faster and cheaper on Microsoft Azure
New workplace trends and employee expectations are encouraging change and reshaping our office environments.
- 54 percent of employees want to work from home at least once a week but only 18 percent want to work exclusively in the office
- More than 80 percent of jobseekers look for flexible working options before applying for a job
- More than half of workers believe enterprise mobility improves business processes and productivity
New expectations, new solutions
To accommodate enterprise mobility and flexible working, businesses want new ways to deliver end-user computing whether it’s on a tablet, a laptop, a desktop or even a phone. This is driving interest in virtual desktop infrastructure and public cloud hosting.
Citrix on Microsoft Azure is leading the charge. This kind of modern infrastructure gives businesses the flexibility, scalability and productivity they need to stay competitive.
In this blog post, we summarise the findings of IDC’s report, ‘Assessing the Business Value of VDI in the Public Cloud’, in order to demonstrate the benefits of a cloud-based desktop.
What is Citrix on Azure?
In 2016, Citrix combined their efforts with Microsoft to help expand their cloud offerings and make it easier to deploy Windows 10 and Office 365 across virtualised environments.
Put simply, ‘Citrix on Azure’ lets your business deploy virtual desktops and applications from cloud servers rather than installing the software on your employees’ computers. Users access the software using a remote desktop, which is essentially a terminal that pipes in the software over the internet. For all practical purposes, a virtual desktop looks and feels like using a regular Windows computer, but all the heavy lifting is done elsewhere.
Ultimately, this ensures that your employees get the tools they need wherever they are, on any device, and your IT department can manage and update the software centrally.
Cost-savings without compromise
Migrating to a cloud-hosted VDI cuts IT costs dramatically. In fact, the overall cost of a public cloud VDI workspace is 55 percent lower per user per year than an on-premise solution.
What accounts for the saving?
- Microsoft manages more of the security and maintenance, leaving less IT admin for you to pay for
- Cloud hosting means that you pay for what you need, when you need it and avoid the risk of expensive overprovisioning
- Lower IT labour and general maintenance costs as there are no physical servers to manage
- Simplified application and operating system updates
Ultimately, a Citrix on Azure workspace can realise $2,015 (£1,440) in additional value per user per year, without compromising on security or efficiency needs.
Empower your workforce
IT and support teams state that a public cloud-hosted infrastructure can increase staff efficiencies by 57 percent in comparison to on-premise VDI solutions. What’s more, Citrix on Azure can add up to 35 more productive hours per user per year because of reduced downtime and fewer IT problems for users to solve
This has a direct benefit on employee productivity. On one hand, because it reduces the need need for general IT maintenance tasks, your IT and support teams spend less time on unproductive tasks and more time focusing on more valuable work. And on the other, desktop users can have clean devices and up-to-date software, provisioned and deployed within minutes, no matter where they are. As a result, this ensures that your employees are never out of work for too long if their assets are lost, compromised or stolen.
Cloud-first with Citrix
With workforces changing, now is the time to embrace a cloud-first VDI approach. With Citrix on Azure, your company can experience cost reductions, improved productivity and better scope for innovation.
“The mobile-first, cloud-first is a very rich canvas for innovation – it is not the device that is mobile, it is the person that is mobile.” – Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO
Find out more by downloading the infographic
Download the IDC’s ‘Assessing the Business Value of VDI’ white paper
