Organizations today are looking for a simple way to deliver apps and desktops on demand, from the cloud, with simplified management and a strong layer of security to keep data safe and off the device. We’ve designed Citrix DaaS Standard for Azure to directly meet the needs of today’s remote work scenarios, enabling your business to expand when needed and giving your people the freedom to work wherever they want with a desktop-as-a-service (DaaS) solution.
Thinking about remote work and how VDI and DaaS might help? Citrix now offers Citrix DaaS Standard for Azure, a simple, easy-to-implement solution that is part of our Citrix DaaS family of cloud services and offers a low cost, secure way to deliver cloud-based Windows or Linux desktops and apps to your workforce. In this blog post, I’m going to cover the Top 10 reasons why customers are choosing Citrix DaaS Standard for Azure as their virtual desktops and apps solution and why you should, too.
10) Simplicity
Many VDI and DaaS providers will tell you their solution is simple and easy — until you set up their service. Citrix DaaS Standard for Azure enables you to deploy your first desktops in as few as five clicks. Our in-product onboarding will walk you through step-by-step guidance to create your first deployment. You’ll have desktops ready to go in minutes, not hours or days. We have up-to-date, ready-to-go Windows 10, Windows 11, and Linux templates for different configurations to meet your users’ needs and make it easy for them to grab and go. Or if you have a custom workload, we make it easy to import it into the library and access and deploy on demand.
And with a built-in, simplified management console in the cloud, you or your IT team can easily deploy, manage, and monitor your deployments. Because it’s a DaaS service, Citrix helps customers manage updates, customizations, and deployments.
Despite its simplicity, Citrix DaaS Standard for Azure offers customizations to help you manage your deployments the way you need. Set security policies, connect to a corporate network or Active Directory, or leverage Remote PC Access and remotely access a physical PC. It’s up to you. Citrix DaaS Standard for Azure can grow with your business, enabling you to deploy just a few desktops or thousands.
9) Secure Access Anywhere, on Any Device
Citrix DaaS Standard for Azure offers cloud-based desktops on Microsoft Azure, making it easy for your employees to access their desktop from any device, anywhere. Now employees can access their work desktop securely from their office, at home, or on the go. And because the desktop is based in the Microsoft Azure cloud, employees can use their preferred device, including Macs, PCs, tablets, Chromebooks, or thin clients.
8) Data Protection
We all know security is important. The bottom line: if it’s not secure, why would you use it? With Citrix DaaS Standard for Azure, your desktop and data stay secure in the cloud, not on the device. And with our secure sign-on options, you can choose your preferred authentication method, including Okta, SAML, Citrix Gateway, or your own identity provider. Plus, Citrix now offers additional security options you won’t find on other DaaS offers including Adaptive Authentication, which limits user access based on custom policies you set. These policies evaluate conditions such as device posture and location and can limit access to only certain apps and data when connecting to public Wi-Fi. Also, Citrix DaaS Standard for Azure offers optional app protection policies to keep cybercriminals from screen scraping and key logging.
7) Leverage the Power of Microsoft
Citrix DaaS Standard for Azure was designed and built with Microsoft customers in mind. Not only can you leverage Windows 10 and 11 desktops, but you can also gain access to some of the key tools your employees use every day to get work done. Get access to Microsoft Office, Teams, and more. Citrix supports Microsoft multi-session Windows desktops (Azure Virtual Desktop), which provide a full Windows experience you expect, plus the added benefit of reduced compute costs through shared desktop hosting. Citrix DaaS Standard for Azure also supports Windows server desktops (Win 2016, 2019, and 2022) and dedicated (static or persistent) Windows desktops, as well. Citrix DaaS Standard for Azure makes it easy to choose which type of machine power, as well, giving you the ability to choose different desktops to meet users’ needs and make it easy to manage them from one simple console.
6) Scale on Demand, for Any Business Season
Customers today like to leverage Citrix DaaS Standard for Azure for what we call project-based use cases. These include bringing in temporary seasonal workers like retail workers for holidays, accountants for tax season, or contractors for a call center. It’s also helpful for use cases around mergers and acquisitions, business continuity, and more. What makes Citrix DaaS Standard for Azure so valuable is the ability to scale on demand and meet your immediate need for desktops for a specific amount of time. Then, you can scale down when they’re no longer needed and keep your costs in line.
5) Pay as You Go
The flexibility Citrix DaaS Standard for Azure offers around consumption based cost control is very appealing. You can get both monthly pay-as-you-go service or choose term subscriptions for additional discounts. This makes Citrix DaaS Standard for Azure a great option when you need to deploy desktops and apps to support seasonal workers, projects like overseas developers, or open a call center, all while keeping your operating costs in line. When the project is complete or that busy season is over, simply scale down the desktops and apps and reduce your costs. While other DaaS services require you to keep paying a flat rate for an always-on experience, Citrix DaaS offers built-in Autoscale that turns desktops on and off when they aren’t used, which can save money over a flat rate, where you pay for a desktop solution even when workers aren’t using it.
4) A Great End-User Experience
The pandemic accelerated remote work, and many organizations learned that employee experience and productivity for remote workers can suffer if they don’t have the right technology. Nothing is more frustrating for a remote worker than a lagging application, buffering media, or poor audio when using a collaboration tool because of antiquated technology that was designed to work best in an office. Organizations are turning to Citrix DaaS for our HDX high-definition experience. It’s that secret sauce developed with our 20+ years of experience in remote access that gives workers a smooth, rich experience they need to get their job done. HDX gives employees a rich, productive, secure work experience from anywhere, on any device.
3) Grows with Your Business
One headache that organizations run into, especially when getting started, is committing to a product or technology that becomes quickly outdated or is too constrained for a growing business. We built our DaaS services to meet your needs where your business is today and to flex with your business during busy and not-so-busy times. Citrix DaaS Standard for Azure enables you to scale as needed to meet your busiest seasons and scale down when not needed to stay cost efficient. Whether your business grows overnight or over the long term, Citrix DaaS grows with you. We often see customers looking at DaaS for things like mergers and acquisitions, when they need to provide secure desktops and applications to a global workforce when onboarding new employees. Citrix DaaS can help you scale up at a moment’s notice or enable you to manage and monitor small- or large-scale deployments from the web-based management console.
2) Incentive Pricing
Citrix understands that for organizations that are starting out or for businesses that need to quickly scale up or expand their business, capital is not always available. DaaS enables customers to get started at minimal cost. And for 2022, Citrix is making it even more affordable. Customers can get started with a month-to-month, no-commitment Citrix DaaS license for as little as $10 (U.S.) per user, per month, cancel at any time. If you want to move to a term subscription you can get a Citrix DaaS Standard license for $100 per user, per year. That’s less than $8.50 per user, per month. Customers can leverage their own Azure subscription, Azure credits, or can choose Citrix Managed Azure service (optional) and have Citrix manage and bill you for cloud consumption when you use it. Citrix DaaS Standard for Azure is available in the Azure Marketplace, enabling you to subscribe and get started right away.
We even have a DaaS calculator that can help you determine your costs based on your unique use case.
1) Try Citrix DaaS Standard for Azure, FREE for Seven Days
And the best thing? You can now try Citrix DaaS Standard for Azure for 7 days — and see why so many organizations rely on it to provide a better, more secure way to work from anywhere. So, what are you waiting for?
