Two powerhouses in the cloud computing industry are Citrix and Microsoft. Citrix has more than 30 years of proven success delivering virtual desktop and apps, and 90% of Fortune 500 companies trust Microsoft Azure.
When planning the foundation of your technology infrastructure, it’s important to choose a tool that you can rely on and that delivers consistent performance to power your business.
Businesses can choose either Citrix or Azure, but they’re actually better when used together!
Deploying Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops on Microsoft’s Azure cloud infrastructure offers one of the easiest ways to accelerate Windows 10 enterprise migration.
Companies are going through a digital transformation as they fine tune their use of cloud platforms. They’ve realized that using a central architecture from which they can deploy multiple cloud-based business apps ensures the data sharing, integration, and automation needed for efficient workflows.
40% of all technology spending in 2019 went towards digital transformation.
Trusting new and unproven platforms can leave companies at risk of losing their cloud infrastructure or not having it as robust as they need, which is why using proven players in the cloud world is a smart business decision when it comes to ongoing business continuity.
The partnership between Azure and Citrix gives companies the best of two well-integrated systems they can rely on today as well as 20 years from now, based upon their past track record.
Using Citrix and Azure Together
The Microsoft Azure platform is a perfect host for Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops because it supports all of the control and workload components those Citrix services require.
Both applications share a common language when it comes to identity, governance, and security.
Citrix Cloud and Microsoft Azure give companies the ability to deploy Citrix virtual assets with elasticity and agility and to adjust their usage needs fluidly.
Three Common Scenarios for Using Azure & Citrix
Companies that use Citrix and Azure together have some options in how they choose to implement the pair. Here are three of the most common ways it’s done.
- New Deployment: a new, or Greenfield, deployment scenario is used then you are looking to use a subscription model and outsource control plane infrastructure to Citrix.
- Extension of On-Premises: This is used when you already have a current on-premises deployment of Azure and are adding Citrix as a resource location for new or migrated deployments.
- Lift and Shift: This scenario is when you deploy Citrix into Azure, treating Azure as a site, and use Citrix NetScaler and StoreFront.
Subscription Models
FutureRange can help you decide on the most cost-efficient subscription model for a Citrix/Azure deployment based upon your use needs. Here are the two options.
Single Subscription (Recommended for up to 1,000 Citrix VDAs)
In this model, all Azure infrastructure and Citrix infrastructure are included in one subscription.
Multi-Subscription (For larger and multi-region infrastructure)
With a multi-subscription model your Azure and Citrix infrastructure are in two separate subscriptions. This helps prevent larger infrastructure deployments from hitting Azure subscription limits.
Benefits of Deploying Citrix on Azure
What benefits can you expect from implementing Citrix services on a Microsoft Azure server? Here are several examples of how using these two services together can improve your business operations.
Security
By removing the need for endpoints to store critical business information, you can increase security and offer easier implementation of document handling policies.
Microsoft has a 99.9% uptime guarantee and Azure includes multiple protections such as:
- Advanced threat protection across hybrid cloud workloads
- DDoS protection
- Key Vault
- Azure Active Directory
Accessibility
Using Citrix and Azure, you can ensure anywhere/anytime access to employee workloads and enable mobility for remote workers.
You have the flexibility of delivering Citrix apps and legacy Windows apps, ensuring your workforce has the tools they need to get the job done.
Simplify Administration
Hosting Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops on Azure allows you to simplify the administration of your workstations by hosting them virtually.
Administrators can use a central control panel to roll out updates, apply security patches, provision assets to new users, and administer security policies.
Having one place to access all virtual desktops reduces the time and cost of IT administration.
Easily Expand Operations Anywhere
By leveraging the Azure data center, it’s easy to expand your number of users and add additional offices anywhere around the world.
Central management of all your app workloads streamlines the process of new deployments and gets the important digital assets your team needs to operate efficiently to them faster.
Reduce Hardware Costs
With Citrix virtual desktops being hosted in a cloud environment, Azure is providing the processing power, memory, storage and other performance requirements needed.
This means your physical workstations used to access those virtual desktops do not need to have the same robust specifications, and can be streamlined for effective access only, saving you money on hardware costs.
Additionally, using Citrix and Azure allows your workloads to be accessed from mobile devices just as easily as a PC.
Explore a Citrix-Azure Solution for Your Company
Both Microsoft Azure and Citrix offer excellent solutions that can streamline your technology operations. FutureRange can help you go over different deployment scenarios and find the one that fits your organisation perfectly.
Contact us today to schedule a free consultation. Call +353 1 2960 560 or reach us online.
