Evolve IP | Navigating Changes in the EUC Market for DaaS Customers

The end-user computing (EUC) market has undergone significant changes in the past year, with the divestiture of VMware's EUC division to KKR and its rebranding as Omnissa, along with the sale of VMware to Broadcom. This has created uncertainties and risks for infrastructure and operations (I&O) leaders who use or are considering using Omnissa's products, such as Horizon, Horizon Cloud and Workspace ONE, for their desktop as a service (DaaS) needs. In this document, we will summarize the major points of a recent Gartner report on the future of Omnissa's EUC products, and provide guidance and recommendations for DaaS customers who want to make informed and strategic decisions about their EUC solutions. We will also highlight the benefits and advantages of Citrix, a leading alternative to Omnissa, and explain why Evolve IP is the best partner to help you with your DaaS journey, whether you choose Citrix or Omnissa.

Key Takeaways from the Gartner Report

The Gartner report, titled "The Future of VMware's EUC Products" and published on 23 August 2024, offers insights on the impact of the Omnissa divestiture on I&O leaders, and provides recommendations on how to mitigate the risks and prepare for the negotiations and market implications. Here are the key takeaways from the report:

Omnissa is now an independent company, with its own direction and product strategy, which may differ from Broadcom's or VMware's previous plans. This creates new risks for I&O leaders, such as product enhancements, deprecation or discontinuation, partner strategy changes, and roadmap updates.
Clients will have to transact with Omnissa separately from Broadcom or VMware, which may reduce their negotiating leverage and increase their pricing. Clients should also ensure that they have entitlement to any dependent Broadcom products, such as vSphere, vSAN and vCenter, when purchasing Horizon.
Omnissa's strategy is to deliver an autonomous platform that supports how work is performed, but it lacks detailed product roadmaps that I&O leaders need. Clients should work closely with Omnissa to understand its product strategy and any changes to licensing, and create their own comprehensive roadmap and contingency plans.

How to Choose the Right EUC Solution for Your DaaS Needs

As a current or prospective DaaS customer, you may be wondering how the Omnissa divestiture affects your EUC solution. The answer depends on several factors, such as your use cases, your budget, your employee experience, your risk tolerance, and your vendor relationship. Here are some questions to ask yourself when evaluating your EUC options:

Do you benefit commercially from changing vendors? Compare the costs and benefits of staying with Omnissa versus switching to Citrix, taking into account the licensing, support, migration, and operational expenses.
What is the impact of changing vendors on your employee experience? Assess how a transition to a new EUC solution would affect the performance, usability, security, and manageability of your DaaS environment, and how it would align with your digital workplace strategy.
What are the risks of changing vendors? Identify the potential technical, operational, legal, and contractual risks of moving from Omnissa to Citrix, and how you would mitigate them. Consider the criticality of your workloads, the complexity of your infrastructure, and the dependencies on other products.
How satisfied are you with your vendor relationship? Evaluate the quality and reliability of your vendor's products, services, support, and communication, and how they meet your expectations and requirements. Consider the vendor's vision, innovation, and roadmap, and how they align with your goals and needs.

Citrix — A viable and cost-effective Alternative to Omnissa

If you are looking for a proven and trusted EUC solution that can deliver a superior DaaS experience, you should consider Citrix. Citrix is a leader in the EUC market, with a comprehensive portfolio of products and services that enable you to provide secure, flexible, and productive digital workspaces to your employees, regardless of where they work, what devices they use, or what applications they need. Here are some of the benefits and advantages of Citrix:

Citrix has a clear and consistent product strategy and roadmap, with regular updates and enhancements that address the evolving needs and challenges of the EUC market. Citrix also has a strong partner ecosystem, with integrations and collaborations with leading vendors in the cloud, security, and device management domains.
Citrix offers a flexible and scalable DaaS solution, with options to deploy on-premises, in the cloud, or in a hybrid model, depending on your preferences and needs. Citrix also supports multiple hypervisors, including VMware's vSphere, Microsoft's Hyper-V, and Citrix's own Hypervisor, giving you more choice and control over your DaaS infrastructure.
Citrix enhances the employee experience, with high-performance, high-definition, and high-fidelity virtual desktops and applications that can adapt to different network conditions, device types, and user scenarios. Citrix also provides a unified and intuitive workspace app that simplifies and streamlines the access and consumption of DaaS resources.
Citrix reduces the cost and complexity of DaaS, with intelligent and automated management and optimization tools that simplify the provisioning, monitoring, and troubleshooting of your DaaS environment. Citrix also leverages advanced technologies, such as machine learning, artificial intelligence, and analytics, to enhance the security, efficiency, and quality of your DaaS solution.

Why Evolve IP is the Best Partner for Your DaaS Journey

At Evolve IP, we understand that choosing the right EUC solution for your DaaS needs is not an easy decision, and that you may have different preferences and requirements. That is why we offer both Citrix and Omnissa solutions, with the expertise and experience to help you design, implement, and manage the best DaaS solution for your organization. Here are some of the reasons why you should partner with Evolve IP for your DaaS journey:

We are a certified and award-winning partner of both Citrix and Omnissa, with the highest level of technical and business competencies, and a proven track record of successful DaaS deployments across various industries and use cases.
We provide a comprehensive and customized DaaS solution, with the flexibility and scalability to meet your current and future needs. We can help you migrate from Omnissa to Citrix, or vice versa, with minimal disruption and risk, or support you with a hybrid or multi-cloud approach, depending on your preferences and needs.
We offer a reliable and secure DaaS solution, with the highest standards of availability, performance, and compliance. We leverage our own world-class data centers or we can deploy in Azure, to deliver a resilient and robust DaaS infrastructure that suits your needs.
We deliver a superior and cost-effective DaaS solution, with the best value and quality in the market. We optimize your DaaS costs and consumption, with transparent and predictable pricing, and flexible and scalable licensing. We also enhance your DaaS quality and efficiency, with proactive and responsive support, and value-added services, such as backup, disaster recovery, and security.

Conclusion

The EUC market is changing rapidly, and the Omnissa divestiture is one of the major events that has implications for DaaS customers. As a DaaS buyer, you should be aware of the risks and opportunities that the Omnissa divestiture presents, and evaluate your EUC options carefully and strategically. Citrix is a viable and cost-effective alternative to Omnissa, with a clear and consistent product strategy, a flexible and scalable DaaS solution, a superior employee experience, and a reduced cost and complexity of DaaS. Evolve IP is the best partner to help you with your DaaS journey, whether you choose Citrix or Omnissa, with the expertise and experience to provide a comprehensive and customized DaaS solution, a reliable and secure DaaS infrastructure, and a superior and cost-effective DaaS service.

Desktop-as-a-Service is a cloud computing solution that provides employees with secure remote access to all of their applications, files and data from any location, at any time. The data is stored safely in a public/ private cloud and can be accessed on nearly any internet-enabled ‘smart’ device. Desktop as a Service, formerly known as Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) consolidates all external IT assets and legacy/SaaS applications into one platform to simplify IT administration. Each user is provided with a dedicated CPU and memory allowing them to work exactly as they would with a traditional laptop or desktop, often with improved performance, better security and seamless user experience.

Successful deployments usually are solving for one or more of the following needs: 

Employs teleworkers and /or a mobile workforce. 
Wants to reduce the overall costs of supporting their desktop infrastructure and software. 
Has limited IT resources and needs to achieve peak efficiency and simplified management of employee desktops. 
The enterprise wants to extend the life of older PCs / laptops and reduce the frequency of PC replacement. 
Has between 250 and 5,000+ employees with a distributed workforce. 
Wants to increase data security.

No, DaaS is not an all or nothing proposition. While the most common deployment, simply due to proximity, is to bring both desktops and line of business applications within the Evolve IP hosting environment, businesses can select just the users for whom it makes the most sense, (such as remote users, employees in satellite offices, users with older PCs) and hybrid deployment models are supported. 

What is your secure remote work strategy today? 
Do you plan to continue to issue laptops for end users or would you be interested in exploring alternatives? 
What tools do you currently use to deploy, patch, monitor, secure, and support devices in the field? 
If you do plan to have a DaaS/VDI solution, are you using VPN to access applications in the data center and if so, are you having any issues relative to cost, security, or user experience?

There are 3 different types of DaaS offerings: 

Self-assembled DaaS is where the client assembles a DaaS solution from components made available by the vendor. Clients would select and configure the cloud infrastructure, profile management technology and associated storage. Clients would be responsible for configuration and management of the user virtual machines. The vendor operates the clients elected components and provides management and updates of the infrastructure through the life of the service. This segment includes Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop, Amazon WorkSpaces, Citrix Systems (DaaS) or VMware Horizon Cloud. 
Vendor-assembled DaaS is where the vendor defines most of the solution. The client has less configuration work to perform and focuses on management of the user virtual machines. This segment includes VMware, Citrix, Evolve IP, Amazon Workspaces, Windows 365 etc. 
Vendor-managed DaaS is where the full service is managed and supported by the vendor. Managed DaaS vendors generally manage the virtual machine operating systems (i.e., patch and update the user’s Windows image) and in some cases provide user support. Vendors in this segment include systems integrators, managed service providers such as Evolve IP's Managed DaaS.

Due to the explosion of SaaS, most workforces are now only using one or two legacy applications. Unfortunately, the DaaS provider industry is still trying to solve these applications by giving everyone a virtual desktop. Simply put, that’s a waste of money and resources, but most importantly what an annoying way to do your job! 

Evolve IP is breaking the DaaS industry mold. With Evolve IP’s Virtual Desktop Solution, we are able to publish legacy applications to the user and provide them in a file based SSO fashion. This makes legacy applications look, act and feel like a SaaS application to the user on whichever device they are using. 

Provisioning traditional desktops is tedious and takes weeks vs. minutes with DaaS. Here’s an illustration of adding 10 new desktops to DaaS (the industry-wide practice) vs. 10 new Evolve IP’s Virtual Desktop Solution users: 

DaaS: The customer tells their Account Manager (AM) they need 10 more desktops. The AM sends a quote for 10 more users. The customer signs the quote and the AM passes this on to provisioning and a couple days later, without escalations, the DaaS seats are there. Can it be done in a couple hours in a pinch? Sure, and we have many times. But the default process noted here is typical 

Evolve IP’s Virtual Desktop Solution: IT logs into their portal and creates 10 users, along with their security permissions and applications access, instantly. Resources for pushing out legacy applications or entire desktops are provisioned in minutes. The portal then reaches out to Office 365 and provisions their licenses ... on the fly. Charges are automatically added to their monthly billing. Oh, and should you need to eliminate users, the same is true in reverse to deprovision. Net-net IT can add users, on their own, in a matter of minutes not days. Larger changes may require account management but for the most part, capacity planning can be done at your leisure instead of while under the gun to make a small change.

Security and Compliance: DaaS mitigates risks and eliminates security concerns because the data resides in the datacenter and not on the device. Additionally, you can add an extra layer of security to your platform with Evolve IP’s multi-factor authentication (MFA) and single sign-on (SSO) web portal, all while staying compliant. 

Mobility: DaaS enables IT to provide users with remote access to all company applications from anywhere on any device. With Evolve IP's DaaS enables IT to quickly deploy new users from anywhere, making it easier to manage users and increase productivity. 

Scalability and Agility: With Evolve IP's DaaS, it's easy for IT to scale up or down your virtual desktops as needed, so you can quickly adapt to changing business requirements. 

Performance: DaaS enables organizations to deliver high performing applications to any end point. Real-time audio and video optimized DaaS enables team members to work together on projects from different locations in real-time, making collaboration easier and more efficient. Is your organization planning to or in the process of adopting DaaS? Here are a few recommendations from the 2023 Gartner Market Guide for DaaS to help you find a DaaS solution that meets your unique IT needs .

Access company data and apps securely from any where 
Simplify IT by offloading maintenance and administrative headaches 
Work from any location with any type of end-point device 
Reduce your security exposure 
Reduce hardware and support costs 
Replace siloed, legacy infrastructure with a consolidated solution that simplifies IT 
Speed up used on boarding and offboarding 
Eliminate the need to refresh hardware every few years 
Eliminate the need for VPN 
Ensure reliability with 99.999% uptime 
Maximize business continuity with disaster recovery 
Stay secure by keeping up with compliance and regulatory standards

Use Case	Common For	Best Choice
High Availability	Critical Workloads, Large Enterprises	DaaS
Seasonal Workers / Bust Capacity	Retail, Finance	DaaS
Small Worker Footprint	SMB Enterprise	PC or DaaS
Bring Your Own PC (BYOD)	Contractors, Gig Workers	VDI or DaaS
Single / Multiple Desk-Based Locations	Physicians, Floor Managers	VDI or DaaS
High Security and Compliance	Financial Traders, IT, Government	VDI or DaaS
Numerous Legacy Windows App	Healthcare, Governments, Finance	VDI or DaaS
High-Turnover Positions	Interns, Contractors, Educators	VDI or DaaS
High End Graphics	CAD Engineers, GIS, Graphic Design	PC or DaaS
Shared Computers	Hospitals, Manufacturing	VDI or DaaS

DaaS (Desktop as a Service):

Cloud-based service.
Managed by a third-party provider.
Highly scalable and subscription-based.
Suitable for organizations prioritizing simplicity and scalability.

VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure):

On-premises or private cloud solution.
Requires more in-house management.
Upfront hardware costs.
Provides more control and customization options.

In short, DaaS is a cloud-based, scalable, and managed service, while VDI offers more control but demands in-house management and infrastructure investment.

Deployment:

DaaS: Cloud-based, no physical hardware.
Traditional Desktops: Physical computers or laptops.

Maintenance:

DaaS: No hardware maintenance required.
Traditional Desktops: Ongoing hardware maintenance needed.

Scalability:

DaaS: Highly scalable with virtual desktops.
Traditional Desktops: Scalability limited by physical hardware.

Flexibility:

DaaS: Supports remote and flexible work.
Traditional Desktops: Tied to physical locations.

Data Security:

DaaS: Strong security measures from providers.
Traditional Desktops: Data security is organization's responsibility.

Cost Structure:

DaaS: Subscription-based.
Traditional Desktops: Upfront hardware and maintenance costs.

Software Updates:

DaaS: Managed by providers.
Traditional Desktops: Organization's responsibility.

In short, DaaS offers a cloud-based, scalable, and cost-effective desktop solution, while traditional desktops rely on physical hardware and involve higher maintenance and management efforts.

Real-time audio and video conferencing for Virtual Desktops and Desktop as a Service (DaaS) refers to the ability to conduct live audio and video meetings and collaboration sessions within a virtual desktop or DaaS environment. Video conferencing solutions such as Microsoft Teams, Webex and Zoom when deployed as part of a virtual desktop environment, often increase the network load and compromises the performance and end-user experience, making remote working difficult. Traditional desktops and VDI’s are not good at encoding and decoding parts of audio and video. This is why video conferencing on old virtual desktops are slow and laggy. Evolve IP mitigates this issue by deploying vendor-supported configurations of their collaboration tools in a virtual environment, also known as real-time audio and video (RTAV) optimization or media offloading. Unlike traditional desktops and VDI, modern DaaS is smart enough to offload the media intensive parts of processing that a virtual desktop isn't good at to your client device. This simple change is how users get a Teams call, Zoom call, Webex call (or even stream March madness) with 100% clarity within their virtual desktop.

Instead of waiting until the last moment for another hardware refresh, exploring DaaS early on can improve the way you approach tech challenges. DaaS offers more than just device replacement—it extends device lifecycles, enhances security, boosts mobility, and improves end-user productivity, ultimately leading to a better customer experience. By having the conversation about DaaS well in advance, organizations can discover its potential beyond a simple hardware substitute.

The level of effort is modest, but not groundbreaking. The implementation process goes through the following steps:

Extend a customers’ network into the data center solution
Build out DaaS tenant
Getting the image ready
Installing applications
Add licensing

Not only does DaaS offer a significant reduction in support costs—up to 60% for user bases leveraging VDI or DaaS compared to traditional client computing solutions—it also simplifies administrative tasks. By eliminating the need for device procurement and provisioning, DaaS simplifies organizational dynamics and cuts costs.

These 7 comparison points can guide you in your process:

Ownership and Management

Private Cloud: Owned and maintained by a single organization or a third-party service provider exclusively for that organization. Offers more control and customization options.
Public Cloud: Owned and operated by a third-party provider, serving multiple organizations. Less control over infrastructure and services as it's shared among users.

Uptime

Private Cloud: Typically offers 99.999% uptime.
Public Cloud: Typically offers 99.9 or 99.99% uptime.

Customization and Flexibility

Private Cloud: Provides greater customization options to tailor the infrastructure and services to specific organizational needs.
Public Cloud: Offers limited customization options due to shared infrastructure and standardized services.

Scalability

Private Cloud: Scalability is possible but may be constrained by the available resources and infrastructure.
Public Cloud: Highly scalable with the ability to rapidly increase or decrease resources based on demand.

Compliance and Regulations

Private Cloud: Easier to comply with specific industry regulations and data privacy requirements as customization is feasible.
Public Cloud: Compliance may be challenging, especially if the provider operates in multiple regions with varying regulations.

Security

Private Cloud: Offers higher security levels due to dedicated resources and customized security measures.
Public Cloud: Security measures are standardized and shared among multiple users, potentially posing higher security risks.

Disaster Recovery

Private Cloud: Allows for customized disaster recovery strategies and redundancy plans based on organizational needs.
Public Cloud: Relies on the provider's disaster recovery and redundancy measures, which may have limitations in customization.

Evolve IP’s managed DaaS delivers the technology, support, management, and expertise needed to fully embrace hybrid work – in our cloud or on Azure. It enables IT to offload their day-to-day administrative headaches of managing a virtual desktop infrastructure to Evolve IP so they can focus on more strategic tasks.

Desktop-as-a-Service provides multiple business benefits:

Dramatically improve employee productivity by providing immediate access to all company apps from any location, on any type of device
Enable mobility and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) strategies 
Improve data, device, and application security because data never leaves the data center and stays safe in Evolve IP’s cloud. 
Better manageability due to centralized administration i.e. quickly upgrade applications across the network, push patches etc.
Eradicate PC / laptop repair time and expense 
Extend the life of desktop infrastructure, workstations, and laptops 
Eliminates the need for additional staffing/support costs 
Reduce Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) by transitioning away from expensive on-site servers, data centers and hardware.

Anywhere that you have internet connectivity including cable modem and 4G/5G wireless connections – from home, from the coffee shop, from the airport, from the office, etc.

Almost every device can access our DaaS solution including desktops, mobile, Macbooks,netbooks, ultra books, iPads and Android tablets. Any computer running Windows XP or greater, Linux, Macs, or from low-cost, dedicated thin client devices. 

The following features and services are included depending on the type of DaaS offering you choose (Enhanced, Premium, Ultimate, Managed): 

A full Windows 64 bit desktop experience 
Access from any device
RMM-Pro
Real-time audio and video optimization
Dedicated CPU for each user 
Dedicated memory for each user 
Identity management with SSO/MFA 
Evolve IP’s security suite
Platform, Image and Patch management
Performance and Availability Monitoring
Critical Infrastructure Backup
Tailored Management Options
Office 365 / Microsoft Licensing
Disaster Recovery as a Service
Virtual Data Center (VDC)
An administrator portal for IT to centrally manage virtual desktops for better administrative control and security.

See what’s included in Evolve IP’s packages here.

No, if you are currently contracted with Microsoft for your Windows Desktop Operating System you can leverage the Windows VDA (Virtual Desktop Access) for your licensing. Learn more about our Desktop as a Service Pricing here. 

Almost all USB peripherals that are supported in Windows are supported with our DaaS solution. Administrators can control the types of peripherals that can be accessed within the virtual desktop by implementing policies that make the most sense for their organization and user community. 

Virtually any application your desktops run today will run on DaaS. We support BYOL (Bring-Your-Own-Licensing), Open-source licensing such as Open Office, or Evolve IP can provide Microsoft Office applications via a monthly subscription model. 

We can also host line-of-business applications within our virtual private cloud infrastructure providing your business with all of the flexibility you have on physical desktops today. 

When thinking about Virtual Desktop FAQs, this is an important question. Your current administrator or third-party consultant is responsible for your Active Directory, users’ permissions and policies, desktop applications, and endpoint device support. Evolve IP manages virtual desktop pools and licensing, stable and secure virtual infrastructure, network, and consumable resources (CPU, RAM, Disk). 

Yes, each DaaS deployment is provisioned with a dedicated Active Directory server. The solution fully supports premise-to-cloud domain integration and was built specifically to meet the needs of midmarket and enterprise businesses. 

Ryan Easter

Principal and Director of IT, Johnson Investment Council

“We haven’t missed a beat. The transition has been almost seamless to our folks, working from home full time. My team looks like heroes right now because of how seamless this has been for our organization. People are very appreciative that we’re in this position and everything is working. It has been wonderful.”

Jeff Francis

VP of IT, US Dermatology Partners

“Evolve IP facilitated the most successful and smooth data center move we’ve ever experienced. Even more, their desktop solution enabled us to quickly resolve our technology bottlenecks so that IT could deliver strategic business value faster. The combination of rapid integration and cost savings has allowed us to acquire more practices in a faster and more profitable way. That is resulting in bottom-line cost savings and top-line business benefits.”

Dan Sincavage

Co-founder, Tenfold

"Tenfold is the market leader for cloud-based CRM integration and we have been a client of Evolve IP for 6 years. As our business grew and needed to adapt, we deployed their Microsoft Teams with Cisco voice solution. This has enabled our employees to work productively from anywhere. We have also been able to manage our costs while providing a scalable, supportable communications technology that will evolve over time and exceed our needs.”

Get Started

Introduction

Get Started

Key Takeaways from the Gartner Report

Navigating the VMware EUC Wave