How to simplify the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops control plane

Welcome to the second installment of our Seven Ways to Simplify Your Digital Workspace Deployment in 2021 blog series. In our first post, we talked about how Nutanix’s hyperconverged infrastructure provides a simpler, faster, and more reliable alternative to using an SAN. Defining your infrastructure layer is one of the key steps when building a workspace that enable your users to securely work from anywhere. Now let’s see how Citrix simplifies the deployment of virtual apps and desktops.

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Citrix has provided secure remote access solutions for years. Now the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service gives end users the flexibility to work from anywhere, while reducing IT’s dependence on physical infrastructure. IT can centrally manage virtual apps and desktops with ease, increasing IT visibility and control, even as it lowers total cost of ownership.

In a traditional Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops environment, admins must deploy, update, and manage all administrative Citrix components — including Studio, Director, Delivery Controllers, SQL, and StoreFront. These components all need to be architected for redundancy and high availability, as well as kept up to date.

With the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktop service, Citrix deploys and manages all the administrative components. This service provides organizations the flexibility and agility to scale quickly as needed, while retaining control of their images and resources. Admins have the flexibility to manage their VDAs in multiple resource locations — on-premises, in the cloud, or in a hybrid approach. They can keep these images on the current release version or the long-term service release version. Additionally, Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service ensures that your environment always has the latest features and security patches, making formerly tedious administrative tasks simple and efficient.

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If you are an existing Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops on-premises customer, the Automated Configuration Tool for Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops automates the migration of your on-premises configuration to your Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service deployment — making it easier than ever to transition to the cloud and take advantage of all that Citrix Cloud offers. If you want to learn more about the Automated Configuration Tool, make sure to listen to episode 1 of The Click-Down, a Citrix technical podcast.

The Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service gives you several options for architecting your solution. Your resources can be hosted on premises, within a public cloud, or via a hybrid approach to fit your environment and your specific business needs. Learn more about the power of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service, the different supported architecture scenarios, and the benefits of moving to Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktop service in our Tech Brief on Citrix Tech Zone.

Stay tuned for the next installment of our series, where we will explore how you can simplify your hypervisor deployment and file services.