To Upgrade Citrix Software…Or is there A Better Option?

Citrix software upgrade: Ever since Citrix announced the End-of-Life (EOL) of Citrix Virtual Apps (formerly Citrix XenApp) for August 2016, IT administrators have been under immense pressure to make their migration plans as soon as possible. XenApp v4.5 and v5 will be supported until the end of 2015, while v6 will be EOL in the next three years. To get support after the XenApp EOL, businesses have to enroll in an extended support contract program offered by Citrix.

Citrix software upgrade concerns

First, if you wish to continue managing your infrastructure with the existing Citrix software versions, you have to pay an extra amount for extended support. However, Citrix does not state the exact cost of this extended support—this varies depending on individual company needs. According to an article published in Computer Weekly, a company in Europe with 2,500 Citrix Virtual Apps (formerly Citrix XenApp) platinum licenses was asked to pay $121,000 for six months. Moreover, the infrastructure expenses—including personnel training costs—that might be incurred after migration are unclear. Businesses will have to invest in hardware to run the new version, while also paying for new versions of office software, and in the meantime the old system will have to be maintained .

Secondly, the complexity of adjusting the VDI for new software is a big concern. For instance, if you migrate from Server 2003 to Server 2008 R2 or 2012 R2, you will face application compatibility issues as you move from 32-bit to 64-bit. Also, you can’t create mixed farms based on XenApp 4.5/5.0, 6.0 and 6.5 owing to fundamental differences, so you have to build farms in parallel before migrating farm resources. The Citrix software upgrade process itself is complex, but things get even more complicated post-upgrade, as you have to spend time and expertise going through hundreds of hotfixes. IT teams will have to constantly monitor Citrix EOL news so as not to miss out on any migration solutions.

Small and medium-sized businesses cannot afford these costs. This is the time for businesses to evaluate whether they should opt for a Citrix upgrade or for an alternative virtualization solution. Parallels 2X RAS fits neatly into this space.

Why is Parallels 2X RAS the best alternative?

Parallels 2X RAS is the best alternative to Citrix for three reasons: It is affordable, it provides advanced features in the standard edition, and it is easy to install and manage.

Parallels 2X RAS is the only virtualization solution that offers advanced features in the standard edition. Important features such as High Availability Load Balancing (HALB) and printer/scanner redirection come out of the box. The software is easy to deploy and manage, and virtual infrastructure management is simple: there are no complex configuration headaches, and you can monitor and manage the entire infrastructure easily and effectively from a single dashboard. Parallels 2X RAS supports all major hypervisors, operating systems, platforms, and devices.

The best feature of Parallels 2X RAS is that it supports different versions of Windows Server for application compatibility, allowing you to migrate at your own pace. Parallels also supports companies in the migration process from Citrix.

With a high level of support, affordable licensing model, easy-to-use software, and great scalability, Parallels 2X RAS is the best replacement for Citrix.

References

Citrix software upgrade: Citrix revises end of life dates for XenApp, but what does that really mean? | brianmadden.com

Citrix software upgrade: Citrix revises XenApp EOL, IT advised to upgrade quickly | computerweekly.com

Citrix software upgrade: End of Life… to Migrate or not to Migrate? | basvankaam.com

Citrix software upgrade: XenApp migration service | citrix.com

Citrix software upgrade: Migrating from XenApp 4.5 and 5 to XenApp 6.5 | slideshare.net