Recent changes in Citrix and VMWare licensing have left organisations with an obvious choice for a cost-effective desktop and cloud computing platform to run business server infrastructure – Azure Virtual Desktop. Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) is leading the way in the Gartner Quadrant for Desktop as a Service and has proven to be a secure cost-effective solution for replacing Citrix and VMWare Horizon.
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Gartner Quadrant for Desktop as a Service – 2024
VMWare Horizon Pricing Changes
In late 2023, Broadcom acquired VMWare for a staggering $69 billion USD. Since then, significant changes have unfolded in VMWare’s licensing landscape, impacting how the company moves forward and which products it will support in the future.
Lucidity, a seasoned player in the technology space, has observed a critical trend. Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and customers who rely on on-premise and private cloud VMWare platforms are now facing licensing renewals. Unfortunately, these renewals come with a substantial increase in costs.
Gone are the days of perpetual license options, and some customers have been quoted 4-10 times their historical payments.
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eg: Lets take a typical physical server – 2 CPU Sockets, 24 cores a CPU – 3 Year VMWare Pricing
| Previous VMWare pricing | New Pricing | |
| $4850 AUD per socket, SnS cost $1164 AUD | $405 per physical core per year | |
| 2 x Sockets * $4850 AUD + $1164 AUD * 3 Years
= $16,684 AUD |
2 x Sockets * 48 cores * $405 * 3 years
= $58,320 AUD (250% more) |
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| 5 x Servers = $83,420 AUD | 5 x Servers = $291,600 AUD |
Above prices are based on list price quoted in Microsoft AVS Opportunity presentation and are in AUD and are only an example of the changes.
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That’s $208,180 AUD ($226,788 NZD) more for 5 servers over 3 years.
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Lucidity’s Solution: Transitioning to Azure-Based Desktop Solutions
Lucidity has a proven track record of migrating customers away from legacy VMWare and Citrix platforms. In the past couple of years, we’ve successfully completed over 60 Azure migration projects. Now, we’re collaborating with larger organizations, including regional councils in New Zealand, to facilitate a swift and cost-effective transition from Citrix and VMWare to Azure-based desktop solutions.
Our professional services team specializes in leveraging cutting-edge technologies like Nerdio Enterprise. By architecting and deploying desktop and application platforms, we empower your IT team to maintain control. Our team can work with you to deploy your own AVD and Azure Server management framework that you manage, or we can help take care of the ongoing maintenance and applications.
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The Azure AVD Advantage
Lucidity offers a streamlined path to Azure AVD adoption. Within a few hours, we can onboard your organization to your own Azure AVD tenant, ready to scale up and deliver applications to end users. The best part? You’ll avoid the complexities associated with VMWare and Citrix license renewals. AVD licensing is seamlessly integrated into Windows 365 Business Premium licenses, and your organization only pays for computing and storage costs within Azure.
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Reach Out to Lucidity
Curious about the cost comparison? Get in touch with Lucidity, and we’ll swiftly provide you with an estimate for running your current VMWare or Citrix platform in Microsoft Azure. Prepare to be pleasantly surprised by how reasonable the costs truly are. Our team are experts at helping you migrate your IT platforms to Microsoft cloud services.
