By George Watkins, ISV Partner Marketing Manager

December 19, 2023

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Citrix pricing in 2023 — as compared to Parallels RAS costs

Several Citrix customers have reported experienced a lot of frustrations with their infrastructure in the last 12 months.

These reported frustrations could be the result of Citrix’s infrastructure complexity, challenges in deployment flexibility, or shifts in licensing requirements which impact license payment costs.

Just like any customers who are unfulfilled with a product or service, Citrix users are looking for alternatives. This is where Parallels RAS comes in!

Parallels RAS is an all-in-one virtual application and desktop delivery solution that enables organizations of all sizes to work securely from anywhere, on any device.

Organizations have the choice to deploy on-premises, hybrid, or public cloud and integrate with existing technologies like Azure Virtual Desktop.

With Parallels RAS, organizations can adapt and scale to changing business needs. Get your free trial now! 

A pricing comparison —not total cost of ownership

In this blog post, I delve into the significance of pricing comparison in virtualized IT environments and the various components that require considerations.

Before you read on, understand that this is not a Total Cost Ownership (TCO) comparison.

TCO encompasses a thorough evaluation of all the direct and indirect costs associated with owning, utilizing, and maintaining assets throughout their entire lifecycle.

This can take organizations months to assess the total costs associated with a particular project – I mean the word “total” is literally in the name!

A cost comparison is a process of evaluating and comparing the expenses associated with acquiring and using different virtualization software solutions.

The goal is to determine which option provides the best value for your organization needs and goals.

I will also be highlighting some of the key parameters used in both cost comparison and TCO as we create a couple of different environment scenarios to better frame the assessment and licensing considerations. With that introduction, let’s immerse ourselves in the discussion.

What should you consider in a pricing comparison between Citrix and Parallels RAS?

There are several factors to assess with pricing comparisons and the process can get very granular, but in this blog post I’ll provide an overview of some different parameters to consider when evaluating and comparing pricing.

Infrastructure cost

These cost considerations will change depending on the deployment type. It might be that the infrastructure is on-premises or cloud based, like with Azure Virtual Desktop. For the purposes of this pricing comparison exercise these numbers will be similar, as these costs are required by both Citrix and Parallels RAS.

The exception would be if the customer chooses to deploy in the cloud from an on-premises environment, removing the cost associated with the purchase of servers. That reason is why it is not being considered for price comparison.

Administration and support costs

These are some of the biggest annual costs that need to be considered, and often the hardest costs to estimate as they depend on many factors, from operational administration costs to HelpDesk inquiries.

For example, these factors include the number of employees managing the environment, the number of support calls and lost hours connected to end user issues, and the staffs’ associated salary expectations.

If we look at administration costs, generally Citrix customers who switch to Parallels RAS over Citrix Virtual App and Desktop (CVAD) have highlighted a reduction in the number of labor hours necessary to manage the environment.

This is due to Parallels RAS offering a simpler management environment compared to Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops (CVAD). Moreover, Parallels RAS does not require a three-day training course that cost thousands of dollars (plus labor hours) per IT administration team.

This additional labor and cost saving is hard to define in the context of reducing the actual cost of “IT people” but still adds value as the time saved with the move to Parallels RAS can be used elsewhere in the business. Perhaps allowing for accelerated delivery of strategic projects without increasing the size of the team. But for this reason, administration and support costs are not being considered for this price comparison.

Management infrastructure

There are costs associated with the management of infrastructure. These costs are relatively small and, in some cases, such as hosted DaaS offerings, factored into the service as opposed to the labor costs.

Cost transition/migration

This factor is incredibly difficult to ascertain as it truly depends on the customers current and future situations. Migration plans can be lengthy to launch and implement, depending on the size and complexity of the IT infrastructure. As a result, we are not including them in this evaluation.

Licensing costs

Licensing has a significant impact on the running cost of an IT environment. In this case we, will be comparing licensing costs between Citrix and Parallels RAS.

There are also other licensing costs to consider, like application licenses, associated Windows licensing requirements, and Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD), but this is dependent on individual customer scenarios.

For the below scenarios and cost comparisons, this is where we will focus on pricing comparison. We will be using pricing for Citrix products and services from insight.com.

Customer scenario

In this section we will apply the licensing parameters described above in a fictious but representative business example.

As we have mentioned before, cost comparisons and TCO are very subjective to the company in question and a full review and analysis should be conducted for an effective cost evaluation.

The numbers presented in the below section are estimates based on the scenarios presented, not on customer case studies. This is to highlight different use cases organisations may relate to.

Example customer: CMGW Legal Services

CMGW Legal Services is a provider of corporate legal software and services to over 5000 customers in Europe.

They currently use a RDS implementation to grant access to customer data for 600 concurrent users.

CMGW’s would like to introduce new services and deliver digital workspace through Microsoft Azure while maintaining consistency in workspace experience for all customers via their on-premises environment. They are assessing both Citrix CVAD and Parallels RAS as alternatives to the current deployment.

Due to the nature of the requirement, they will require Citrix Universal Licenses in order to operate both from Azure via AVD and on-premises.    In addition, existing contracts dictate that customer data must remain within CMGW’s control, making it costly to change and preventing the use of external service providers.

CMGW’s IT team, specializes in software services but is lacking expertise in VDI delivery, occasionally faces configuration issues, raising concerns about security. The CIO has budgeted for biannual staff training to address these skill gaps.

Dissatisfied with the concern over security and hybrid support of their current solution, CMGW is searching for a flexible, easily manageable solution capable of maintaining existing legal products and facilitating the transition to a new cloud-based solution without additional licensing expenses.

Summary of existing Citrix Components required¹

*Hybrid Use licenses are no longer available for new customer requirements. For new requirements a customer needs to subscribe to the new Citrix Universal Licensing

Total annual Citrix Cost: $313,188 or $521.98 per user per year

Solution for CMGW Legal Services: Parallels RAS

Parallels RAS directly addresses the requirements and handles the current constraints at CMGW Legal Services.

Using a single licensing structure, Parallels RAS enables CMGW to deliver existing services to its customers, complying the with the contractual data security their customers require; it also enables CMGW to add or migrate customers to the new services with no additional license cost from Parallels – this makes budgeting and service pricing much better for CMGW.

With its focus on simplicity, Parallels RAS makes it much easier to deliver services with a generalist team.

A reduction in admin time spent maintaining the environment means there is more time for CMGW administrators to develop its new services.

With free technical resources available online, it also means the administrators can keep up to speed with their skills at a lower impact to the CMGW bottom line.

Due to the 24/7 support included for all customers, Parallels RAS provides a great safety net to the multi-skilled CMGW team, with the ability for them to log a support ticket or make a call at any time.

With the use of Themes in Parallels RAS, CMGW can also customize and brand the services they deliver for different organizations, providing a more personalized user experience and improved customer feedback and retention rates. This comes at no additional cost to CMGW.

In addition to all of the benefits Parallels RAS provides, the costs to deliver Parallels RAS are significantly lower than those demanded by Citrix.

Equivalent Parallels RAS components needed:

Total annual Parallels RAS cost: $72,000 or $120 per user per year

Total savings with Parallels: 70% ($241,188)

Summary: why are IT admin teams and CTOs turning away from Citrix?

In response to growing frustrations faced by many Citrix customers because of evolving licensing requirements, many are turning to compelling alternative solutions like Parallels RAS.

In today’s rapidly changing IT landscape, organizations are increasingly seeking cost-effective, user-friendly, and flexible solutions. Parallels RAS offers a promising path forward for those looking to optimize their virtualized IT environments, reduce expenses, and ensure a smoother management experience.

Ultimately, the decision between Citrix and Parallels RAS depends on your organization’s unique needs, budget, and long-term goals.

We recommend conducting a thorough review and analysis specific to your company to make an informed choice that aligns with your business objectives and helps you overcome the challenges associated with your current IT infrastructure.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the cost structure or licensing structure of Parallels versus Citrix?

Citrix Virtual App and Desktops licensing offers both a named user and concurrent user licensing model with a set term. Nowadays, subscriptions are the more common option, unless you have a significant customer status that enables perpetual renewals. Additionally, these subscriptions come in multiple tiers, including advanced and premium options. Other products in the portfolio are licensed differently.

How do Citrix and Parallels RAS handle software updates and version upgrades in terms of cost and compatibility?

RAS upgrades are streamlined through automated processes initiated from the console, typically commencing with the Primary Connection Broker. In the case of Citrix, the upgrade process involves several distinct components that need separate attention, commencing with the License Server. For detailed guidance on this recommended upgrade process, you can refer to this link: Citrix Upgrade Documentation. Additionally, both Parallels and Citrix offer time-limited trial versions for testing and proof of concept (POC) purposes.

Appendix

*Pricing Source

1. Summary of source costs according to the CDW.com public price list as on 1st December 2023

Ready to explore the potential of Parallels RAS and experience life without Citrix-related frustrations? Start your free trial today.