Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) vs. Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS)

For large organizations that need software to update at the control of the IT department APP-V is a godsend to manage deployment based on AD group assignment, maintaining software versioning for specific services or upgrades, and areas where you need to make software available without having to install the entire package - the streaming portion of APP-v publishes a shortcut on the desktop, then streams the install on demand

Incentivized

Scenarios where time is a factor in having a solution in place and up and running safely and securely. Where there are older devices that ordinarily wouldn't be up to the task of running modern apps and services. Where users need to work away from the network, and security is a concern.

Incentivized

• It's incredibly customizable, integrates with Microsoft 365, and allows you to screen share with colleagues without even phoning them!
• Call quality is excellent, and the user interface is basic and intuitive enough that there is no need for any training.
• The user interface (UI) is quite professional, and it makes it simple to identify and operate the many features. And we record all of our meetings using Microsoft Teams as well.
• In my opinion, it's an excellent file-sharing application, and the ability to change the theme to dark is a personal preference.

Incentivized

• The printing driver is quite excellent, both in the Parallels Client and on the HTML5 client.
• Setup is incredibly easy; the default setup is very functional, and adding features is a breeze.
• Speed is very acceptable in general for end-users, the clients adapt quite well to the amount of bandwidth available, and features are available to adjust further.
• Automation through PowerShell is great.
• Support is usually quite fast and efficient.

Incentivized

• Complicated software installs of interacting software needs significant care
• Updating software requires a pristine virtual machine to update a packager
• No longer being updated so new software practices aren't correctly captured.

Incentivized

• Licensing, our perpetual license was forcefully removed from us after 8 years without warning, causing a doubling of the price, after providing a signed sales quote for renewal through our VAR. Parallels sales team did not seem to care, and was willing to throw away a customer who used their services for nearly a decade, and throw our VAR under the bus.
• continued addition of new features for existing platforms, not just a focus on the hot new cloud offerings.

Incentivized

The product is very useful and fairly easy to maintain. We enjoy the multiple additonal platforms we can now run our Windows only Client Server applications on, such as Macs, iPads, phones, etc. We also find that speed is improved for using this applications over a WAN, while it still FEELS like running the application locally.

Incentivized

Parallels RAS was easy to setup, with great admin guides and resources. We especially liked the included Visio templates which made diagramming much easier. The reference deployment diagrams also simplified our deployment process. Our end users love Parallels RAS. Apps launch faster than Citrix, and the Parallels RAS client is far more reliable than Workspace.

If there are any issues with Parallels - they are usually more about the server operating systems than Parallels itself. It would be rare for us to have any reason to take Parallels offline - we schedule a reboot on the servers at 3am to keep the O/S itself fresh, but again - it is not a Parallels issue. If individual users have any issues we ask them to completely log out of parallels - which ends their session - and then back in - and that typically resolves the issue right away.

Incentivized

I am giving Parallels 9/10 on this one because the only application that sometimes seems slow or has issues - is Microsoft Outlook. It is sometimes the result of a pop-up that may not show up in the published application (vs full desktop). Other than that - pages load very quickly - and it does not seem to slow down other applications that are running at the same time. Most of our users run Outlook, softphone and Teams locally - and published applications for everything else. When they do that - it is very solid.

Incentivized

APP-V is no longer a supported technology and is on the way out, only on legacy support at this time. The changes in security emphasis in windows, as well as the changes in software development have meant that APP-V is no longer able to correctly package software. It has been superseded by the MSIX format and distribution via the Microsoft Store for Business.

Incentivized

Good support in place if required, very helpful when it comes to upgrades or any issues faced. The support team is knowledgeable, friendly, and quick to respond to issues The company also provides a range of online resources, including a
knowledge base, documentation, and forums, which can be helpful before raising a ticket

Incentivized

Documentation is fair but sometimes a little difficult to follow

Incentivized

Overall, it was pretty simple compared to most other projects. Again, we had a strong familarity with the product so there was not much of a learning curve. Our 'biggest' issue is the end-user understanding of a 'local' application and a published application. For example - Online meetings need to run locally for camera/video to work smoothly so opening a link to a meeting from a published application continues to be an occasional issue.

Incentivized

Microsoft Teams is included in our current Office 365 product set; therefore, there is no additional fee to use the application. It saves our company money by not having to pay for Slack or another internal chat service. For us, Microsoft Teams has a better user experience and product features. Teams' usability is higher than Slack's since it has access to OneDrive, email, and OneNote applications. Screen sharing, chat, and file-sharing operate smoothly, and the performance appears great.

Incentivized

Citrix has more bells and whistles within their product line, but we've actually been pleasantly surprised with the performance of Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) vs our Citrix implementation. Citrix Netscaler has way more functionality than the Parallels Halb, but for the most part, we used none of that extra functionality and the Halb simplicity is refreshing. very little upkeep needed

Incentivized

We added our Integrated Services Staff to parallels, with filtered, published applications - in a single afternoon. We added licensing and installed the desktop client software on multiple platforms both in the office and at remote sites all on the same day - and got remote users that had never used the product up and running - very quickly.

Incentivized

• Some applications may be slower
• Interaction between several applications can be better

Incentivized

• Our customers have had dramatic cost decreases due to no longer needing IT departments to work with our software.
• We've been able to charge more for our hosting services due to our customers saving money in the long run. Parallels Remote Application Server has more than paid for itself, and the increased income has gone right back into the business.
• Both our customers and our company have benefited from this transition.

Incentivized