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Citrix Renewal Price Spikes: Evaluating Lightweight Alternatives for Business Remote Desktop Software

  • 2GoCloud
  • Aug 5
  • 3 min read

  • Enterprise IT leads face steep VDI renewal price increases following vendor consolidation and forced subscription bundling.

  • Traditional VDI platforms like Citrix and VMware force heavy, full-OS desktop streaming that degrades mobile usability.

  • 2GoCloud’s Enterprise Application Mobility Layer (EnAML) streams secure but lightweight, touch-optimised application interfaces with zero recoding.

  • Cuts infrastructure overhead and delivers up to 75% TCO reduction compared to full VDI software stacks.

  • Enforces a strict "zero data at rest" architecture to maintain Cyber Essentials and CISO governance compliance.


The infrastructure trap vs. application-centric streaming


Enterprise IT leads are facing significant licensing cost increases following recent VDI vendor consolidation and mandatory subscription bundling. Paying for full Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is an expensive infrastructure trap for teams that simply need secure, mobile application delivery. 2GoCloud’s Enterprise Application Mobility Layer replaces multi-layered desktop virtualisation with a streamlined presentation layer, eliminating heavy VDI licensing overhead entirely while maintaining enterprise-grade security.


Traditional VDI platforms like Citrix and VMware Horizon rely on hypervisors, connection brokers, profile management databases, and client-side agents. This heavy backend infrastructure forces organisations into continuous compute upgrades and inflated storage footprints simply to deliver an operating system window. When evaluating business remote desktop software, full-OS streaming introduces severe user-experience friction on mobile hardware. Shrinking a desktop Windows interface onto a tablet or mobile screen results in tiny touch targets, sluggish gesture controls, higher bandwidth consumption, and high field drop-off rates.


The alternative is application-centric access. Instead of virtualising the entire operating system, 2GoCloud wraps the existing enterprise application code centrally and streams a touch-optimised, responsive UI layer to end devices. Legacy ERPs, CRMs, and bespoke Windows databases become instantly accessible on modern mobile hardware without writing a single line of backend code or managing complex virtual machine pools.


Technical architectural comparison

Metric / Capability

Traditional VDI (Citrix / VMware)

2GoCloud Application Mobility Layer

Licensing Model

Mandatory multi-product subscription bundles

Simple per-user application streaming model

Deployment Time

Months (Complex infrastructure rebuild)

Days (No backend changes or recoding)

TCO Reduction

Baseline cost

Up to 75% savings over full VDI stack

Endpoint Footprint

Heavy OS streaming / client agent storage

Zero data at rest (100% encrypted streaming)

 

Modernising enterprise field operations


High-assurance sectors, including Utilities, Healthcare, and Defence, cannot afford the latency or administrative weight of legacy business remote desktop software. Field engineers completing telemetry logs, NHS clinical teams referencing patient records, and defence personnel maintaining situational awareness require immediate, low-latency interface response times across varying mobile networks.


2GoCloud solves this by decoupling user interaction from local endpoint storage. All application execution remains securely inside your central data centre or cloud instance, with zero corporate data cached on local devices. Field teams gain gesture-driven access to desktop apps, while CISOs maintain strict adherence to ISO 27001, NIS2, and enterprise governance compliance.


Curious how much you can save? Use our Remote Operations Savings Calculator to compare your current VDI renewal costs against 2GoCloud.



FAQs


Can I modernise a legacy system without rewriting the source code?

Yes. Instead of undertaking multi-year, multi-million-pound app development projects to rewrite thick-client software, solutions like 2GoCloud wrap existing application logic centrally. The platform streams a responsive, mobile-optimised interface to smartphones and tablets without modifying a single line of your underlying source code or database structures.

By replacing heavy OS virtualisation (VDI) with an application mobility layer powered by VAI+ (Virtual Application Interface) technology. 2GoCloud presents your desktop ERP, CRM, or custom Windows application inside a native mobile container featuring custom keyboards, gesture controls, and session freezing. Field workers get fluid, native-feeling mobile access, while all execution and data remain completely isolated in your central data centre.

 

 

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