Today Microsoft announced the retirement of Azure RemoteApp: https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/enterprisemobility/2016/08/12/application-remoting-and-the-cloud/
Azure RemoteApp will be replaced by a new Citrix offering – Citrix XenApp “express” service – hosted in Azure. The new offering is supposed to combine the simplicity of Azure RemoteApp (ARA) with better app provisioning and delivery, and more monitoring and security features.
I think this is a good move by Microsoft. ARA was a great start and Citrix will build on this and make the V2 of this vision even better. Here are the timeline details that are out now:
- While new purchases will continue until October 1st, 2016, all support for Azure RemoteApp will end August 31st, 2017.
- The Tech Preview of XenApp “express” is expected in Q4 2016, with GA hopefully in early 2017.
- You can sign up here to be notified when the Tech Review is released:https://www.citrix.com/global-partners/microsoft/remote-app.html.
Sign up here to join Citrix for a live stream (scheduled for August 23, 2016., 10AM PDT) to learn more about how Microsoft and Citrix are working together to make this next iteration of Azure RemoteApp.
While I have not found any sessions on the Microsoft Ignite agenda specifically about this, I would expect to hear more about this at Ignite.
Lastly, existing Azure RemoteApp customers may be wondering where they go from here. Your choices include:
- Migrating to the new offering when it becomes available – Citrix has stated that they are building a migration service to move existing Azure RemoteApp customers to Citrix XenApp “express” (hopefully with minimal issues and downtime). More on this as we learn more.
- Moving to RDS on Azure IaaS (or RDS hosted in another cloud or data center).
My advice: Don’t make any sudden moves. You have time – sit tight and learn more about XenApp “express” – you might get more “bang for your buck” by migrating to this next iteration. The Q4 Technical Review will reveal more.
