Citrix to Azure Virtual Desktop Migration
Citrix estates of 1,000 seats or more moved to Azure Virtual Desktop as a governed programme, by our certified UK team.
Checked 5 October 2026. Built from the full service page.
In short: A programme for moving Citrix estates of 1,000 seats or more to Azure Virtual Desktop: assess, design, pilot, migrate in waves while Citrix keeps serving everyone not yet moved, then hand over or keep running it. Delivered by our certified UK team under ISO 27001 and ISO 9001. The decision that matters is the order: inventory and test the applications before anyone commits to a cutover date.
Who this is for
The problem
Citrix estates of this size grew over years: delivery groups added department by department, images forked for one site or one team, applications published for a project and never retired, profiles carrying a decade of settings.
What we would do
Run it as a programme, not a platform swap. Microsoft runs Azure Virtual Desktop's broker and gateway as a service and you manage only the images and session hosts in your subscription, so new host pools are built, images and profiles are moved or rebuilt, and applications are repackaged or reinstalled.
- If some teams need a personal desktop with a fixed monthly price rather than a shared one, Windows 365 may suit that part of the estate better, and the assessment will say so.
- If applications have to stay close to on-premises databases or file servers, AVD Hybrid or a staged move is often the safer route.
When we are not the answer: If the assessment finds a capability your users depend on that Azure Virtual Desktop does not provide, the honest answer is to stay on Citrix and renew on the best terms you can, and we will put that in writing. And if what you need is a short extension to buy time, that is a conversation with Citrix, not a migration.
What is included
- Discovery of published applications, desktops, users, sites and peripherals across the Citrix estate
- Application compatibility testing, with a delivery route for each application: image, Intune or App Attach
- MSIX and App-V packages for App Attach, signed, catalogued and assigned per user
- Landing zone, host pool, image pipeline and autoscale design for Azure Virtual Desktop
- Identity design with Microsoft Entra ID, hybrid identity, single sign-on and Conditional Access
- FSLogix profile container design on Azure Files or Azure NetApp Files
- Pilot, wave planning and cutover, with Citrix running alongside until each wave signs off
- Handover with as-built design, runbooks and knowledge transfer, or ongoing running by our team
What the last 12 months looked like
What it costs
Scoped and quoted against your estate rather than sold from a rate card. We price what you already run, including the parts that are working and do not need replacing, and the quote itemises what is included so it can be compared line by line with anyone else’s. Managed IT support is typically £25 to £40 per user, per month, as an estimate, if that is the wider question.
Three questions people ask
Is there a direct migration path from Citrix to Azure Virtual Desktop?
Not as a conversion. Microsoft runs Azure Virtual Desktop's broker and gateway as a service, and you manage only the images and session host virtual machines in your own subscription, so a Citrix site is not carried across as it stands.
How long does a Citrix to Azure Virtual Desktop migration take?
It depends more on the number of applications than the number of users, because applications are what has to be tested and packaged before each wave.
Can we keep Citrix running during the migration?
Yes, and we plan for it. Users move in waves and keep access to Citrix until their wave is signed off, so anyone hit by a problem the pilot did not find can go back the same day. Citrix capacity is reduced as waves complete, not before.
Tell us what you need
A short call to talk through how your IT works today, what your team handles, and what you need from a provider. We will tell you plainly how we would approach it.
Prefer to talk now? Call us on +44 (0)1482 770583.