Migrating from Citrix to Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) replaces on-premises virtual desktop infrastructure with a Microsoft-managed cloud solution — Mycelium 365 handles the full Citrix to AVD migration for Australian organisations, delivering lower costs, better Microsoft 365 integration, and no hardware refresh cycles.
Citrix's licensing changes since the Cloud Software Group acquisition have pushed per-user subscription costs sharply higher, and several legacy XenApp and XenDesktop SKUs are now on end-of-life or end-of-sale timelines — forcing Australian organisations to revisit their virtual desktop strategy. Azure Virtual Desktop has emerged as the natural successor: it is Microsoft-native, integrates directly with Microsoft 365, Teams media optimisation, Intune and Entra ID, and uses consumption-based billing that scales down outside business hours. For simpler single-user workloads, Windows 365 Cloud PC offers a fixed per-user alternative on the same Azure platform. Australian data residency is preserved through Azure Australia East and South East regions, and the cloud-native architecture maps cleanly to ACSC Essential Eight controls — patching, application control, MFA and admin privilege restriction — without bolting on third-party tooling.
The two platforms solve the same problem but with very different commercial and operational models.
| Area | Citrix | Azure Virtual Desktop |
|---|---|---|
| Licensing model | Per-user Universal subscription, annual commitment | Consumption-based Azure compute; Windows licence included with eligible M365 plans |
| Infrastructure | On-premises or self-managed Citrix Delivery Controllers, StoreFront, NetScaler | Fully Microsoft-managed control plane; you only run the session hosts |
| Microsoft 365 integration | Requires HDX optimisation pack and Citrix add-ons for Teams | Native Teams media optimisation, OneDrive, FSLogix profiles, Entra ID SSO |
| Support model | Citrix vendor support plus partner; multiple escalation paths | Single Microsoft support plane; Mycelium 365 as managed partner |
| Indicative AUD cost (20 users) | ~$48k+ p.a. licensing + infra | ~$22–28k p.a. compute (autoscaled) |
| Indicative AUD cost (50 users) | ~$110k+ p.a. licensing + infra | ~$55–70k p.a. compute (autoscaled) |
| Indicative AUD cost (100 users) | ~$210k+ p.a. licensing + infra | ~$100–130k p.a. compute (autoscaled) |
Indicative ranges only — actual cost depends on session profile, reserved instance commitments and Microsoft 365 licensing.
Every Mycelium 365 Citrix-to-AVD migration follows the same proven phases. We start with an assessment — a full application inventory, user profile analysis (Citrix UPM / Profile Management sizing), Citrix policy review and dependency mapping for any HDX-optimised workloads. From there we move to AVD environment build: host pools sized to your session profile, FSLogix profile containers on Azure Files or NetApp Files, image management via Azure Compute Gallery, Entra ID join, Intune compliance, and networking aligned to your existing ExpressRoute or VPN.
A pilot migration moves a small representative user group across — typically 10–15% of the user base — so we can validate logon times, application behaviour, printing and Teams media performance on real workloads. Application testing covers every business-critical app, with MSIX app attach or App-V re-packaging where required.
Once sign-off is achieved, the full cutover runs in waves with Citrix kept live as a fallback. Finally, we handle decommissioning of the Citrix Delivery Controllers, StoreFront, NetScalers and any on-premises session hosts — including licence cancellation guidance so you stop paying for what you no longer use.
Most Australian Citrix-to-AVD migrations complete in 6 to 12 weeks end-to-end. A straightforward 50-user environment with a clean application set and standard FSLogix profiles typically lands inside 8 weeks, including assessment, pilot, cutover and Citrix decommissioning.
Timeline is driven by application count and complexity, the volume of custom Citrix policies that need translating to Intune and Entra ID Conditional Access, the mix of BYOD versus corporate-managed devices, and whether the source environment includes published applications, full desktops or both.
Mycelium 365 includes a 30-day hypercare period after cutover — daily check-ins, priority ticket handling, performance tuning of host pools and autoscaling, and end-user enablement sessions — before the environment transitions into ongoing managed services.
A structured four-phase approach to move from Citrix to Azure Virtual Desktop.
We audit your Citrix environment — apps, user profiles, policies, and infrastructure — to plan a like-for-like or improved AVD deployment.
Architect your Azure Virtual Desktop environment including host pools, session types, networking, FSLogix profiles, and image management.
Migrate users, apps, and profiles in phased waves with parallel running to ensure zero disruption to daily operations.
Complete cutover, decommission Citrix, and fine-tune performance, cost, and security for ongoing operations.
Every layer of your Citrix environment, re-architected for Azure Virtual Desktop.
Published desktops and applications mapped from Citrix to AVD host pools — single-session and multi-session configurations.
Citrix UPM or Profile Management migrated to FSLogix containers on Azure Files or Azure NetApp Files.
Citrix policies translated to Azure Conditional Access, Intune compliance, and Microsoft Defender for Endpoint.
On-premises Citrix infrastructure replaced with Azure-native networking, ExpressRoute or VPN connectivity, and autoscaling.
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