Why Citrix Workspace App is often overlooked
As a consultant, I visit a variety of organizations: from healthcare facilities to manufacturing companies and service providers. One thing I see everywhere: the Citrix Workspace App (CWA) is rarely, if ever, updated. Especially the Workspace Apps for Windows and Mac often remain outdated. Previously, the update process was cumbersome, so many organizations installed the app with automatic updates turned off.
In addition, companies using Thin Clients often forget to update both the Thin Client OS and the CWA. This leads to slowness, incompatibility with Windows updates and an increased service desk burden. For companies that rely on Citrix and want to provide an optimal Digital Employee Experience (DEX), it is crucial that these apps are regularly updated and centrally managed.
Current Release versus Long Term Service Release
Citrix maintains two release schedules for the Workspace App:
Current Release (CR)
- Monthly updates
- New features and improvements
- Recommended for organizations looking to quickly deploy new features
- Shorter lifecycle, always up-to-date
Long Term Service Release (LTSR).
- Long support
- Only security updates and critical fixes
- No new functionality during the lifecycle
- Aimed at stable environments, such as healthcare facilities or finance
Which version suits your organization?
- CR: suitable for companies that take advantage of new functionality quickly and need flexibility
- LTSR: suitable for organizations that value stability over new features
Risks of not updating
Many companies are unnecessarily at risk by using old CWA versions. The consequences are concrete:
- Security risks: vulnerabilities are not patched
- Performance issues: slow connections and session drops
- Compatibility issues: Windows updates, Teams integrations or Thin Client OS versions do not work optimally
- Increased service desk burden: IT staff must solve problems that could have been prevented more often
- Worse DEX: users experience frustration with daily tasks
- Old update process: previously, the installation and update process was cumbersome. As a result, the Workspace App was often installed with automatic updates disabled, leaving many clients obsolete for years. This applies not only to Windows and Mac clients, but also to Thin Clients, where both the OS and CWA are often not updated in a timely manner.
Global App Configuration Service
Many organizations still barely utilize the Citrix Global App Configuration Service (GACS). This service directly solves one of the biggest problems: the old cumbersome update process. GACS allows you to centrally manage the Workspace App, including updates, plug-ins and settings, for Windows, Mac and Thin Client environments.
Benefits of GACS:
- Consistent settings across all devices, including Thin Clients
- Automatic and controlled updates, making old manual installations with updates disabled a thing of the past
- Support for BYOD devices
- Reduction of help desk calls
- Rapid implementation of new features without additional tools
By using GACS, the Workspace App can be uniformly managed, significantly improving security, stability and DEX, regardless of client type.
Common objections and honest answers
- “We already have GPOs or Intune, that’s enough.“
GPOs and Intune can do a lot of configuration, but don’t provide central update and version control. GACS makes this simpler and more consistent. - “Our users update themselves, it’s faster.“
Having our own updates often leads to inconsistent versions, compatibility issues and more service desk burden. - “It’s complicated to manage everything centrally.“
GACS is designed precisely to make it easy and convenient to roll out updates and settings, including to BYOD devices and Thin Clients.
Practical checklist for Citrix Workspace App
- Check which CWA version users have
- Determine whether CR or LTSR is the best fit for your organization
- Establish an update policy: no more than three versions behind for CR
- Consider implementation of GACS for centralized configuration.
- Test new versions on a small group of users first
- Monitor service desk load and user feedback after updates
- Document version policy and update frequency
Conclusion
The Citrix Workspace App may be small in size, but big in impact. By updating regularly and using the Global App Configuration Service, organizations can increase security, improve performance and optimize the user experience. The old update process and forgotten Thin Client updates are no longer an obstacle when updates are performed centrally and in a controlled manner.
Want to know how your organization is doing and how you can work securely, up-to-date and efficiently with Citrix Workspace App? Schedule a no-obligation introductory meeting with New Yard and find out immediately where improvements can be made.