VMware Horizon Cloud Service on Microsoft Azure
Horizon Cloud on Microsoft Azure: a VMware subscription service and includes software that allows the deployment and use of desktops and applications hosted on your Microsoft Azure infrastructure capacity and access to the VMware-hosted cloud control plane the management console (“Horizon Cloud Manager”) to orchestrate and manage the virtual workloads.
Features
- Desktops and applications delivered from the public cloud or on-premises
- Fully-managed virtual desktop and application infrastructure
- 99.9% guaranteed uptime service level agreement for VMware managed controlplane
- Remote Access
- Automated updates delivered to cloud-hosted control plane
- Global Data Center Location
Benefits
- Access Windows desktops and applications from any device and location
- Improve productivity by getting desktops up and running in minutes
- Simplify IT management with easy to use management console
Pricing
£233.64 a unit a month
- Education pricing available
Service documents
Request an accessible format
Framework
G-Cloud 13
Service ID
2 8 2 0 7 5 3 7 9 7 2 4 5 5 2
Contact
XTRAVIRT LIMITED
Tash Benford
Telephone: 08004880038
Email: accounts@xtravirt.com
Service scope
- Software add-on or extension
- No
- Cloud deployment model
- Hybrid cloud
- Service constraints
- Horizon Cloud on Microsoft Azure supports six different series of Microsoft Azure VM Instance-types for virtual desktops and Farms across Azure’s global regions. During your Subscription Term: Provision any mix of applications and desktops up to the total quantity of seats purchased. The number of desktops that can be hosted will vary with selected desktop model, the virtual machine instance type, and the hardware resource capacity available within your current Microsoft-Azure limits, up to a recommended maximum of 2,000 concurrent connected sessions per Horizon-Cloud Node. VM operating-system licensing requires use of your own licenses purchased through your Microsoft licensing distributor.
- System requirements
-
- You must use your licenses purchased through Microsoft licensing distributor
- Customer must provide anti-virus system licensing on their own
- Please visit https://bit.ly/2UOoWOu for more details
User support
- Email or online ticketing support
- Email or online ticketing
- Support response times
- Please refer to our website for support details: https://www.vmware.com/content/dam/digitalmarketing/vmware/en/pdf/support/vmware-severity-definitions-response-time-business-hours-datasheet.pdf ● Production Support details can be reviewed directly by visiting: https://www.vmware.com/support/services/production.html ○ Production Support Overview: ○ Available by Region ○ 24x7 support for Severity 1 issues ○ Unlimited number of Support Requests ○ Up to 6 Administrators ○ Online access to documentation and technical resources, knowledge base, discussion forums ○ Cloud updates
- User can manage status and priority of support tickets
- No
- Phone support
- Yes
- Phone support availability
- 24 hours, 7 days a week
- Web chat support
- No
- Onsite support
- Yes, at extra cost
- Support levels
- VMware supports software components of VMware Horizon Cloud Service on Microsoft Azure that are hosted by VMware in the cloud and deployed to your Microsoft Azure cloud. It includes support for the deployment of the Pod, VDIDesktops, RDS-desktop and remote application availability, access to the components in the Horizon Cloud Service cloud control plane, and the software components of VMware Horizon Cloud Service on Microsoft Azure that are deployed to your Microsoft Azure cloud ● Production Support details can be reviewed directly by visiting: https://www.vmware.com/support/services/production.html Production Support Overview: ○ Available by Region ○ 24x7 support for Severity 1 issues ○ Unlimited number of Support Requests ○ Up to 6 Administrators ○ Online access to documentation and technical resources, knowledge base, discussion forums ○ Cloud updates
- Support available to third parties
- Yes
Onboarding and offboarding
- Getting started
- For IT Admins, extensive training and support is provided to help ensure a successful deployment. This training is conducted by a dedicated deployment team with support from our solution architecture group. Customers are responsible for training their end users in how to use the View clients. Documentation is available on VMware.com, and the clients are very simple to use.
- Service documentation
- Yes
- Documentation formats
-
- HTML
- End-of-contract data extraction
- Users have a variety of ways to extract the data via third-party tools such as Data Backup, File Shares or by using USB Drive Redirection or Client Drive Redirection to copy files from the VDI Desktop to an on-premises location
- End-of-contract process
- Full termination of the Horizon Subscription service due to contract expiration, termination, cancellation, or any other cause will result in permanent loss of access to the environments, discontinuation of account services, and a deletion of such environments, configurations and data according to VMware’s internal data retention policy. Prior to terminating the Horizon Subscription service we would recommend that all data be removed by the customer from the desktops and platform. VMware take no responsibility for backing up or retaining customer data
Using the service
- Web browser interface
- Yes
- Supported browsers
-
- Internet Explorer 11
- Microsoft Edge
- Firefox
- Chrome
- Application to install
- Yes
- Compatible operating systems
-
- Android
- IOS
- MacOS
- Windows
- Other
- Designed for use on mobile devices
- Yes
- Differences between the mobile and desktop service
- Horizon Cloud on Microsoft Azure supports mobile access with the Horizon Client or HTML 5 from supported browser. Features specific for mobile devices include easy navigation and access to program and user's files called unity touch, external keyboards, native gestures, onscreen keyboard and external monitor support. The VMware Horizon HTML Access client does not support certain features when used in mobile browsers. See features listed in the note on this topic page in the VMware Horizon HTML Access User Guide 4.10: docs.vmware.com/en/VMwareHorizon-HTML-Access/4.10/html-accessuser/ GUID-20F0C9F6-7DE9-4D3D-8095- 391C9F795F54.html . For more information, see the VMware Horizon HTML Access documentation topic at docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Horizon-HTMLAccess/4.10/html-accessinstallation/ GUID-649151B0-070F-463B-B7FD12B500973BF0.html
- Service interface
- Yes
- User support accessibility
- WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
- Description of service interface
- The Service Offering includes access to two self-service consoles: VMware Account Management Console (“VMware Customer Connect”) provides access to subscription status, integrating navigation, viewing and management of all VMware product licenses and support under a single account. It also allows you to download the Horizon Cloud on Microsoft Azure software components such as Agents, etc. VMware Horizon Cloud Manager (“Console”) is the primary interface for consumption and management of the Service Offering, including domain binding, gold pattern management, desktop provisioning, application provisioning, user customization provisioning, end user entitlement, and other management operations.
- Accessibility standards
- None or don’t know
- Description of accessibility
- VMware is dedicated to support customers to make VMware products and technologies accessible to people with disabilities. However, Horizon Cloud on Azure has not undergone an accessibility assessment at this time
- Accessibility testing
- Please visit https://www.vmware.com/uk/help/accessibility.html for an overview of the accessibility testing conducted on the various VMware products and services at this time
- API
- Yes
- What users can and can't do using the API
- Horizon Cloud customers can use administrative credentials to programmatically (via REST API) instruct any action that is available via the Horizon Administration Console. That includes but is not limited to provisioning and changing pools, entitling users to pools, and extracting reporting information. Documentation is available upon request. There is no test environment for the API.
- API documentation
- Yes
- API documentation formats
-
- Other
- API sandbox or test environment
- No
- Customisation available
- No
Scaling
- Independence of resources
- Scalability of the solution is contingent on your licensed Microsoft Azure Infrastructure capacity You must verify licensing requirements and restrictions with your Microsoft Licensing distributor
Analytics
- Service usage metrics
- Yes
- Metrics types
- Use the Reports page to access various reports related to end users' desktop and application sessions. ● Reporting types ○ User Mapping ○ Desktop Mapping ○ Desktop Health ○ Utilization ○ Azure Concurrency ○ URL Configurations ○ Agent Versions ○ Sessions ○ VDI Application Usage ○ User Usage Report
- Reporting types
-
- API access
- Real-time dashboards
- Regular reports
- Reports on request
Resellers
- Supplier type
- Reseller providing extra features and support
- Organisation whose services are being resold
- VMware, AWS, Google, Microsoft, VEEAM, Zerto, Runecast
Staff security
- Staff security clearance
- Other security clearance
- Government security clearance
- None
Asset protection
- Knowledge of data storage and processing locations
- Yes
- Data storage and processing locations
-
- United Kingdom
- European Economic Area (EEA)
- Other locations
- User control over data storage and processing locations
- Yes
- Datacentre security standards
- Complies with a recognised standard (for example CSA CCM version 3.0)
- Penetration testing frequency
- At least once a year
- Penetration testing approach
- Another external penetration testing organisation
- Protecting data at rest
- Physical access control, complying with SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
- Data sanitisation process
- Yes
- Data sanitisation type
- Explicit overwriting of storage before reallocation
- Equipment disposal approach
- In-house destruction process
Data importing and exporting
- Data export approach
- Users can export their data using USB Drive Redirection or Client Drive Redirection which is part of Horizon Cloud Users have a variety of ways to extract the data via 3rd party tools such as Data Backup, File Shares or by using USB Drive Redirection or Client Drive Redirection to copy files from the VDI Desktop to an on-prem location
- Data export formats
-
- CSV
- Other
- Other data export formats
-
- Export or print data from the Service Center user interface:
- Export to CSV, Excel or PDF formats
- Export templates from Horizon View with Helpdesk Console
- Data import formats
- Other
- Other data import formats
- Import desktop templates from Horizon View
Data-in-transit protection
- Data protection between buyer and supplier networks
-
- Private network or public sector network
- TLS (version 1.2 or above)
- IPsec or TLS VPN gateway
- Other
- Other protection between networks
- Microsoft Azure VPN/Express Route is supported by product and customer configured.
- Data protection within supplier network
- TLS (version 1.2 or above)
Availability and resilience
- Guaranteed availability
- 99.9% SLA - Additional information is available here: https://www.vmware.com/content/dam/digitalmarketing/vmware/en/pdf/support/vmwarehorizon-cloud-on-azure-service-level-agt.pdf
- Approach to resilience
- The Horizon Cloud on Microsoft Azure is designed for high availability through dedicated hardware and services per tenant. More information is available on request.
- Outage reporting
-
● https://status.horizon.vmware.com
● Customers can optionally subscribe to updates
Identity and authentication
- User authentication needed
- Yes
- User authentication
-
- 2-factor authentication
- Public key authentication (including by TLS client certificate)
- Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)
- Dedicated link (for example VPN)
- Username or password
- Other
- Other user authentication
- The Horizon Cloud on Microsoft Azure service is integrated and tied to a customers Active Directory environment. End Users authenticate with their credentials along with optional 2FA. Administrators can also use 2FA for authentication to the Administration Console. - Authenticate access via identity provider when Horizon Cloud is integrated with Workspace ONE
- Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels
- Access management controls for VMware personnel aligns to PCI standards. Access controls for customer administrators is outlined by visiting https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Horizon-CloudService/services/hzncloudmsazure.admin15/GUID-1DD4F3A7-E3CB-4786-A2D4-C356C0EDA9CE.html
- Access restriction testing frequency
- At least once a year
- Management access authentication
-
- 2-factor authentication
- Public key authentication (including by TLS client certificate)
- Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)
- Dedicated link (for example VPN)
- Username or password
Audit information for users
- Access to user activity audit information
- Users have access to real-time audit information
- How long user audit data is stored for
- User-defined
- Access to supplier activity audit information
- Users contact the support team to get audit information
- How long supplier audit data is stored for
- User-defined
- How long system logs are stored for
- At least 12 months
Standards and certifications
- ISO/IEC 27001 certification
- Yes
- Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001
- Schellman & Company, LLC
- ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date
- 04/05/2018
- What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover
- The scope of the ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certification is limited to the information security management system (ISMS) supporting the management of the infrastructure and services used to support VMware’s in-scope cloud services and in accordance with the statement of applicability version 1.0 and aligned to the control set in ISO/IEC 27017:2015 and ISO/IEC 27018:2019. Assets within the scope of the ISMS include information, software, databases, hardware, and employees supporting the in-scope VMware cloud services.
- ISO 28000:2007 certification
- No
- CSA STAR certification
- Yes
- CSA STAR accreditation date
- 13/07/2021
- CSA STAR certification level
- Level 1: CSA STAR Self-Assessment
- What the CSA STAR doesn’t cover
- VMware provides CAIQ listings for a number of services. Listings specific to VMware can be found by visiting https://cloudsecurityalliance.org/star/registry/vmware-inc/ Horizon Cloud on Microsoft Azure details are available by visiting https://cloudsecurityalliance.org/star/registry/vmware-inc/services/horizon-cloud-onmicrosoft-azure/
- PCI certification
- Yes
- Who accredited the PCI DSS certification
- 360 Advanced
- PCI DSS accreditation date
- June 2018
- What the PCI DSS doesn’t cover
- Customer managed Microsoft Azure infrastructure capacity that is paired with the Horizon Cloud Service on Microsoft Azure service. See the VMware Horizon Service Description for additional information on customer and VMware-managed components for the service
- Cyber essentials
- Yes
- Cyber essentials plus
- Yes
- Other security certifications
- Yes
- Any other security certifications
-
- SOC2 Type II
- ISO27017
- ISO27018
Security governance
- Named board-level person responsible for service security
- Yes
- Security governance certified
- No
- Security governance approach
- We model our security framework using the NIST SP 800-53 and ISO 27001 guidelines. - We have an Information Security Governance Committee (ISGC) that is chaired by members of senior management and representatives from our Information Security, IT Operations, HR, Marketing, Facilities and Legal teams.
- Information security policies and processes
- Our Information Security Program is modeled using industry best practices and regulatory standards, including NIST SP 800-53 and ISO 27001. We maintain our own Information Security Program and Policies to protect customer data hosted in our systems and perform annual reviews and audits of our program to ensure the integrity of our hosted offering. The VMware Information Security team manages the enforcement, development, and maintenance of information security policies and standards to ensure VMware Information Assets are preserved in a security environment, in accordance with generally accepted best practices, focusing on VMware business and risk objectives. The VMware Information Security Team is responsible for updating policies as threats and technologies change, initiating and managing periodic reviews of the information security policies and standards, as well as evaluating exceptions to information security policy and standards. -- Our Information Security team oversees organizational compliance while team leads in conjunction with IT and HR teams help enforce department-level compliance.
Operational security
- Configuration and change management standard
- Supplier-defined controls
- Configuration and change management approach
- Our Change Management process for updating the solution is executed according to our standard internal change management policy. The process involves completion and submission of change control forms, review and analysis of the change by the appropriate operations teams and scheduling of the update or change according to its severity level. All changes undergo our standard testing and validation process. If for any reason a change is unsuccessful or does not pass the required testing phases, our teams execute a fallback plan as documented in the change control form
- Vulnerability management type
- Supplier-defined controls
- Vulnerability management approach
- VMware has a Vulnerability Management program backed by approved and tested policies and procedures. Scans are performed regularly on internal and external systems. System and application owners are required to address critical/high vulnerabilities with a corrective action plan within 5 days of discovery. Other vulnerabilities need to be addressed with a corrective action plan within a reasonable timeline. Risk analysis/acceptance are performed on vulnerabilities to confirm the vulnerability and determine the appropriate means of addressing it. Senior management and IT and Information Security senior management are required to approve the existence of risks associated with vulnerabilities that are not patched.
- Protective monitoring type
- Supplier-defined controls
- Protective monitoring approach
- Our cloud support staff have configured the system to notify IT personnel if the central processing unit (CPU) utilization is too high, disk space limited, memory issues, key service failures, bandwidth utilization, power consumption, or other performance items. - IT Operations has subscriptions to pertinent vendor security and bug-tracking mailing lists. - After analyzing the severity and impact, network, utility and security equipment is patched or upgraded.
- Incident management type
- Supplier-defined controls
- Incident management approach
- In the unlikely event of an incident, we follow a formal Incident Management Plan that is maintained as part of our Information Security Program. Incidents and breaches are reported to the appropriate Cloud Operations team for categorization and resolution, and issues are escalated to senior management according to a pre-defined protocol (e.g., if the incident is categorized as "Urgent"). Alerts, responses and resolutions are tracked through to completion, and a post mortem report is prepared for review by internal stakeholders and our Information Security Governance Committee.
Secure development
- Approach to secure software development best practice
- Conforms to a recognised standard, but self-assessed
Public sector networks
- Connection to public sector networks
- No
Social Value
- Fighting climate change
-
Fighting climate change
VMWARE: Sustainable growth for VMware’s business requires decoupling our company growth from carbon emissions. To this end, we’ve accelerated our focus on decarbonization and received third-party validation from the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi) on our science-based targets. Since 2018, we have maintained our certified CarbonNeutral® company status, in accordance with The CarbonNeutral Protocol. Since 2019, we have sourced 100 percent of our power in our global facilities from renewable sources, in accordance with RE100 Reporting Guidance. Xtravirt has taken initial steps to reduce our environmental footprint via the wholesale adoption of cloud services, reducing unnecessary consultant travel, and recycling of technology for reuse rather than waste. Where we supply or use technology, we ensure that we and our suppliers conform to WEEE Directive. We target being carbon neutral by 2025 and guide our staff to be responsible digital citizens. Where required, we support the definition and delivery of sustainability targets aligned to engagements and assist in the identification of opportunities across the customer organisations. Solution designs and engagements provide opportunities to support customer sustainability objectives, scaling capacity in line with adoption to avoid idle technology and sourcing solutions that minimise waste. Remote delivery of services is facilitated wherever possible by using effective digital collaboration services, minimising unnecessary travel. Internal prioritisation and delivery progress of environmental and sustainability commitments and initiatives are reviewed on an annual basis - Covid-19 recovery
-
Covid-19 recovery
VMware: Decisive action by VMware during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic led to a company-wide remote workforce, which our customers were able to implement as well through VMware’s Workspace solutions. ● Through VMware’s unique Citizen Philanthropy approach to giving, we empower every VMware employee—wherever they are—to be active, engaged citizens, contributing to what matters most to them in their own communities. Throughout the pandemic, VMware people delivered food to neighbors in need, made masks and donated resources to frontline workers and relief efforts, and helped nonprofit organizations strengthen their IT operations so they can focus on supporting their communities. VMware also supported GlobalGiving’s Coronavirus Relief Fund and TechSoup’s COVID-19 Response Fund, and raised the limit on matching gifts available to all VMware people Xtravirt helps organisations develop, deploy and operate technology and IT services that support effective remote working, enabling those who are vulnerable or isolating to continue to accelerate their return to work and contribute as an active and valued member of the workforce regardless of their location - Tackling economic inequality
-
Tackling economic inequality
VMware IT Academy partners directly with more than 2,500 educational institutions, governments and nonprofits globally to empower learners through coursework, labs and experiences. To enrich learning and help jump-start careers, our partner academic institutions can also access the latest suite of VMware software solutions and use them in a hands-on educational environment. VMware IT Academy is key to our 2030 goal of upskilling 15 million people through our educational offerings and creates a pipeline of diverse talent that is available to advance companies’ digital journeys and deploy VMware solutions. VMware Responsible Sourcingsupports sustainability, diversity and accessibility across our supply chain. VMware has committed to working with 75% of our suppliers (by spend) to set their own science-based targets by the end of 2024. We are also prioritizing the sourcing of goods and services through diverse businesses and have committed to spending $1.5B with diverse suppliers through 2030. Our definition of diverse supplier includes: small-business enterprises, minority-owned enterprises, woman-owned enterprises, and businesses owned by other underrepresented groups such as LGBTQ, veterans, and proprietors with disabilities. Xtravirt is a member of the Living Wage Foundation. This foundation is at the heart of the independent movement of businesses, organisations and people who believe that a hard day’s work should mean a fair day’s pay. It recognises and celebrates the leadership shown by the 6,000 Living Wage Employers across the UK who voluntarily commit to ensure their staff earn a real Living Wage that meets the cost of living. - Equal opportunity
-
Equal opportunity
VMware joined the Valuable 500, a global business collective that is igniting systemic change and unlocking the business, social and economic value of more than 1 billion people with disabilities around the world. From ensuring the technology we develop is accessible for all to empowering our employees through accessible, inclusive and innovative engagement and wellbeing programs, our company remains committed to driving meaningful impact on disability, wellness and neurodiversity inclusion. ● As a leading software company, user accessibility is top of mind at VMware. One of our ESG goals by 2030 is to ensure the technology that we develop, and source within our supply chain, is accessible for all. We created internal Accessibility Guidelines within VMware and committed to assess all new software and events suppliers for accessibility standards aligned with our own guidelines. Employee Resource Groups at VMware are called Power of Difference communities (“PODs”), and they play a strategic role in building a culture of belonging. We are focused on driving a culture that is inclusive of all forms of diversity, including supporting employees with disabilities. In 2021, VMware was named a Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion by the Disability Equality Index (DEI). Xtravirt is an equal opportunities employer. All job applicants receive equal treatment regardless of race, colour, ethnic or national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, disability, religion or age. - Wellbeing
-
Wellbeing
At VMware, we enrich lives at work, at home and in the community, because we believe that empowering our people to bring their authentic selves to work drives business excellence and enables us to achieve our business goals. We prioritize employee wellbeing and work hard to foster a culture that is ethical and respectful, kind and compassionate, which is defined by our EPIC2 values—Execution, Passion, Integrity, Customers and Community. ● Employee wellbeing at VMware is a top priority as we believe people are the key to our success, and we are always striving to make it easier for employees to pursue wellbeing on their own terms, which will also help them perform well at work. We recognize that VMware has a responsibility to help support our employees manage the added complexities of their work and family situations since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our wellbeing benefits include: four supplemental days off (our “EPIC2” days), life coaching and emotional support, work-life services for employees and their families, and a wellbeing allowance.
Pricing
- Price
- £233.64 a unit a month
- Discount for educational organisations
- Yes
- Free trial available
- No