Reimagining the Government Digital Workspace
Government customer, UAE
A phased Citrix-to-Azure Virtual Desktop transformation modernised the employee experience for approximately 2,000 government users without interrupting operations.
- Users migrated from Citrix to Azure Virtual Desktop
- ~2,000Users migrated from Citrix to Azure Virtual Desktop
- Government operations continued uninterrupted through the transition
- Zero disruptionGovernment operations continued uninterrupted through the transition
The challenge
What was going wrong
A government customer in the UAE operated a Citrix-based virtual desktop environment serving approximately 2,000 users, and sought to modernise the platform, reduce infrastructure complexity and adopt Azure Virtual Desktop while maintaining security, performance and user continuity — against ageing infrastructure, complex Citrix administration, capacity constraints, application compatibility dependencies and limited tolerance for downtime.
Our approach
What we built
- 01
Segmented users by persona, application requirements, performance needs, data access, peripheral requirements, security profile and business criticality, and assessed applications for AVD compatibility, packaging, modernisation, web delivery or retirement.
- 02
Designed the target AVD architecture — host pools, session-host sizing, autoscaling, FSLogix profiles, Microsoft Entra integration, network connectivity, security controls, monitoring, backup and image management.
- 03
Ran a controlled pilot and migration wave sequence: technical pilot, business-user pilot, application validation, performance testing, user-wave planning, profile migration, production rollout and hypercare.
- 04
Implemented Conditional Access, multifactor authentication, endpoint controls, role-based access, image hardening, session governance, capacity optimisation and cost governance.
The outcome
What changed
- Reduced dependency on traditional Citrix infrastructure and improved scalability.
- More flexible user access and centralised desktop management.
- Better integration with Microsoft security and simplified image and application management.
- Improved capacity flexibility, better alignment with the wider Azure strategy, and a foundation for future workplace modernisation.
