How to Run Citrix and GO-Global Side-by-Side During Migration

Very few ISVs can switch off Citrix on a Friday and turn on a new platform on Monday morning. Your customers depend on your application every day, your support team knows the current environment inside and out, and a single bad cutover can undo years of goodwill. That’s why most successful moves away from Citrix start with a period of Citrix coexistence, during which both platforms run in parallel while users move over in controlled groups.

In this post, we’ll explain what Citrix coexistence looks like in practice, how to structure a phased migration to GO-Global, and how ISVHost can take the infrastructure burden off your team so your customers barely notice the change.

Why ISVs Move Away from Citrix in the First Place

Citrix is a powerful platform built for large enterprises that need full virtual desktops, deep policy control, and a wide range of add-on services. For an ISV that simply needs to deliver one Windows application to its customers, that power often turns into overhead. Many vendors end up overwhelmed by Citrix infrastructure, the specialized skills needed to administer it, and licensing costs that keep climbing.

GO-Global takes a different approach. It publishes individual Windows applications rather than full desktops, uses concurrent user licensing, and runs on a lighter stack. The difference between app virtualization and desktop virtualization is at the heart of why many ISVs make the switch. If you’re still weighing the two platforms, a closer look at Citrix and GO-Global for ISVs covers complexity, cost, and end-user experience in more detail.

The question usually isn’t whether to move. It’s how to move without disrupting the customers who rely on your software today.

What Citrix Coexistence Means During a Migration

Citrix coexistence simply means running your existing Citrix environment and a new GO-Global environment at the same time, with each serving a defined set of users. Your Citrix farm stays in production while you stand up GO-Global, publish your application, and validate it with real users.

This approach has three practical benefits:

• Lower risk. If an issue appears on the new platform, affected users can return to Citrix while you fix it.
• Real-world testing. You validate performance, printing, and integrations with live workloads rather than lab simulations.
• Predictable change management. Your support team learns the new platform gradually instead of all at once.

Some ISVs even keep both platforms long term, using Citrix for internal employee desktops and GO-Global to deliver their application to customers.

Planning Your Phased Migration

A phased migration works best when each phase has a clear goal and clear exit criteria. Before you begin, review the most common application migration challenges, such as downtime, compatibility issues, and performance degradation, so you can plan around them rather than react to them.

A typical sequence looks like this:

1. Inventory your current Citrix environment. Document the applications, versions, printers, file shares, and authentication methods your users rely on today. This becomes your checklist for parity.
2. Stand up your GO-Global environment. Either deploy GO-Global on dedicated servers kept separate from your Citrix components, or let ISVHost host it for you. Both options let each platform be managed, patched, and troubleshot independently.
3. Publish and test internally. Publish your application through GO-Global and have your own staff use it for daily work. Internal users are the most forgiving pilot group you have.
4. Run a customer pilot. Move a small group of customers, ideally ones who are engaged and willing to give feedback. Compare their login times, print jobs, and support tickets against their Citrix baseline.
5. Migrate in waves. Move customers in groups by region, size, or contract renewal date. Keep Citrix available as a fallback for each wave until it’s stable.
6. Decommission Citrix. Once all users are on GO-Global and support volume has settled, retire your Citrix servers and licenses on a schedule that lines up with your renewal dates.

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Keeping Both Environments Running Smoothly

Coexistence works when users always know where to go and your team always knows who is where. A few practices help:

• Give each environment a distinct entry point. Use separate URLs or portal links for Citrix and GO-Global so users aren’t confused about which one to launch.
• Keep shared resources shared. Point both environments at the same databases, file servers, and identity provider so data stays consistent no matter which platform a user is on.
• Track who is on which platform. A simple list mapping each customer to their current environment makes support calls faster and wave planning easier.
• Keep application versions in sync. Patch and update your application on both platforms at the same time so users don’t see different behavior depending on where they log in.
• Communicate early. Tell each customer group when they’re moving, what will change for them, and whom to contact if something feels off.

Timing Your Exit to Control Costs

The length of your coexistence period has a direct cost. Every month you run both platforms, you’re paying for Citrix licensing and infrastructure on top of your new environment. Understanding what Citrix actually costs, including the hidden costs of servers, gateways, and administration, helps you set a realistic target date for retiring it.

Many ISVs line up the final migration wave with their Citrix renewal date. That gives the project a natural deadline and avoids paying for another full term on a platform you’re leaving. Because GO-Global uses concurrent user licensing, you can scale it up as each wave moves over instead of paying for every named user on day one.

Let ISVHost Run Your New Environment

A migration is also the right moment to rethink where your application runs. If your team doesn’t want to build and maintain a second environment while Citrix is still in production, ISVHost was built for exactly that situation.

ISVHost is GraphOn’s hosting service designed specifically for ISVs. It combines GO-Global with hosted infrastructure in a single, all-in-one offering, so you can transition your Windows application to the cloud without major code changes and without standing up servers of your own. During a Citrix migration, that means:

• No new infrastructure to build. Your GO-Global environment is ready for pilot users without a hardware purchase or cloud buildout on your side.
• A cleaner exit from Citrix. As each wave moves over, you retire Citrix capacity instead of replacing it with new servers you still have to manage.
• One partner for delivery and hosting. The same company behind GO-Global hosts your application, so you aren’t coordinating between a software vendor and a separate hosting provider.
• More time for your product. Your team can focus on your application and your customers instead of patching servers and managing a data center.

For ISVs that want to leave Citrix and get out of the infrastructure business at the same time, ISVHost turns one project into a single, clean transition.

Conclusion: Making the Switch Without the Disruption

Running Citrix and GO-Global side by side turns a risky, all-at-once cutover into a series of small, manageable steps. With a clear plan for Citrix coexistence, a phased migration schedule tied to your renewal dates, good communication with your customers, and ISVHost available to host your new environment, you can move to a simpler, lower-cost delivery platform without putting your customer relationships at risk.

Are you an ISV currently delivering your application through Citrix? Contact us to learn how GO-Global can help you streamline software access for your end users. Or download a free trial to test it yourself.