Hydra for Microsoft Sellers
The platform that makes Windows 365 and AVD easier to run, and Azure consumption faster to grow.
Hydra helps Microsoft sellers accelerate Windows 365 and AVD adoption, drive Azure consumption, burn down MACC, and give customers a practical alternative and attractive Total Cost of Ownership. We support the Microsoft direction you recommend, whether that is Windows 365, AVD or both.
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Managed ISV Partner
Azure Marketplace Transactable
IP Co-Sell Eligible
MACC + ECIF Eligible
Azure CSD
2.8M+ users managed daily
What You Gain When You Bring Hydra In
Drive ACR
Hydra runs on Azure and transacts through Marketplace, so the desktops and workloads your customers run show up as Azure Consumed Revenue (ACR). It helps create and expand Azure consumption tied to Windows 365, Azure, and the workloads your customers run.
Win Net-New ACA
Migrations are Hydra’s home turf. Move a Citrix or Omnissa (formerly VMware) estate onto AVD or Windows 365 and you’ve landed a net-new Azure customer. With our Certified Software Designation (CSD), we’re eligible for POC funding through ECIF, Migrate & Modernize, and others.
Burn down the MACC
Transactable on Marketplace and MACC eligible.
Hydra purchases count against your customer’s Azure commitment, which turns “we still have budget to spend” into a reason to take action now.
One Team in It Together
We align with the Microsoft direction you’re driving, whether that is Windows 365, AVD or both. You lead the account and we bring the expertise to close it with you.
Accelerate the Close
SaaS, transactable, fast to stand up. Typical cycle runs 1 to 2 months for SMB and commercial, around 4 months for large enterprise, with deployment measured in hours from close. Less friction, faster signature.
What Hydra Is
The Practical Operational Layer for AVD and Windows 365
Hydra is the day-to-day control plane your customers can use to deploy, manage, scale, and support Azure Virtual Desktop (cloud, local and hybrid) and Windows 365. It sits on top of native Microsoft services, making them practical to run at production scale, without a time, resource, or budget heavy lift.
Concurrent-user pricing maps to real usage, zero minimums, and a footprint that doesn’t require a rebuild to get started.
AVD and Windows 365: We Do Both
Leaning AVD? We support it. Leaning Windows 365? We support it. Running both? We unify and simplify the experience across them. We don’t push your customer toward one path to fit our product. We align with the Microsoft field to ensure the best path for your customer.
Hydra for Azure Virtual Desktop
Cloud | Local | Hybrid
Lower total cost of ownership and concurrent-user pricing that maps to how desktops are really used, not a charge for every named account on the books. Familiar to admins coming from Citrix and Omnissa, so adoption is fast.
Hydra for Windows 365
The same operational simplicity extended to Windows 365: customers can provision Cloud PCs in minutes, right-size licenses, and manage the full lifecycle across Intune, Entra, and M365 from one place. Faster time to value and less operational overhead for your customer’s team.
Hydra for AVD and Windows 365 Together
For customers using a mix of both, Hydra gives your customer one place to operate AVD and Windows 365 side by side, instead of two consoles and two different ways of working. See Hydra on the Azure Marketplace.
Your Way Into Citrix and Omnissa Horizon Accounts
The accounts you’ve struggled to crack
When a customer is on Citrix or Omnissa Horizon and you’ve had a hard time getting in, Hydra is your way in. Built by long-time EUC experts, Hydra’s interface is purpose-built to be familiar to the admins who run those environments today, so the move to AVD or Windows 365 becomes a natural next step, not a steep learning curve.
With Hydra there’s no re-architecture, no re-imaging, and no setup fees. We’re ECIF eligible and in the Migration & Modernization Program, so the move can be Microsoft-funded.
Next time you hit a Citrix or Horizon account, think Hydra.
Hydra vs. Nerdio: The Microsoft Seller-Friendly Difference
| Comparison | Hydra | Nerdio |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | $5 per peak concurrent user (CCU) per month, no minimums. New to CCU vs. MAU pricing? Here’s the comparison. |
$6–12 per monthly active user (MAU) per month + $1,000 minimum. |
| Total Cost of Ownership | Lowers both platform cost (concurrent-user pricing) and infrastructure cost (autoscaling). | Lowers infrastructure cost; monthly-active-user pricing raises platform cost. |
| MSP / Multi-Tenant Capabilities | No per-tenant fees, unlimited tenants included. | Per-tenant costs and minimums. |
| Time-to-Value | Seamlessly manages existing AVD pools. No migration, no rebuild, no onboarding fees. Operating and saving the same day. | Import process required before existing environments can be managed. |
What Your Customers Get With Hydra
Easier to run means easier to keep
- Up to 70% lower infrastructure costs through intelligent autoscaling, hibernation, workload optimization, and better visibility into Cloud PC sizing.
- Fewer support tickets and faster troubleshooting with the lightweight Hydra Agent pulling real-time performance data straight from the VM.
- Unified dashboard for host pools, virtual machines, and live user sessions, deployable in under 30 minutes.
- Better experience for end users and more room to expand use cases because the environment is simpler to operate.
A customer who can actually run the platform is a customer who renews and grows. This is your expansion pipeline.
When to Bring Hydra In
Bring Hydra into the conversation when:
- Your customer is evaluating AVD and/or Windows 365.
- Your customer is moving off Citrix or Omnissa Horizon to AVD or Windows 365.
- Your customer is already on AVD or Windows 365 but complaining about manual work, poor user experience, or high TCO.
- Your customer is evaluating or has priced out other management platforms and needs a lower friction, lower-cost path to move or stay on AVD or Windows 365.
- Your customer wants a simpler way to manage AVD and Windows 365 together.
If any of these are on the table, Hydra should be too.
Hear What Hydra Customers are Saying
Ready to Bring Us Into a Deal?
Book a Demo
See it live and meet the team that co-sells with you. We’ll show you the product, the co-sell, and how to spot a Hydra opportunity in your books.
Book a DemoRequest More Info
We’ll send the seller kit: the Hydra ROI Calculator to build the business case, a platform comparison guide, and Hydra pricing details.
Request InfoTry Hydra today – start with a live demo and get onboarded within hours
FAQs
Is Hydra Microsoft co-sell eligible?
Yes. Hydra is a Managed ISV with IP Co-Sell eligibility, is transactable on the Azure Marketplace, and is MACC and ECIF eligible. That means you can bring it into a co-sell motion, count the spend against your customer’s Microsoft commitment, and access funding to support the engagement.
Does buying Hydra count against my customer’s MACC?
Yes. Hydra is transactable through the Azure Marketplace and is MACC eligible, so the purchase counts toward your customer’s Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment. For a customer with budget left to spend, that turns an unspent commitment into a reason to act now rather than later.
Can the move off Citrix or Omnissa Horizon be Microsoft-funded?
Often, yes. Hydra is ECIF eligible and part of the Migration and Modernization Program, so the migration can be Microsoft-funded. There’s no re-architecture, no re-imaging, and no setup fees, which keeps the path off a competitor and onto AVD or Windows 365 low-cost and low-risk.
How is Hydra priced compared to Nerdio?
Hydra uses peak concurrent-user (CCU) pricing with no minimums, so cost maps to how desktops are actually used. Nerdio prices on monthly active users (MAU) with a minimum. For most environments, CCU pricing lowers total cost of ownership and ties spend directly to Azure consumption.
How fast can Hydra be deployed?
Fast. There’s no migration or rebuild required to manage existing AVD pools, and the unified dashboard can be live in under 30 minutes. Typical co-sell cycles run just one to two months for SMB and commercial and around four months for large enterprise, with deployment occurring within hours from close.