At Omnissa, we help organizations deliver secure, high-performance virtual desktops and apps with greater operational efficiency and optimized cost. The 2512 releases of Horizon 8 and Horizon Cloud build on this commitment with new capabilities for Horizon on Amazon WorkSpaces Core that enhance provisioning speed, automation, device management, and hybrid identity support.

Here’s what’s new.

Horizon 8 on Amazon WorkSpaces Core updates

Faster provisioning at scale

Provisioning operations are now significantly faster, with pool creation times reduced substantially. This improvement helps IT teams deploy desktops more quickly and scale their environments more efficiently. These improvements come from optimizing the provisioning batch (how many desktops Horizon creates per cycle) and ramp factors (how quickly that batch size increases), enabling faster desktop delivery—especially during scenarios like disaster recovery.

Automated agent lifecycle management

Administrators can now use Agent Auto Upgrade for dedicated pools, allowing Horizon agents on WorkSpaces instances to be automatically updated when machines are available. This simplifies lifecycle management and ensures environments stay current without manual intervention while also improving security posture.

Lower costs with power-optimized pools

Horizon 8 now supports a zero-spare, power-optimized hourly pool configuration on Amazon WorkSpaces Core, enabling all desktops to be provisioned upfront and placed into a suspended state. Desktops power on only when a user requests a session, eliminating the cost of keeping idle machines running while improving overall resource utilization. This feature is applicable for various use cases, such as for task workers with undefined or random hours and for short-term development and test environments. Organizations gain true on-demand scalability—without maintaining an online buffer of spare machines. This allows IT teams to balance availability and cost efficiency more effectively across environments running on Amazon Web Services.

Direct Workspace ONE enrollment from Horizon Console

Dedicated desktop pools can now be enrolled into Workspace ONE UEM directly from the Horizon Console during pool creation. This simplifies setup and helps IT teams deliver managed desktops faster with fewer steps.

Built-in helpdesk remote assistance

Helpdesk teams can now generate remote assistance sessions for connected users, enabling administrators to take control of desktops and promptly troubleshoot issues. This improves support responsiveness and user experience without requiring additional third-party management tools.

Hybrid identity support

Horizon on Amazon WorkSpaces Core now supports hybrid deployments using Microsoft Entra in both Federated and Managed modes, giving organizations flexibility as they modernize identity infrastructure alongside desktop delivery.

Horizon Cloud on Amazon WorkSpaces Core enhancements

AWS Marketplace availability

Horizon Cloud is now available through the AWS marketplace, allowing customers to start a free trial for 90 days, and procure services through the same platform they already use to manage their cloud infrastructure.

Expanded tagging controls

Customers can now inherit provider tags while adding custom tags, regardless of inheritance settings. This helps with better monitoring, sorting, and resolution of issues specific to groups such as users, etc. Adding tags for organization and tracking of resources in AWS, for example, helps organize your AWS bill to reflect the internal cost structure. Tags can also be used for organizational compliance and access restrictions. Mandatory tag policies are validated before Edge or UAG creation, ensuring governance and consistency across deployments. See Omnissa documentation for more information.

Expanded regional availability

Horizon Cloud expands support for Amazon WorkSpaces Core across additional global regions, including:

• Seoul
• Singapore
• Ireland
• São Paulo
• Central Canada 

These additions help organizations deploy closer to users for improved performance and compliance.  For more information on Amazon’s regional list, click here.

In conclusion, the 2512 release for Horizon 8 and Horizon Cloud on Amazon WorkSpaces Core focuses on what matters most to IT teams: faster desktop deployment, easier management, improved support, and better cost control. Together, these enhancements help organizations scale desktop and app delivery on Amazon WorkSpaces Core while simplifying ongoing operations. To explore these solutions further, contact the Omnissa Sales representatives.