Moving from an existing VDI platform to Azure Virtual Desktop or Windows 365 can be a significant undertaking.
One of the biggest challenges isn't necessarily building the new environment. It's understanding exactly what exists today.
How many workloads do we have? How are users consuming them? What policies have accumulated over the years? What does the existing environment really cost? Which workloads should move to Azure Virtual Desktop, Windows 365 or another Windows Cloud solution?
This is where Nerdio Compass comes in.
Originally announced at NerdioCon 2026 and initially released in private preview, Nerdio Compass is Nerdio's cloud-based discovery and assessment platform designed to help organisations understand their existing EUC and VDI estate before deciding how to modernise it.
And there is some very timely news: as of 8 September 2026, Nerdio Compass is now in public preview.
Let's take a closer look.
🎥 Nerdio Compass Video
The Nerdio video provides a walkthrough of Compass and demonstrates an important principle:
Before deciding where you're going, understand where you are today.
For organisations running established Citrix or other EUC environments, this is extremely important.
Over many years, VDI environments accumulate infrastructure, applications, machine catalogues, policies, user assignments and operational processes.
Documentation doesn't always keep pace.
Nerdio Compass is designed to turn that existing environment into actionable data.
What is Nerdio Compass?
Nerdio Compass is a discovery and assessment platform designed to help organisations plan their journey towards Microsoft's Windows Cloud.
The potential destinations include:
- Azure Virtual Desktop
- Windows 365
- Azure Virtual Desktop Hybrid
Rather than starting a migration project with assumptions, spreadsheets and outdated documentation, Compass analyses the existing environment and provides visibility into areas such as:
- Environment structure and configuration
- Workload characteristics
- User and session behaviour
- Policies
- Cost
- Optimisation opportunities
- Migration sizing
The objective isn't simply to collect an inventory.
It is to transform discovery information into data that can support architectural and business decisions.
Start with Discovery, Not Assumptions
Consider a long-running Citrix environment.
It might contain:
Thousands of users
↓
Multiple delivery groups
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Machine catalogues
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Hundreds of policies
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Different applications and workload profiles
↓
Infrastructure across multiple locations
Now somebody asks:
"What would it take to move this to Azure Virtual Desktop?"
Without reliable discovery data, the migration assessment quickly becomes a collection of assumptions.
Compass is designed to provide a better starting point.
It connects to the existing environment and analyses what is actually there, allowing the modernisation conversation to be based on measured data rather than guesswork.
💡 Fabs Field Recommendation
Don't begin a VDI migration by designing the destination.
Begin by understanding the source.
Discover → Assess → Rationalise → Design → Migrate → Optimise
Migrating unnecessary complexity into a new platform doesn't make the environment modern.
What Does Nerdio Compass Analyse?
Compass provides visibility across several important areas.
Environment Structure and Configuration
Understanding how the existing VDI estate is constructed provides the foundation for everything else.
Compass can help identify the components, workloads and dependencies that make up the environment.
This information can then be used to determine how those workloads could map into a Windows Cloud architecture.
Workload Characteristics
Not every user requires the same desktop.
This is one of the most important considerations when designing modern EUC environments.
A task worker using a small number of applications has very different requirements from:
- A developer
- A knowledge worker
- A graphics-intensive user
- A call-centre worker
- A contractor
- A user requiring a persistent desktop
Compass helps organisations better understand workload characteristics so that migration decisions aren't based on a single desktop specification for everyone.
That opens the door to choosing the right destination for each workload.
Citrix Policy Assessment
One of the major additions to the public preview is Citrix Policy Assessment.
Long-running Citrix environments can accumulate considerable policy complexity.
Policies may have been introduced years ago to solve specific problems and then never removed.
Others may overlap or conflict.
When planning a migration, this "policy debt" matters.
Compass now analyses Citrix policy configuration to help identify:
- Policy complexity
- Potential conflicts
- Legacy configuration
- Migration blockers
💡 Fabs Field Recommendation
Don't automatically recreate every Citrix policy in AVD or Intune.
Migration is an opportunity to rationalise.
Ask:
Why does this policy exist?
Is it still required?
Is the configuration now provided natively by Windows, Intune or AVD?
Should it be migrated, replaced or retired?
This can dramatically reduce unnecessary complexity in the destination environment.
Cost Analysis
Another important public-preview addition is Cost Analysis.
Understanding what an existing VDI environment truly costs can be surprisingly difficult.
The calculation may include:
Infrastructure
Storage
Licensing
Platform costs
Operational overhead
A migration business case becomes difficult if the current-state cost isn't properly understood.
Compass introduces a Costs view that surfaces spending across the existing estate using pricing assumptions that organisations can adjust to better reflect their own licensing and commercial agreements.
This provides a much stronger foundation for comparing the existing platform against potential Windows Cloud architectures.
💡 Fabs Field Recommendation
Never compare only VM cost when building an AVD or Windows 365 business case.
Compare the total cost of delivering the service.
Infrastructure is only one component of EUC cost.
From Discovery to Windows Cloud
The real value of Compass isn't simply producing another assessment report.
The interesting part is what comes next.
Think of the process as:
Existing VDI
↓
Nerdio Compass
↓
Discovery
↓
Workload Analysis
↓
Policy Assessment
↓
Cost Analysis
↓
Migration Sizing
↓
Windows Cloud Strategy
From there, organisations can evaluate the most appropriate destination.
That could include:
Azure Virtual Desktop → for flexible multi-session or highly configurable desktop environments.
Windows 365 → where persistent Cloud PCs and simplified per-user desktop delivery make sense.
AVD Hybrid → where organisations have requirements that extend the AVD control plane into hybrid infrastructure.
The important point is that the destination should follow the requirements — not the other way around.
Compass Is Becoming Multi-Platform
Nerdio originally introduced Compass with a strong focus on Citrix discovery.
The public preview significantly expands that scope.
Nerdio now states that discovery covers:
- Citrix
- Azure Virtual Desktop
- Microsoft Intune
This starts to make Compass much more interesting as an overall EUC discovery platform rather than simply a Citrix migration utility.
Nerdio's roadmap also includes support for:
- Omnissa Horizon and Horizon Cloud
- Amazon WorkSpaces
- Windows 365 for Agents
This reinforces the broader objective: provide organisations with a consistent way to understand their existing EUC environment and determine an appropriate modernisation strategy.
What's Coming Next?
Nerdio has already shared several interesting roadmap areas.
One of the most notable is an Intelligent AI Agent designed to provide conversational guidance around assessment results, migration options and recommended next actions.
Other planned areas include:
- Cloud status monitoring
- Deeper Citrix utilisation assessment
- Omnissa Horizon/Horizon Cloud support
- Amazon WorkSpaces support
- Windows 365 for Agents assessment
This suggests Compass is intended to evolve beyond discovery into an ongoing decision-support platform.
My View – Why Nerdio Compass Matters
I've worked with AVD and EUC environments where the technical migration itself isn't necessarily the hardest part.
Discovery is !!!
Legacy environments often contain years of decisions, exceptions and configuration.
The biggest risk is taking all of that technical debt and recreating it in Azure.
Compass provides an opportunity to approach the migration differently:
Discover what exists
↓
Understand why it exists
↓
Remove what isn't required
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Identify the right destination
↓
Design the new environment
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Migrate
↓
Optimise
That's a much healthier approach than simply performing a lift-and-shift.
Final Thoughts
Nerdio Compass represents an interesting expansion of the Nerdio platform.
Nerdio Manager for Enterprise has traditionally been associated with operating and optimising Azure Virtual Desktop, Windows 365 and Microsoft Intune environments.
Compass moves Nerdio earlier in the lifecycle.
Before migration.
- Before designing host pools.
- Before selecting VM sizes.
- Before deciding between AVD and Windows 365.
It starts with understanding the current environment.
And with Compass now entering public preview with Citrix, Azure Virtual Desktop and Microsoft Intune discovery, Cost Analysis, Citrix Policy Assessments and improved migration sizing, it is becoming much more than a simple inventory tool.
My key takeaway is:
Don't modernise what you don't understand.
Discover first. Rationalise second. Design third. Migrate last.
For organisations evaluating their next move from legacy VDI towards Azure Virtual Desktop, Windows 365 or the wider Windows Cloud, Nerdio Compass could provide exactly that starting point.
📚 Nerdio Compass Reference Library
Because Compass has only just entered public preview, Nerdio's documentation is evolving quickly.
Nerdio Compass – Public Preview Announcement
Official Nerdio announcement covering the September 2026 public preview, Cost Analysis, Citrix Policy Assessment, expanded discovery and roadmap.
https://getnerdio.com/blog/nerdio-compass-is-now-in-public-preview/
Introducing Nerdio Compass
Original Nerdio announcement from May 2026 explaining the vision, discovery model and Windows Cloud modernisation strategy.
Nerdio Compass Help
Nerdio now provides a dedicated Nerdio Compass Help area within its Help Center, covering:
- Getting Started
- Analysing and managing Citrix environments
- Connecting Microsoft Azure environments
- Analysing Microsoft environments with Compass
https://nmehelp.getnerdio.com/hc/en-us
Related Nerdio Migration Guidance
Migrate Legacy VDI to Azure Virtual Desktop
Available through the Nerdio Manager Knowledge Base under Migration.
Related Nerdio AVD Insights
Insights: Azure Virtual Desktop
Useful supporting guidance for understanding how Nerdio provides ongoing visibility once workloads have moved into AVD.
Related Microsoft Intune Management
The Nerdio knowledge base also contains dedicated documentation for Microsoft Intune, including device management, policies, reporting and Policy Studio — increasingly relevant now that Compass discovery includes Microsoft Intune.
Disclaimer: Nerdio Compass is currently in public preview. Features, supported platforms and functionality may change before general availability. Always check the latest Nerdio documentation before making production or migration decisions.
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