'There aren't employees inside a company that are going to run out and sign up for Amazon desktops,' Johnson said.

End users on the other hand are not clamoring for VDI, said Forrester analyst David Johnson. When Amazon launched EC2 over seven years ago, it gave developers a way to bypass IT to quickly procure infrastructure. One noteworthy barrier to adoption of Amazon WorkSpaces is the end user. Maybe that's why Citrix shares are inching back up today? But analysts I spoke with following the announcement noted Amazon is not likely to take the VDI world by storm overnight for a variety of reasons. Given its track record in upending traditional business models, one doesn't want to ignore Amazon when it offers anything new (remember Borders?).

That's because with WorksSpaces, IT can spin up virtual desktops without buying hardware or software just as they can with Amazon's cloud and storage portfolio of services. Amazon pitched its desktop-as-a-service offering as a more affordable approach to traditional VDI offered by Citrix, VMware and Microsoft.

When Amazon announced plans to disrupt the virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) market Wednesday by launching WorksSpaces at its re:Invent customer and partner conference in Las Vegas, Citrix shares dropped 4.5 percent on the news.

Amazon drive desktop app sluggish