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Digital Workspace success stories

5 case studies from Xtravirt featuring VMware solutions

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The rise of the Digital Workspace

The value of the digital workspace has long been understood. Xtravirt have a proven track record helping businesses to unlock opportunities through VMware’s digital workspace solutions as the case studies that follow demonstrate.  Yet today, giving employees the flexibility to work securely from anywhere, on any device is no long considered a nice to have, but a business imperative.

Business has moved beyond the big eating the small and into a new paradigm where the fast beat the slow. Leveraging the right technology and best remote working practices for your business are essential to keeping employees engaged and motivated as well as keeping the edge over competitors.

Icon Remote Device Activation Remote device activation: Today employees are permanently working remotely more than ever. Instant, centrally controlled activation of new devices and access to applications on any device is now imperative. VMware solutions quickly and securely allow this with total control from the IT team.
Icon Ever Flexible Architecture Ever flexible architecture: Sudden surges in remote working activity will stretch on-premises and cloud architecture, these can be both predictable and unpredictable. Be prepared with best of breed products and the burstability of cloud-based VMware Horizon Cloud.
Icon Motivation And Productivity Motivation and productivity: Giving employees the right assets and support will keep them engaged which will increase motivation and productivity. Higher motivation results in better decision making and faster outcomes which will help you maintain and develop your businesses competitive edge.
Icon Application Delivery Application delivery: The way that applications are built and delivered has changed. VMware Workspace ONE gives users a single sign on experience to access all the applications they need across any device. Enable new or existing users and devices in minutes not hours seamlessly and securely.
Icon Here To Help Here to help: IT teams are stretched; they must balance integrating new solutions, business as usual and firefighting technologies. Xtravirt and VMware can lighten the load, we assess and simplify processes, speed up delivery and improve resilience and robustness in new and existing solutions.

Delivering better outcomes with Digital Workspace

A digital workspace can deliver better employee engagement and offers IT teams more control over security and user activity. Accelerate work today by enabling your workforce with the necessary tool to secure and enhance your businesses future.

Here are a few of Xtravirt’s Digital Workspace Success Stories. We also have a range of consulting-led packages uniquely designed to ensure digital workspace projects go to plan – from planning through to implementation.

Emergency services get better intelligence in the field

Secure access to 4,500 NHS staff via mobile devices

Icon Healthcare
HEALTHCARE

The Customer

This major NHS trust is responsible for efficiently responding to urgent medical situations and is one of the busiest emergency services in the UK. Serving more than 8 million people within their covered region, this trust provides advice and help to those who need it as quickly as possible.

Nhs Trust

The Situation

  • Lack of a unified system to manage all mobile devices both out in the field and on NHS sites, created inefficiencies
  • Access to the NHS internal network required to be more secure and robust
  • Gaining access to vital clinical applications via mobile devices out in the field, wasn’t always quick and easy

The Approach

  • Design and implementation of VMware Workspace ONE® unified management with integrated access to Office 365® for remote devices
  • Internal staff training ensured efficient future system management
  • Organisational groups applied to system to support specific user requirements and ensure improved access security
  • Design of VMware Workspace ONE UEM solution including networks, security and management

Outcomes Achieved

  • Security of information sharing improved due to new secure NHS internal network link
  • Expertise in back end support team through successful up-skilling of staff to latest technology
  • Deployed as a VMware cloud solution, delivering robust infrastructure and simplified management
  • Secure single sign and unified application catalogue, resulting in simpler and more secure staff access

Making money on the move

Modernised Mobile Device Management (MDM)provides better mobile experience

Icon Finance
FINANCE

The Customer

Established for over 100 years, this leading independent investment firm has adopted an ethos focussed on partnership and an investment philosophy that is driven by growth over the long term. The result is a successful business that continues to grow organically.

Finance

The Situation

  • Upgrade of existing VMware® AirWatch® Mobile Device Management (now Workspace ONE UEM) platform to v9 to manage approximately 1,100 mobile devices
  • Implement a new AirWatch email notification server to improve communication with managed devices
  • Create a process to migrate the corporate mobile email client to the VMware Boxer email application

The Approach

  • Assisted client’s SQL admin team in migrating the AirWatch SQL databases to a new dedicated server
  • Configuration redesign of the existing server, enabling improvements of the failover capacity & better upgrades to newer versions
  • VMware browser deployed, enabling secure access to the corporate intranet via the upgraded AirWatch VPN OnDemand Tunnel
  • Detailed AirWatch MDM training and knowledge transfer to internal support engineers

Outcomes Achieved

  • Reduction in licencing costs resulting from ability to track and report on both used and unused mobile devices
  • Successful upgrade to AirWatch v9, to vendor best practice, enabling management of mobile devices
  • Latest AirWatch email client ‘Boxer’ deployed resulting in consistent email notifications to mobile users and improved mobile email experience
  • Reliance on AirWatch support minimised due to detailed training, and improved internal knowledge and capability

Top marks for desktop transformation

Delivering a modern workspace

Icon Education
EDUCATION

The Customer

This organisation is a group of further education colleges that was created in 2017, following the merger of two of London’s leading colleges. They offer education and training in almost all vocational areas at a variety of levels for a wide range of learners.

Education1

The Situation

  • The merger of two colleges was placing pressure on the current desktop estate due to the combining of the two infrastructures
  • Running Windows 7 Desktop, the existing desktop estate was end of life and unsupportable
  • The 2,000 end points were becoming increasingly difficult to manage and adapt to the changing requirements of the various faculties
  • Future expansion was constrained as the current infrastructure was not scalable
  • Essential requirements of a new solution included providing active site availability, remote access and scalability

The Approach

  • Xtravirt consultants led the assessment, design and implementation of a complete desktop transformation across both campus sites to unify and modernise the infrastructure
  • Technical solutions designed and implemented included:
    • Design and implementation of VMware Horizon and supporting infrastructure
    • Design and implementation of VMware vSAN storage solution
    • Design of new IP network architecture for existing sites and planned expansion

Outcomes Achieved

  • Unified, modernised, scalable desktop solution across both campus sites
  • Reduced risk and cost savings: Legacy applications brought up to date, improving business continuity and reducing maintenance costs
  • Improved interoperability: a fully integrated and VMware® validated EUC solution has enabled a highly optimised environment
  • Scalability: the new workspace platform enables significantly increased expansion capability for relatively little additional cost
  • Modernised infrastructure: New virtual infrastructure for EUC on a modern hyperconverged environment with end user workload upgraded to Windows 10 VDI environment utilising features from VMware Horizon Enterprise Edition

Working without boundaries

Giving public sector employees a better user experience with a modernised and secure workspace

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GOVERNMENT

The Customer

This organisation is a non-ministerial department of the UK Government 

Government

The Situation

The organisation’s central office was being re-located prompting a review of the workspace infrastructure and its current constraints. The following issues were identified:

  • The adoption time for new infrastructure and services on the current workspace was taking up to 12 months –  too long for a large organisation with rapidly changing needs.
  • The current infrastructure didn’t allow for flexible or remote working.
  • Access to some critical systems required using different fixed workstations which meant that some users had multiple workstations on their desks resulting in inefficiencies and decreased productivity.

The Approach

Xtravirt consultants led the discovery phase to understand the customer’s challenges, vision, requirements and constraints to produce comprehensive solution design documentation.

The solution design and implemented included:

  • An active – active dual site VMware on-premises EUC stack, including VMware Identity Manager, VMware Horizon 7 Enterprise, Windows 10 VDI Desktops and Windows 2016 RDSH Farms
  • Trend Deep Security and NSX Guest Introspection was implemented for antivirus
  • vRealize Log Insight and Operations Manager was implemented for monitoring

Conducted full single and dual site testing and verification checks.

Outcomes Achieved

  • Modernised workspace infrastructure – designing and implementing the new EUC environment on modernised infrastructure, Xtravirt were also able to bridge any gaps in the client’s resourcing availability and knowledge, for example, around the provision of core infrastructure components such as the new Active Directory domain and Trend Deep Security.
  • Secure access – Users now have reliable and secure access to restricted environments from company issued devices, enabling flexible and remote working.
  • Reduced risk and cost-savings – Applications have been brought up to date, improving business continuity and reducing hardware maintenance costs.
  • Increased productivity – Adoption time for new infrastructure and services has been greatly improved by up to 50%.
  • Enhance employee experience – Equipped with a modernised workspace infrastructure, staff now have a better employee experience with improved access to the applications and services they need.

Getting out from behind the desk

Modernising the workspace for staff and students

Icon Education
EDUCATION

The Customer

This further education college is part of the largest education and training provider in the south west region, offering a diverse range of vocational and university courses to over 15,000 learners each year.

Education2

The Situation

  • The way in which the College was currently delivering desktops and applications to staff and students was no longer meeting requirements so needed to be modernised
  • Physical desktops were being used with applications delivered by SCCM (System Centre Configuration Manager) which was time consuming to manage and required regular visits to multiple sites
  • Users experienced performance and reliability issues due to the aging desktop estate
    Remote access was being provided by a
  • Remote Desktop Server solution which only provided limited apps and capacity and was restricted to staff only
  • The College needed a desktop environment that was performant, scalable, resilient and available for staff and students to use on site and remotely
  • The new environment also had to integrate with existing Office 365 applications

The Approach

  • Xtravirt provided expert consultancy and project management services to guide this project from initial discovery workshops, through to design, deployment, knowledge transfer and solution handover
  • The solution implemented was:
    • a dual data centre solution which included the full VMware Horizon stack plus FSLogix Office Containers
    • integration with Office 365 applications including OneDrive, Outlook and Teams
  • The College’s in-house IT team had limited knowledge of the VMware Horizon stack so Xtravirt were able to provide expertise to specify the optimal components to meet the requirements and ensure that best practice was used in the design and deployment of the infrastructure

Outcomes Achieved

  • A scalable desktop and application platform accessible from internal and external networks that enables staff and students to securely access College resources
  • Improved user experience through a higher performing desktop environment and quicker update cycle of Windows and applications across all desktops
  • Full documentation and knowledge transfer allows College staff to continue with packaging applications and migrating users in-house

Ready to take the next step on your Digital Workspace journey?

Perhaps you are at the beginning of your journey to the digital workspace and feel some expert guidance to set you on the right path would be helpful, or you have a well-defined plan, but want to see it deployed quickly and without business disruption. Wherever you are on your digital workspace journey and whatever solution you have in mind, Xtravirt can help.

Our digital workspace expertise is evidenced in our partner accreditations. Xtravirt is a VMware Principal Partner for Digital Workspace and hold all five VMware Master Services Competencies including the Digital Workspace MSC.

Find out how Xtravirt can accelerate your journey with our Digital Workspace
Packaged Services or for more information, or to request a call back, please email info@xtravirt.com

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Master Services Competencies Grouped Table 06