Insentra prove their Citrix expertise in remote working solution for Sydney based council

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OVERVIEW

A Sydney based council aimed to keep their staff working in an agile manner so they could support their local communities throughout the duration of an extensive city infrastructure rejuvenation project. A solution which would enable the council to empower their workforce to continue the ‘business-as-usual’, from wherever necessary, was the driving force behind their decision to choose Insentra to help them tackle this challenge.

The council had previously relocated their physical data center, and there were plans to move it again in the future. They wanted a solution which would provide them flexibility in the event they would have to relocate their data center and there was a clear business need for a cloud-based solution which would ensure users could continue to make use of all their usual apps with the added knowledge that their work was safely protected by a fully managed cloud platform.

Insentra proactively approached the Council CIO to understand their strategy and risk mitigation plans for the rail shutdown. By engaging early, they were able to identify 4 key business factors for the council:

The financial impact
The impact on people
The datacentre Infrastructure risks
The available internal skillset

Understanding these key factors was crucial to confirming the perceived impact and ideal resolution path from the Council.

A Sydney based council that focuses on making local residents the very heart of their daily operation”

THE CHALLENGE

The council found themselves at the geographical heart of an $8.3 billion city infrastructure rejuvenation project which would mean their employees would be unable to get to work using the local rail services for nearly an entire year. The challenge would be in providing the workforce with a way to keep up the crucial work with local residents and businesses throughout the changes the city was undergoing. They needed to empower their employees to work from home whenever they needed to so that vital community services could continue.

THE INSENTRA APPROACH

The Council was an existing customer for Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktop. In the past Citrix was predominantly used by the council as a Disaster Recovery solution. By positioning the expansion of the Council’s environment to a Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktop Service, and utilising their existing Citrix NetScaler’s, we were able to demonstrate:

The Citrix approach to secure access for remote working
Flexibility of infrastructure to adopt Azure for peak burst periods
Utilisation of existing assets
Provide a DR strategy from a separate Azure Zone
A workspace strategy for the future

Insentra also made use of their User Experience as a Service (UxaaS) smart tools to measure the performance of the end user experience. We continue to use these smart tools and we are always proactive in ensuring we remediate any issues before they cause disruption to the end users. A secure and user-friendly solution were the two most important factors when designing the remote working solution.

INSENTRA AND CITRIX

Insentra are partner obsessed by name and by nature, so we utilised our close working relationship with Citrix to provide the council with a truly joined-up approach to the transformation project, engaging the councils Citrix Customer Success Manager to contribute wherever possible. We conducted a number of technical workshops with the council where both Insentra and Citrix were able to devise the perfect solution for the council and then demonstrate how effectively it could give the council employees a true remote working solution. Insentra are proud to have highly accredited and experienced global Citrix technologists in-house and available to our partners and their customers to enable them to quickly empower their workforce to be able to work from home securely.

THE ROADMAP AHEAD

There have been several notable outcomes for the council as the remote working solution has been implemented:

Cost savings

Using Citrix cloud has enabled the council to reduce both the upfront project costs and the daily ongoing expenditures. The need for physical infrastructure and additional resource to host the solution has been removed.

Agility

The council is able to expand the environment during busy periods and then collapse it back down once that period of time comes to a close, thereby reducing the footprint and the subsequent costs immediately. The agility of the solution enables total flexibility for the council.

Continuity

The council is responsible for the care of its residents at all times, and the ability to continue that care even through periods of serious change is invaluable. The council was not required to provide suspended or limited services during the city railway rejuvenation project which means that the local communities were able to continue as normal.

Risk mitigation

A cloud-based solution provides the council with a reassuring level of redundancy. Citrix Cloud helps to keep the users going without the failover concerns an archaic on-premise solution brings. Council employees are kitted out for a full working day from wherever they are needed most.

Futureproofing with the Cloud

The council no longer needs to factor expensive upgrades into their budgets for coming years. Citrix maintain the environment to a supported level at all times which means that migrating users onto confusing new platforms is a thing of the past. The council can focus on putting their investment where it counts, back into local communities and the people.