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AppSense allows Surrey County Council to manage workforce and ensure government code compliance
Technology Category
- Functional Applications - Remote Monitoring & Control Systems
- Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration
- Functional Applications - Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP)
Applicable Functions
- Business Operation
- Facility Management
Use Cases
- Remote Asset Management
- Energy Management System
- Predictive Maintenance
Services
- System Integration
- Software Design & Engineering Services
The Challenge
In 2008, Surrey County Council underwent an IT infrastructure overhaul to replace an aging and disparate legacy system built on PCs running Windows. The council aimed to reduce power requirements and costs while resolving performance issues at various sites. With staff increasingly on the move, there was a growing need for users to access their desktops remotely. The old system was replaced with a Citrix XenApp farm, capable of delivering core applications to both thin and fat client platforms. However, challenges persisted, including the need to control user application entitlement, ensure maximum users per server, and address slow logon speeds at some sites with restrictive WANs.
About The Customer
Situated in the heart of South England, Surrey County is the most densely populated shire county in England, divided into 11 boroughs and districts. With a dynamic economy and a population of 1.06 million, Surrey is highly regarded for its industrial structure and strong focus on knowledge-based industries. Surrey County Council employs 8,000 people who manage the administrative responsibilities for the region. The Council’s IT department, consisting of 160 employees, manages an extensive information infrastructure that includes 450 servers, 6000 desktops, and 1500 laptops.
The Solution
Surrey County Council implemented AppSense DesktopNow, including its Performance Manager and Application Manager components, to address application entitlement and maximize users per server. AppSense Environment Manager was also introduced to complete the solution. The comprehensive solution seamlessly integrates with the Citrix application delivery infrastructure, simplifying IT management for 8,000 users across 300 sites. AppSense Application Manager provides high visibility into the user environment, automatically blocking unauthorized applications, ensuring compliance with the GCSX Code of Connection. Additionally, AppSense optimizes hardware investment by allocating CPU, Memory, and Disk resources, enabling more users per server and reducing power consumption. To address slow logon times, AppSense Environment Manager minimizes network bandwidth consumption by saving and loading only relevant areas of a user’s profile at logon and logoff, reducing logon times and decreasing the risk of profile corruption.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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