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Leading insurance provider selects AppSense for their desktop virtualization deployment to support offshore developers
Technology Category
- Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration
- Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Middleware, SDKs & Libraries
- Functional Applications - Remote Monitoring & Control Systems
Applicable Functions
- Business Operation
- Facility Management
Use Cases
- Remote Asset Management
- Remote Collaboration
- Remote Control
Services
- Software Design & Engineering Services
- System Integration
The Challenge
For the past few years, the IT department at QBE had been looking into desktop virtualization to determine if there was a solid use case for it in their desktop environment; however it wasn’t until they outsourced the majority of their application developers they realized adopting desktop virtualization was a necessity for their offshore development. To accommodate their needs, QBE deployed Citrix XenDesktop in early 2009. Initially when they were testing the virtual desktop deployment they used their standard desktop build and architecture including login scripts, preconfigured group policy object scenarios, and roaming profiles. However, the startup and logon times were very slow and would have been unacceptable, especially compared to their physical desktops.
About The Customer
QBE Insurance Group Limited is an Australian-based general insurance provider and one of the top 25 insurers and reinsurers worldwide with offices in 49 countries. With more than 13,000 employees, QBE maintains operations in key global insurance markets and continues to be a lead underwriter for selected lines of business, setting rates and conditions in the markets in which they operate. QBE Group has successfully completed more than 125 acquisitions since their first acquisition in 1982 and has grown substantially, particularly over the last 10 years. In 2009, QBE’s gross written premium was $14.5 billion.
The Solution
Over the past seven years, QBE has been using AppSense Performance Manager in their Citrix XenApp environment to improve server utilization rates for which they hold 3,000 licenses of AppSense Management Suite. QBE also deployed AppSense Environment Manager in 2009 to help them manage user profiles. Managing user profiles is extremely important to QBE and the decision to choose AppSense was straightforward. AppSense Environment Manager’s feature-set is very comprehensive and no other user virtualization technology came close to what they needed. Additionally, they found AppSense easy to setup and manage, allowing them to get up and running quickly. QBE rolled out AppSense on their virtual desktop deployment in segments, adding groups at a time. AppSense Environment Manager has allowed them to quickly add new users, significantly decreasing the time IT typically spent on this task. By delivering virtual desktops in the way that they do and by using AppSense, QBE saves a weeks’ worth of effort for every 20 users that are added.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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