Solution Spotlight: Desktop Virtualization
Customer: World-renowned healthcare delivery system
Location: Northeastern Ohio
Highlights
Healthcare system required a more efficient solution for employees to access a standard set of programs and applications, with security requirements for viewing patient information. The customer was also looking to integrate thin client devices into their fleet of PCs, and expand into seven new facilities. MCPc worked with Citrix to procure and install application virtualization solution Citrix XenApp Platinum Edition with 1,500 licenses, as well as 800 new user machines.
This ongoing project will include the rollout of additional XenApp licenses and new thin client devices across all of the customer’s locations and departments, and will be completed in 2011.
Benefits
- Simplified deployment of new machines.
- Improved, secure user access to customer’s suite of standard applications.
- Meets government and insurance industry requirements for patient electronic medical records.
- Long-term cost savings through Citrix XenApp and thin client devices.
Business Need
This healthcare system was engaged in a rapid expansion into seven new facilities. At the same time, the customer was expanding its medical application portfolio and user access at its main campus. Additionally, the customer was looking to employ a virtual desktop infrastructure to simplify and streamline its user and application workload. This system had to meet new government regulations for electronic medical records and thus required updates to nursing stations that would allow permission-based access to patient records across all campuses.
Lastly, the system infrastructure needed to accommodate extended use of the customer’s existing desktop fleet along with the addition of thin client devices — low-maintenance machines that are less prone to viruses, simpler to support and outlast standard computers by three-to-five years — for all new locations. In addition, the customer needed to reduce configuration time for each system as end-user machines required up to four hours to install, download necessary applications, customize the machine and distribute to the end user.
Solution
MCPc and Citrix worked with the customer to clearly define business needs and determined that application virtualization utilizing Citrix XenApp Platinum Edition was the correct fit for their requirements. Not only were licensing costs more affordable than a virtual desktop architecture — offering savings of more than $100 per user — but Citrix XenApp provided a more efficient solution for granting all users access to the same suite of applications.
The healthcare system already had a small Citrix Presentation Server farm and was familiar with the support and deployment benefits of the technology. Therefore, Citrix XenApp would create an application farm atop the existing architecture to provide remote access from user machines as needed.
MCPc and Citrix worked together to ensure that the customer’s transition to XenApp went smoothly. In phase one, which was recently completed in the hospital’s busiest departments, 1,500 XenApp software licenses and 800 new thin client devices were procured through MCPc. On site, MCPc managed the hardware rollout and imaging for all devices, while Citrix engineers handled the system design, software installation and integration.
MCPc and Citrix will continue to work with this customer to procure and install new thin client devices and XenApp licenses in phases throughout the remainder of the hospital’s departments and locations over the next 12-18 months.
Results
The customer is already benefiting from the phase one installation of Citrix XenApp and the new thin client machines. The IT team is able to focus more on big-picture solutions and less on operational tasks thanks to the simplified application deployment and remote-access capabilities, as well as the reduced ongoing need for desktop and laptop maintenance.
For end users, any employee with sufficient permission levels and network credentials can easily access patient information, from any of the hospital’s multiple locations, through the XenApp server farm and ensures better patient care and experience. This also provides the healthcare system with the secure and traceable control required by government regulations and insurance industry standards for its patients’ electronic medical records.
If your business is looking to improve the way your employees access shared systems, MCPc is available to discuss your needs, and develop a virtualization solution for your requirements.