Recently, Colt Technology Services, a leading international IT- and telecoms-services company, confronted two crucial challenges: (1) enabling employees to work remotely and (2) reducing costly desktop and laptop replacements.
According to Colt, “We wanted to break the paradigm of a traditional and costly three-year laptop and desktop refresh project. We wanted to release our employees from their reliance on internal IT, and give them the freedom to use any device from any location to access corporate applications.”
Their solution: VMware Horizon with View.
Colt + View
View offers an effective, efficient virtual-desktop solution for enterprises worldwide. At its core, View brings enhanced mobility, security, and productivity to end users everywhere, together with significant financial savings and simplified management to IT organizations of all sizes.
For proof, check out VMware Horizon with View Reference Implementation Case Study for European IT and Network Services Provider, a new technical white paper from VMware. This paper takes a deep dive into the Colt View deployment, with 5,000 end users, multiple data centers, and a network of 62 sites in more than 20 countries. In addition, the paper looks at the considerable business benefits of such a virtual desktop implementation.
But before we get into the details, meet the customer behind our reference implementation case study, Colt Technology Services, and learn exactly what a reference implementation case study is.
Colt Reference Implementation Case Study
Colt Technology Services offers a platform of information-delivery solutions in network, voice, data center, and IT services for major organizations, mid-sized businesses, and network operators. The Colt network spans 22 European countries and 20 data centers, with an expanding presence in the US, Asia, and Africa.
According to a Colt representative:
The Roadmap for development of View, the alignment of VMware as a strategic partner to Colt, and the willingness to provide resources to help adopt the technology, told us that going with VMware was definitely the right decision.
A reference implementation case study gives a detailed description of a real-world project’s approach, architecture, and business benefits, and provides lessons learned during the deployment. The VMware Horizon with View Reference Implementation Case Study for European IT and Network Services Provider is designed to help IT architects, consultants, and administrators who are considering a View deployment or who are involved in the early phases of deploying View.
Profile of the White Paper on Colt and VMware
The newly released VMware Horizon with View Reference Implementation Case Study for European IT and Network Services Provider includes
- Overviews of the implementation, project, and architecture
- Details on the technology evaluation, design, and pilot phases
- A project rollout description
In addition, the paper includes interesting sections on Lessons Learned, Technical Challenges, and Business Drivers.
Figure 1: Project Overview Timeline
The most enlightening section, however, is Business Benefits, which includes the following positive outcomes:
- Over a four-year period, overall savings have been estimated to be 61 percent for hardware costs and 68 percent for maintenance costs
- Colt achieved substantial CapEx avoidance, as over 75 percent of contractors are now mandated to use VDI instead of being supplied a Colt desktop or laptop device
- Colt has achieved a faster time to value by provisioning contractors and new starters with a Colt workspace service
- Significant workplace-technology-support savings have been accrued by taking advantage of VDI and centralizing services
- Deploying View has enabled Colt to implement a Bring Your Own Device policy, which allows employees to use any device to access their desktops
According to one happy Colt employee:
It’s better than working over VPN with my old laptop, and I don’t have to carry my Colt laptop bag to and from my home and office each day. I can work on a document in the office, go home, and work on the same session on my Mac seamlessly.
To illustrate just how effective the solution has been for Colt, Colt now uses this same architecture as the basis for their Workspace-as-a-Service offering. This means Colt customers can now realize the business benefits offered by Horizon with View by employing this new service from Colt. To find out more, see the Colt Workspace-as-a-Service solution.
Want More?
For more on VMware Horizon with View, look at the View product page on VMware.com.
By Alexander West, technical writer for VMware End-User Computing (EUC), and Matt Coppinger, director of technical marketing and enablement for VMware EUC
