Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH (BSH Group) was created in 1967 through the merger of two German companies: Robert Bosch GmbH and Siemens AG. The group is the world’s third-largest domestic appliance manufacturer and is a market leader in Germany and Europe. It has 39 plants in 14 countries and 36,500 employees worldwide, with revenue of more than six billion Euros.

BSH Group arrived in Brazil in 1994, when it took over Continental SA Utilidades Domésticas and its Continental and Metalfrio brands. BSH Continental thus established itself in many areas of the Brazilian domestic appliance market, offering its customers a wide range of high-quality products and services.

The Challenge: Effective Remote Support and System Continuity

BSH Continental was relocating its distribution center from Jaguaré in São Paulo (capital) to the city of Jundiaí, a distance of about 50 km.  Because the plans for the move demanded that both locations operate simultaneously during the transition period, the company was challenged with continuing its operations without losing data or interrupting the company’s systems.

In addition to its distribution center transfer, BSH Continental had recently purchased the SAP management system and needed an efficient way for employees to access it.  Providing this access threatened to be difficult and costly, because the company’s computers were obsolete and could not run the new software applications.

Implementing Citrix MetaFrame Presentation Server

BSH Continental worked with the Citrix Consulting team and Empower, a Gold-level Citrix Solution Advisor, to implement Citrix® MetaFrame® Presentation Server. The solution was deployed in just four months.

Now, 150 users from Management, Financial, Human Resources and Call Center departments access the systems, including SAP and Microsoft® Office Suite, through the MetaFrame Presentation Servers, to perform their daily work.  

In addition, the transfer to the new distribution center was accomplished smoothly, without data or communication interruption. With the Citrix Solution, BSH Continental’s IT team was able to centralize its data and applications on servers, thus eliminating the need to physically relocate the data during the move. By implementing an access infrastructure with servers in a central facility, BSH Continental enabled users to simply take their workstations to the new building, connect them to the network and get right back to work — the data was already available.

Reduced TCO and Consistency with World Plan

As an additional benefit, the Citrix solution has enabled BSH Continental to avoid investments in new hardware, reducing the total cost of ownership. Thanks to MetaFrame Presentation Server, BSH could deploy business-critical applications enterprise-wide without making new investments in its old microcomputers or expanding its data links. Citrix software has transformed the company’s 60 legacy PCs into thin clients, allowing them to operate demanding applications like SAP and to process complex, data-intensive spreadsheets without the need for costly upgrades.

“With our previous infrastructure, our implementation plan for SAP would have only been possible with costly investments in new workstations. Adopting Citrix MetaFrame Presentation Server, we generated a 25 percent savings and the problem was solved,” said Edgar Marçon, CIO of BSH Continental. “SAP was installed without the need for new budget approval, and the savings were meaningful for the company.”

As a result of savings generated by Citrix project, the company decided to begin a second implementation phase in its other Latin American operations in such countries as Peru, Mexico and Argentina. The Citrix MetaFrame Presentation Server implementation is part of BSH Continental’s world project, which is focused on data centralization, hosted applications and access-infrastructure tools that allow for the remote systems support, remote access to corporate data and application surveillance.  

The MetaFrame Presentation Server deployment has also improved application availability and increased workforce mobility. With Citrix software, employees can access information remotely, for example during off-site meetings or even from home. Further, the solution infrastructure allows this access without compromising security. “The monitoring and remote support tools are helping to improve environmental control and safety, including protection against virus attacks,” explained Marçon. “With a simple command, we can update the anti-virus, while maintaining our network free from any infection.”

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