The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV), part of the Executive Office of Transportation, handles licensing, registration and other services at 37 branches throughout the state. The organization employs about 900 people at these branches and at its headquarters in Boston.

The Challenge: Secure Application Delivery to Branch Offices

In 2001, the Massachusetts RMV replaced its “green screen” terminals with Neoware thin-client devices. Not only were the green-screen terminals seriously outdated, but the organization also wanted to deliver Windows®-based applications, including Microsoft® Office and Outlook®, in addition to the mission-critical Automobile Licensing and Registration (ALR) mainframe application. “With our mainframe and terminals we already had a centralized IT architecture, and we wanted to retain that concept for security and ease of administration,” said Rich Karakoudas, server group supervisor. “So we looked for a way to deliver the Windows applications that would enable centralized administration and support. Although we were running terminal emulation software on a Terminal Services farm, it became clear that only Citrix offered a Windows application delivery solution robust enough for the enterprise.”

Another challenge facing the RMV involved its public Web site. To reduce customer waiting lines at the branches without having to add staff, in late 2006 the organization created a site where users can conduct many different transactions, such as changing addresses, ordering special license plates, paying tickets, and renewing vehicle registrations and driver licenses. Anticipating the popularity of this Web site, Karakoudas and his team recognized the need for a server load-balancing solution to provide high availability and fast response for the public. “We took a lot of the branch activities that you might wait in line for and put them on the Web so people can do business with us more quickly and easily,” he said. “It’s important to have the Web application servers perform even under heavy traffic loads.”

Implementing a Citrix Application Delivery Infrastructure Solution

Working with IntraSystems, a Platinum Citrix® Solution Advisor, the RMV implemented Citrix Presentation Server™ with Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Server, and recently upgraded to a later version of the Citrix software with Windows Server® 2003. Currently, the solution runs on 22 HP C-class blade servers. Employees at the branches use HP thin-client devices, connecting over a variety of connections. In addition, some supervisors and managers connect over a VPN to Presentation Server when they are traveling or at home. In addition to Microsoft applications, the registry delivers many different proprietary legacy applications relating to motor vehicle business.

In addition, the RMV implemented a pair of Citrix® NetScaler® appliances to provide load balancing, high availability and SSL offloading for its six Web servers. These servers host not only the applications for the public Web site but also the internal driver license testing solution, which is delivered via 140 touch-screen kiosks in the branches. Karakoudas said, “As a Citrix customer, we naturally turned to Citrix’s Web optimization solution. We liked the robustness and great feature set of NetScaler, plus its integration with Presentation Server.”

Reducing TCO and Maximizing ROI with Centralized Administration

Citrix Presentation Server has enabled the RMV to retain the cost and efficiency benefits of a centralized IT architecture. “Being centralized makes it so much easier to do minor and even major software upgrades,” said Karakoudas. “For instance, if I just wanted to change the version of Adobe Reader, as simple as that may sound, we would have to go around to every workstation, and that takes a lot of time. With centralized application delivery, it takes a half-hour. Citrix also allows us to keep a lean IT staff of just four people. We’d need four times as many employees if we were maintaining applications on the desktop. The savings over the past two or three years have far outweighed the cost of our investment in the solution.”

The shadowing capability of Presentation Server has helped the IT team virtually eliminate on-site service calls. “For the most part, tech support calls are resolved in five minutes or so by viewing the user’s screen, which also helps reduce our workload.”

Still another source of cost savings is the reduced power consumption of thin-client devices. “It was mandated by the state that we try to cut back on power usage,” he continued. “Thin clients use only about 20 percent of the power required by a PC, and that adds up with 37 branches. And of course, Citrix is what makes application delivery to thin clients possible.”

Providing Scalability for a Growing Online Presence

The Citrix NetScaler solution is providing the Registry with the ability to handle current and future peak loads on its Web servers, ensuring real-time transactions for the public. “Currently, we receive between 3,000 and 5,000 hits a day, with surges occurring at the end of the month and in the late evening,” said Karakoudas. “With NetScaler providing SSL offload, our CPU utilization is extremely low — around three percent — so we haven’t even begun to maximize server capacity. And with load balancing, we can configure the servers based on the applications we want to deliver, not on performance, because we know NetScaler will handle any load with ease.”

The implementation of the public Web site and the online auto license testing system has helped mitigate a steady increase in business at the branches and provided a convenient alternative to visiting an RMV office. “We’ve seen a slowdown in the volume increases that have occurred each month for quite awhile. It’s clear people like the ability to conduct transactions online in real time,” he noted.

Future Plans

The Executive Office of Transportation is currently expanding the Registry’s Citrix Presentation Server implementation to Mass Highway, a sister agency. When that project is completed, the server count will rise to about 50, and total users will increase to about 2,500.

In addition, the RMV is planning to upgrade to the Platinum Edition of Citrix NetScaler, primarily to leverage the Citrix Access Gateway™ SSL VPN functionality included with the product. “We plan to use the Access Gateway SSL VPN for secure application delivery to insurance companies, vehicle inspection stations and other outside users, replacing proprietary dial-up connections,” Karakoudas explained. “We found that the Citrix SSL VPN is the only product authorized by Massachusetts as an alternative to the state’s own VPN solution.”

He concluded, “Since implementing our NetScaler solution, we haven’t had to change or modify anything. It works beautifully, and that means we can focus on further enhancements to the Web sites and other customer service initiatives.”

©2007 Citrix Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Citrix®, NetScaler®, Citrix Presentation Server™ and Citrix Access Gateway™ are trademarks or registered trademarks of Citrix Systems, Inc. and/or one or more of its subsidiaries, and may be registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. Microsoft®, Windows®, Outlook®, Visio® and Windows Server® are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are property of their respective owners.