Virtualization revolutionizes IT: slashing costs, promoting global expansion

Companhia de Bebidas das Américas (AmBev), a subsidiary of global brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev, is the largest brewery and beverage distributor in South America. In an effort to expedite plans for market expansion in South America and Europe, AmBev initiated a multi-phase, end-to-end virtualization project called IT Simplification. The company revolutionized its IT services delivery model, creating a centralized, flexible infrastructure of hosted VM-based virtual desktops. IT maintenance and support costs were reduced by 70 percent and datacenter costs by 50 percent. The cost savings and IT flexibility achieved provided the blueprint for implementation of the transformative IT solution throughout the organization.

AmBev employs more than 39,000 workers in 14 countries as part of their vast network of bottling facilities and distributorships. AmBev´s guiding principle of growth via cost-efficiency can be seen in everything from its IT strategy to its employee compensation plan—a meritocracy system—linking pay directly to innovation and expense management.

In an effort to unite disparate legacy systems, the company decided to standardize user desktops using Citrix desktop virtualization solutions. AmBev first addressed its distributed PC environment by moving to the delivery of on-demand applications via thin client desktop devices. The project incorporated a 64-bit application platform, Web 2.0 services and high-definition multimedia functionality into virtual desktops for every user. The company also implemented Citrix for its server virtualization solution, reducing physical servers from 200 to 57.

The success of its IT Simplification project not only helped optimize resources and reduce costs, it positioned the IT organization as the strategic leader and key business enabler for the companyВґs global expansion plans. AmBev´s former CIO responsible for the project, now CEO, is driving the expansion of the innovative, on-demand IT model across all global subsidiaries.