Business challenge
Centrica used a virtual desktop solution running on physical servers in its datacenters. The solution functioned well though was difficult to scale at speed or cost-effectively.
“The need for flexibility and scalability was a big driver for change. Whenever we had to expand the platform, it took four months to go through the paperwork, purchase and deploy the hardware. It was costly and not very agile,” explains Patrick Babic, Service Owner for Centrica’s End User Computing (EUC) team. This made it impossible to flex capacity in line with business seasonality, such as the greater demand on contact centers during the UK’s winter period.
As the server hardware was approaching end of life, the team, along with Citrix and Centrica’s EUC service partner Fujitsu, saw an opportunity for a new approach. Centrica has a cloud-first strategy and moving the virtual desktop to cloud would allow the business to simplify and standardize its desktop while also bringing greater flexibility, cost savings and carbon reductions.
The solution
From design to deployment in just five months – two desktop solutions were rolled out to 18,000 users around the world. For standard users, a single desktop, collating and simplifying 1,200 different applications. For energy traders, where their trading software did not support a move to cloud, the team designed an on-premises desktop located in the private datacenter used by traders.
Using Microsoft’s Azure Virtual Desktop (formerly Windows Virtual Desktop) with Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service means that staff have the same, familiar desktop experience while IT enjoys streamlined management processes like patching, app testing and delivery. Ultimately, as Darren Miles, Centrica’s Vice President of Enterprise Services, says, “The benefit is the user experience. It gives our frontline staff a common experience, which means we can better serve our customers.”
Citrix ADC brings added flexibility, as James Boswell, Centrica’s Global Director of End User Computing explains, “Citrix ADC allows our workforce to use any device, connect into the corporate network and use corporate applications. It enables our employees to work remotely on any device and be both agile and secure.”
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck and the UK government announced its lockdown policy, Centrica was able to move quickly to maintain service to its customers.
“Using the Citrix platform, Microsoft Teams and working in an agile fashion, we were able to respond very quickly,” says Boswell. “Azure and Citrix Cloud services meant we could go rapidly from 2,000 users a day on the new platform to 14,000, taking tens of thousands of customer calls. We had whole contact centers working from home, almost immediately. As we added more people, the platform just auto-scaled to handle the additional workload.”
Centrica is already seeing efficiency savings in IT management, with fewer management servers in operation. Unexpectedly, the sudden move to empowered remote-working resulted in a decrease in calls to IT support, indicating future savings from a flexible model.
Results
