Thin clients and a European data centre
When the new Head of IT, Laurent Daveaux, joined Viskase in 2012, the data centre in France was already using Citrix solutions. Serving the French offices, as well as Viskase’s subsidiaries in Italy and Poland, the European data centre used Citrix Virtual Apps (previously XenApp) to connect multiple on-site and remote thin clients to office, accounting and business applications.
Citrix ADC for a secure remote connection
Viskase operates 24/7 and constantly strives to find the optimum balance between its operations and the amount it invoices. In 2015, it established teleworking across the organisation and implemented Citrix ADC (formerly NetScaler) to give the European sales team access to their virtual workspace from home or when they’re on the road. “They can use any remote thin client to do this,” emphasises Laurent Daveaux, and a secure VPN connection ensures corporate data remains protected.
Thanks to the introduction of these Citrix solutions, Viskase’s Paris site was able to reduce in size, thereby reducing its costs. Furthermore, Citrix ADC supports an unlimited number of users and is therefore ideally suited to the company’s development strategy.
Citrix Virtual Desktops for publishing applications
Viskase uses Citrix Virtual Desktops (previously XenDesktop) to give all workers access to the data centre, whether on-site or away from the premises. “A truly exceptional feature of Citrix solutions is the outstanding cost-effectiveness of the user station. In our facilities, a thin client costs under €220. We are also trialling the Raspberry Pi and our telecommuters and remote workers can use their own devices or laptops,” says Laurent Daveaux. “This has really increased productivity.”
Working towards unified communications
Viskase has now installed the latest version of Citrix Virtual Apps, which has significant advantages, including its compatibility with Skype and IP telephony apps. “We are one of the few clients in France to have integrated all these environments,” explains Laurent Daveaux. It also meets GDPR compliance requirements. Overall, the Citrix environment implemented at Viskase provides greater agility, high security and simplified administration.
This success is also the result of a partnership with IT experts, Anetys which managed the technical integration for Viskase. “Daily support, supervision by experts… Anetys always works closely with its customers to offer solutions tailored to their needs.”
