Neste creates sustainable solutions for transport, business, and consumer needs. The company's wide range of renewable products enables its customers to reduce climate emissions. Neste’s people can work effectively wherever they are with Citrix Cloud Services and Google Cloud
Neste is much more than a conventional oil refining company. It is the world's largest producer of renewable diesel and it has 5,500 staff, four refineries, and offices in 16 countries around the world. With the goal of “Creating a healthier planet for our children” Neste wants to Lead the way towards a sustainable future together with all stakeholders by offering increasingly clean products based on renewable raw materials. The company is also committed to reaching carbon neutral production by 2035. The commitment complements Neste’s other strategic climate commitment of reducing customers’ greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20 million tons annually by 2030.
“Neste`s Citrix infrastructure was reaching its end of life. Performance was slow, sometimes to the point of being unusable, and nearly all traffic was routed through a server farm in Finland. Server capacity was huge but not optimized, which showed in application slowness and latency issues.” Mari Wasström, Neste’s IT Solutions.
Service Management Lead, explains. Poor system performance meant that staff often had to wait a long time for applications to start and for processes to run.
To improve performance and sustainability, Neste commissioned Citrix Consulting Services to provide an assessment of the current situation. With this information Neste IT chose a Citrix Cloud First strategy. Neste then worked with Gold Citrix Solution Advisor Cloud2 to design and deploy a new architecture built on a hybrid model –Citrix Cloud Services, Google Cloud Platform, and on-premises resources – to provide high availability and disaster recovery. The new architecture delivers business-critical applications using Citrix Cloud Services and uses Google G Suite for productivity tools.
Innovative IT supports sustainability goals
Moving to the scalable Google Cloud Platform and Citrix Cloud Services, Neste now needs far fewer servers. On the user side, staff have the option to choose a wide variety of devices for business use, including Google Chromeboxes, Chromebooks, Apple iPads and MacBooks. With the HTML5 version of Citrix receiver users can use applications without additional receiver installations. End users can log in to Citrix services anywhere in the world, easily and securely, using Google authentication (G Suite accounts).
The virtual applications mean that staff have secure access to the information and data they require from any device, anywhere. People can work efficiently wherever they are, reducing the need for commute.
As a result, Neste’s new Citrix infrastructure is contributing to its strategic goal to be faster and bolder. Neste placed third on the Corporate Knights 2020 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations list, its third time in the top three and the highest ranked energy firm. The business also announced that 51% of its €1.1 billion operating profit now comes from renewables.
Neste is a global business and together Citrix Cloud Services and Google Cloud Platform enable it to operate effectively, anywhere in the world.
“Citrix Cloud and Google tools enable better and agile ways are the right solutions to support Neste's success as a global leader in renewables,” Wasström says.
Better productivity with one identity, one address, one experience
Neste’s new solution provides all workers – employees, sub-contractors, and affiliates – with a common, secure, high-performance workspace.
“Every single staff member enjoys the same fast and modern user experience, from senior management to refinery workers and truck drivers, when using our new Citrix Cloud-based solution,” Wasström says.
“With the Citrix and Google Cloud solution, we can create a unified work experience,” she continues. “That has a tremendous effect on efficiency and employee satisfaction. Instead of a solution based in Finland, we now have a global concept that we can deploy to all our sites worldwide giving users a fast and secure application user experience from the cloud.”
"We can also use Google 2-step verification to secure access to business-critical applications and productivity tools for users. For example, we have updated our solution for truck drivers, giving them quick and easy access to their Citrix desktop via Google Chromebox. The result is a 24/7 kiosk, providing only the applications the drivers need, so that they can plan their truck loads within minutes and get on their way to deliver products to our customers in Finland and the Baltics".
The solution increases organizational agility, too.
“With Citrix, new employees or contractors can be up and running within minutes and they have mobile access too.”
Because all data is accessed through virtual apps, rather than being stored on end-point devices, Neste is assured of data security and GDPR-compliance.
A more efficient IT department
Using Citrix Cloud Services also simplifies IT management for Neste. The Google Chrome operating system updates automatically and, with Citrix ADC, Wasström’s team can update and manage business applications from a central point. Staff always have a system that is secure and up to date.
To keep Neste’s Citrix system current, Wasström and her team are supported by Citrix Customer Success Services.
“We have a really good relationship with Citrix Finland,” she says. “Co-operation with Citrix is ongoing with tailored workshops, information sharing sessions, consultancy etc. We are very satisfied with the customer-orientated attitude and help that Citrix Customer Success Services provides for us.”
Computing resources can be easily scaled up or down to meet the needs of individual projects while autoscaling and local Point of Presence technology ensures that users enjoy a consistent high-performance experience.
Summarizing the project, Cloud2 CEO Henri Grönlund says, “Neste is a pioneer in a sector that is often seen as conservative. Its innovative approach to IT infrastructure – combining Citrix Cloud Services and Google Cloud Platform – has helped reduce its carbon footprint while also improving the application experience for staff around the world. Now, staff have an excellent user experience, greater security, and the flexibility to work wherever they need.”