Nudie Jeans extends access to applications across continents using XenApp in the cloud

Swedish designer Nudie Jeans is an internationally acclaimed brand that sells sustainably sourced denim and takes pride in its socially responsible production process.

The company was moving away from relying on international distribution partnerships to playing a more direct role in global markets. They needed to provide secure access to corporate resources for employees across Europe and the United States so they could process orders quickly and accurately and keep sales records up to date.

“We didn’t realise how much the distance would cause latency issues for users in the U.S.,” says IT Coordinator Martin Sandklef. “Performance was just too poor, and productivity suffered. Our new employees couldn’t work effectively on our corporate systems.”

The company partnered with Citrix Gold Solution Advisor Xenit to design a cloud-based branch infrastructure for Nudie’s U.S. operations so that all employees can access their apps and information using any device they choose.

Secure access to company resources

Using Citrix XenApp on Microsoft Azure cloud services, Xenit centralized Nudie’s apps and data to give employees secure real-time access to company resources regardless of device. To ensure the best performance, Xenit mirrored Nudie’s important on-premises database in Gothenburg with the Azure installation.

Xenit also included Citrix NetScaler Gateway on Azure to secure the delivery of apps, desktops, and shared documents using granular, role-based policies based on users’ Active Directory profiles.

Providing secure access to central systems with no performance issues

Nudie’s U.S. employees now use the same tools and systems as the firm’s other employees around the world. With XenApp on Azure, users no longer suffer from performance issues when accessing corporate resources. Users store and share files on Nudie servers, with access to resources controlled by NetScaler Gateway. As a result, corporate systems are always up-to-date with the latest information on sales and orders.

“With the Citrix [virtual] desktop, it’s really easy to support our user environment,” explains Martin. “Employees can have whatever device they choose – a personal laptop or MacBook, a tablet device, or a corporate laptop. We support the virtualized apps from Sweden, and if users have hardware problems, we just ask them to get it fixed locally.”

Creating an easily scaled, easily managed service for users across continents

Deploying XenApp on Azure has given Nudie a desktop service that balances an excellent user experience with cost-effective IT management. The firm has avoided the cost of deploying and managing physical servers in the U.S. and Martin manages everything from Sweden.

As Tony Berholt, senior consultant at Xenit, explains, “It was much easier and cheaper to replicate Nudie Jeans’ structure in the cloud than to try and deploy local servers in the U.S. With Citrix, it’s very easy to provision an environment on Azure. We couldn’t achieve the same results with other virtual desktop solutions. Management is easier, too; we can conveniently control everything from Sweden.”

Nudie’s XenApp on Azure solution is easily scalable. If the firm decides to take over other distributor operations, or as its U.S. operations grow, the virtual server architecture can be replicated to create additional regional hubs.

In fact, the Azure-based solution has proved so successful that Martin is considering also moving the European XenApp estate to Azure when it is next due to be updated.