Spindlemedia
- North America
- IT Services
An ISV that produces tax collection software for local Texas governments.
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"We also looked at implementing Citrix, but it was a lot more expensive and trickier."
As an outstanding provider and Academy sponsor, Orchard Hill College has a strong track record for positively impacting the local community it serves.
With multiple locations in England, centers across London and Surrey maintain around 300 lecturers and staff.
The ChallengeThe need for a solution that would simplify remote access
Orchard Hill College had implemented remote access through Barracuda SSL VPN. However, they encountered challenges when providing remote access to its employees due to problems with Java installation and updates.
While the college explored Citrix-based virtualization options, the basic Citrix package only allowed applications to be published through Citrix Virtual Apps (previously XenApp).
Orchard Hill College would have needed to purchase a more expensive license to publish applications or virtual and remote desktops to remote machines.
Adding additional servers manually would have also required more employee time to set up and maintain. This increased workload and costly upgrades encouraged Orchard Hill College to search for a better application environment that would facilitate simple and fast implementation across various devices.
The TestWill Parallels RAS be an efficient and cost-effective solution?
Orchard Hill College realized that they needed a new solution. Ideally, this application and desktop delivery solution would help them to focus on their mission to improve opportunities and outcomes for their pupils and students.
Orchard Hill College assessed many different virtual application delivery and remote desktop alternatives before deciding to test out Parallels RAS—an efficient and cost-effective solution.
The SolutionParallels RAS made remote access easy, inexpensive, and streamlined
By choosing Parallels RAS, the college saved staff time and the IT department’s budget by eliminating the need for expensive add-ons and outside technical consultation.
Staff now had remote access to Capita SIMS information management software on virtual desktops. The institution also implemented a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policy for the staff. They could update administrative documentation on any device, anywhere, including from the comfort of their own homes.
The out-of-the-box technical features— combined with cost savings on licenses and third-party support—made Parallels RAS a clearly superior choice for Orchard Hill College.
The ResultsParallels RAS provided the college with notable savings
Upgrading to Parallels RAS was a quick and straightforward process.
The Orchard Hill College IT department was impressed to see how fast their end users were able to migrate to Parallels RAS. After concerns that the move could take months, they were pleased to see that it had been achieved in just a few hours.
"We appreciate the ability for users to choose their own device. Allowing users to bring their own devices extends the life of the college’s current hardware while saving money on future investments."
After implementing Parallels RAS, Orchard Hill College lowered the total cost of ownership (TCO) for their remote application management. Decreases in licensing fees, reduced additional application costs, increased efficiency to load balance, and server management optimization added up to noticeable savings for the college.
Parallels RAS provided Orchard Hill College with a seamless, easy-to-use ERP application publishing environment for its users. Another significant advantage for the organization was that Parallels RAS fully supports ERP software on a wide range of devices.
In the end, Parallels RAS fulfilled and exceeded the entire range of expectations the IT team had set for its application publishing solution.
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