Eurocontrol's transition from Citrix to Parallels RAS: a catalyst for cost savings and business growth

Eurocontrol (part of the Apave Group) offers integrated solutions in fields such as industrial safety, environment, naval, acoustics, waste, telecommunications, civil engineering, building, occupational risk prevention, management systems, training and energy efficiency.

Through five complementary activities, they enable their clients to combine safety and performance in all stages of their projects: inspection, testing and measurements, auditing and certification, consultancy and technical advice and training.

Eurocontrol, the division of Apave with a presence in Spain, Portugal, and LATAM, has been a Parallels® RAS customer since 2015.

The Challenge

Eurocontrol originally had all their data—from treasury, finance, IT, accounting, personnel, and more—centralized in their head office in Madrid, Spain.

However, when the company became part of the Apave group in 2020, they needed to virtualize everything and started with VMWare.

From there, they looked to migrate to the Telefónica data center, which was a significant challenge since they were working with an old Citrix Presentation Server 4.0 and the central administration workers were using a Navision client server.

The Eurocontrol team quickly realized they needed a Citrix-type solution that met their unique set of requirements. One of their partners sent them information about Parallels RAS and they quickly determined to test the solution for themselves.

The Test

Initially, they tested Parallels RAS with just 15 users, keeping the rest of their teams on Citrix. They wanted to see if Parallels RAS worked as well, and once that was confirmed, the Eurocontrol IT team added more users in different parts of Spain.

Initially, Eurocontrol kept both Citrix and Parallels RAS while they migrated their CPD but once everything was confirmed to be functioning well, they switched to solely using Parallels RAS, which is how they are operating today under the Apave umbrella.

The Solution

The Eurocontrol team already had a virtual environment prior to engaging with Parallels RAS, but they were pleased to discover that not only was it easy to install and configure, but the licenses were also more affordable as well.

“I chose [Parallels RAS] because I tried it and liked it.” says Raúl Ortega Corral, IT Security and Technician Responsible at Eurocontrol. “We were growing steadily, and we needed additional licenses.” When the team saw how well Parallels RAS fit into their budget, the decision was simple.

The simplicity of the solution itself also played a key role. “What I liked the most about Parallels RAS was the simplicity”, says Raúl. “The environment is quite friendly and flexible, and everything we put on the Parallels RAS page worked. It gave us a solution for whatever we wanted to publish and the versatility we needed.”

The accessible 24/7 technical support also helped, and the Eurocontrol team says “the good support makes us happy to use Parallels RAS. It’s a very good relationship.”

Eurocontrol utilizes Parallels RAS with Navision for the utilization of two customized tools. One of these tools is dedicated to industrial safety, facilitating inspections using tablets and seamless certificate delivery to clients upon successful inspections. The other tool, Integra, is specifically designed for SPA and preventive services.

The Results

Originally, the goal was for Eurocontrol to migrate to their new set up under Apave’s ownership and that was accomplished, thanks to Parallels RAS.

Then the pandemic happened, and the teams used Parallels RAS to work remotely, and it was a smooth transition for everyone involved.

“People had the feeling they were still in the office because they were working with Parallels RAS — it was a very nice transition for them”, says Raúl Ortega Corral. “Above all, it was very user-friendly from the beginning.”

Of course, the Eurocontrol appreciates the positive impact on their bottom line as well.

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