“Parallels RAS transformed our IT operations, cutting costs by 70% and significantly improving efficiency. Its easy deployment and management, coupled with its strong support for legacy applications over VPN, made it the clear choice over the complex and costly Citrix setup.”
IT Manager
The challengeOvercoming high costs and VPN limitations
Fondazione Telethon, Italy’s foremost biomedical charity dedicated to advancing research in rare genetic diseases, faced a significant IT challenge.
“We were using Citrix to virtualize workstations and legacy ERP applications, but there were limitations operating over our VPN,” explained Marco Montesanto, IT Manager at Fondazione Telethon. The VPN often became a bottleneck, complicating operations and adding significant costs.
As Fondazione Telethon expanded its mission to include pharmaceutical responsibilities, the limitations of its existing system, including high costs and complexity, became even more apparent.
A key requirement for Fondazione Telethon was delivering a full virtual desktop user experience from Remote Desktop Session Host (RDSH) servers.
This experience entailed providing users with a complete, functional desktop environment that’s centrally hosted rather than on individual workstations. The need for this setup was driven by the desire to offer a consistent and accessible desktop experience for their users, irrespective of their physical location or device.
The testAssessing integration, performance, and legacy ERP application support
Fondazione Telethon turned to Parallels RAS after discovering it through Google searches.
“We were looking for an alternative that could simplify our setup and provide cost-effective scalability,” Montesanto noted.
They initiated a proof of concept (POC) to test Parallels RAS's capabilities:
- Ease of setup: “Parallels RAS was extremely straightforward to install and quickly replaced our Citrix features,” Montesanto said.
- Deployment time: The POC lasted 30 days, with the production environment going live in 10 days.
- User and application scope: Testing involved a full desktop environment, ERP systems, and various legacy applications. “The ability to test reporting and MFA features was crucial,” Montesanto added.
- Deployment mode: Parallels RAS was implemented on-premises, aligning with Fondazione Telethon’s preference for avoiding the complexities of cloud or hybrid environments.
Parallels RAS efficiently delivered a full desktop user experience from RDSH servers, providing users with a centralized, consistent desktop environment accessible from any device while seamlessly supporting their healthcare operations.
The solutionSupporting legacy ERP apps and delivering a full desktop experience via RDSH
Adopting Parallels RAS on-premises allowed Fondazione Telethon to streamline its IT operations significantly.
“We needed a solution that could provide a seamless full desktop experience and integrate well with our existing setup,” Montesanto explained.
Parallels RAS enabled them to host their full desktop environments on RDSH servers, allowing users to access a virtual desktop that mimicked their physical desktops.
This solution also resolved the issue of legacy ERP applications that previously couldn't work over VPN, ensuring compatibility and performance. This setup facilitated connections from various Windows and Mac clients, as well as HTML5, integrating effortlessly with their on-premises infrastructure.
The resultDriving cost savings and efficiency improvements
The move to Parallels RAS brought about several transformative improvements:
- Cost savings: “We saw a 70% reduction in costs compared to our previous Citrix setup,” Montesanto revealed.
- Time savings: The simplified infrastructure led to substantial time savings, especially in managing IT resources. “Our team now spends much less time on IT management,” Montesanto noted.
- Employee resources: “We’ve seen a significant reduction in user support requests, resulting in better overall service.” Montesanto shared.
- Licensing and administration: The concurrent licensing model of Parallels RAS posed a significant advantage over the named user licenses used with Citrix. “The licensing flexibility is a big win for us,” Montesanto stated.
Fondazione Telethon’s transition to Parallels RAS slashed operational costs and also enhanced support efficiency and user satisfaction.
By implementing a full desktop user experience from RDSH servers on an on-premises setup, Telethon avoided the complexities of cloud or hybrid environments, integrating multiple services into a single, user-friendly console that met their needs perfectly.
“Parallels RAS consolidated several services into one easy-to-manage console, simplifying our IT operations. We not only reduced complexity but also cut down on time spent managing different systems. This efficiency has led to significant savings in both time and money, allowing us to allocate resources more effectively and focus on our core mission.”
IT Manager
