INDUSTRY
Public Sector
BENEFITS
- Enables seamless working experience between office and home
- Empowers users with consistent access to high-performance 3D design applications across different devices
- Helps IT increase productivity, saving hundreds of hours on desktop management in an air gapped environment
- Keeps software updated regularly with minimal effort
- Supports proactive management for greater availability
- Frees up IT time to focus on innovation
- Gives IT more control over the security of the client estate
SOLUTIONS
Nutanix Cloud Platform
- Nutanix AOS
- Prism management software
- AHV hypervisor
- Nutanix Flow microsegmentation
APPLICATIONS
- Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops
- Autodesk Revit, AutoCAD, 3D Max, Recap
- ArchiCAD
- Sketchup Pro
- ArcGIS Pro
- Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator
BUSINESS BENEFITS
The Housing & Development Board (HDB) is Singapore’s public housing authority. Established in 1960, HDB has constructed more than one million apartments, completed 23 towns, and built three estates across the island. Its apartments house 80 percent of the resident population. By adopting a Nutanix VDI with Citrix, HDB has transformed the working lives of its architects and engineers. Working from home has been enabled seamlessly with convenient access to 3D design applications and data at their fingertips. Much of the operational burden of managing end user computing has been removed, allowing IT teams to pivot towards being a business enabler and partner.
SOLUTION
HDB has been looking for an alternative solution to the professional workstations used by its architects and engineers to simplify operational and security posture management. Providing secure remote access to data, applications and tools used for design work, building modelling and environmental studies also ranked high in its requirements.
The Nutanix Cloud Platform with the Acropolis Hypervisor (AHV) provides the best foundation on which to deliver Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktop. With deep integration with management tools, HDB now has a holistic view of its VDI solution and security posture from a single pane of glass. Together with AHV’s support for NVIDIA GRID technology, HDB is now able to provision graphically intensive applications, including Autodesk, ArchiCAD and ArcGIS Pro, and provide highly secure access to confidential data to its architects and engineers.
CUSTOMER OUTCOME
Seamless work between office and home
Today, HDB’s architects and engineers can seamlessly work remotely with no disruption to their productivity. Easy transitions between work locations have been achieved, providing flexibility to overcome the ongoing pandemic, and making HDB truly prepared to face any challenges ahead.
Keeps data secure and systems protected
By ensuring that data never leaves the security perimeter of its data centers with VDI, HDB has further strengthened its security posture despite allowing remote work. Additionally, highly sensitive data never lands on end user client devices, significantly reducing the risk of data leak or loss. HDB’s VDI solution also enables its Intranet zones to be insulated from the public internet, allowing HDB to adhere to security policies defined for Public Sector institutions.
With the Nutanix Enterprise Cloud, HDB has enabled a software-defined network solution that provides visibility into the virtual network, allowing IT to easily identify and define security polices around workloads, the tiers and groups of virtual machines, and isolate networks. Additionally, HDB has been able to incorporate additional context of user’s identity for their security policies, creating more granular yet dynamic policy models.
Increases cost effectiveness of desktop computing
Having a VDI solution has allowed HDB to realize savings in infrastructure, equipment and operational costs. Better use of compute resources, and the ability to manage end user computing centrally has allowed IT to reduce work interruptions and increase productivity. Furthermore, moving applications to the datacenter reduces network latency, increasing overall performance of the applications.
Boosting efficiency with single-pane management
Traditionally, VDI solutions consists of multiple technology components working together to achieve the desired end user experience. The Nutanix Enterprise Cloud improves the running of heterogenous technology stacks and multiple management interfaces by integrating our management points with Citrix.
As a result, the IT team can manage the VDI from a “single-pane of glass”, having insights across the entire solution stack. This provides predictive analytics on performance and capacity, while allowing for proactive issue resolution before it negatively impacts users. The VDI solution has also enabled HDB to effortlessly keep its desktop fleets evergreen, secure and performant.
Saves hundreds of hours for greater innovation
With the reduced operational burden of focusing on “keeping the lights on” and having to react when outages occur, the IT team is now free to focus on innovative projects that can further improve the productivity and effectiveness of the organization. As Singapore’s public housing authority, HDB is responsible for planning and developing housing estates as well as building and transforming towns to create a quality living environment for all. With its Citrix VDI powered by the Nutanix Enterprise Cloud, IT can now position itself as a powerful enabler for HDB to proudly continue providing quality and affordable public housing for generations to come.
