SINGAPORE, 11 April 2015 (Sat): Citrix, a leader in secure mobile workspace delivery, enabled Dimension Data Asia Pacific, a leading ICT services and solutions provider, to introduce a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) program for laptops across the organization’s 60 regional offices across 13 countries for 4,500 employees. This completes Dimension Data’s BYOD program, which was first introduced in 2007 for smartphones and tablets. Through Citrix’s market-leading desktop virtualization solution, XenDesktop, and its networking solution NetScaler, Dimension Data has now successfully implemented a comprehensive BYOD program to enable workforce mobility and choice of device.
Dimension Data delivers a full lifecycle of ICT solutions and services such as networking, security, communications, datacenter, end-user computing, IT outsourcing, IT-as-a-Service, systems integration services and training that help businesses strengthen responsiveness to business challenges, boosting competitiveness.
Dimension Data chose Citrix XenDesktop to deliver applications and desktops as secure mobile services, while centralizing control and security for intellectual property as Citrix XenDesktop instantly mobilizes five generations of applications for use on any device, anywhere, reducing transaction times of client/server apps by as much as 300 percent. This helps Dimension Data to enhance end-user experience and provide employees with a native touch-enabled look-and-feel that is optimized for each type of device and network. In turn, Dimension Data’s employees are empowered with a rich and consistent virtual desktop experience, no matter where they work from. At the same time, it simplifies desktop management for Dimension Data’s IT team.
The implementation commenced in May 2014 and was completed by December the same year. Through the BYOD program, Dimension Data is expecting to boost its talent attraction and retention strategy, while ensuring mobility for employees. With data residing in a centralized location in the region, the BYOD environment enables Dimension Data’s employees to securely access business apps and data from their devices from any location.
Dimension Data also leveraged Citrix NetScaler, designed to achieve high performance service levels and high application availability, to provide its employees with a secure and seamless virtual desktop experience on any personal or corporate device. The solution ensures security for remote access with network-layer and application-layer protection to control traffic while blocking potentially unsafe traffic, as well as prevent service attacks, for all devices accessing the network. Furthermore, the solution enables IT administrators to exercise granular and adaptive access controls using a wide range of methods for user authentication – such as user identity and role, location, time of day and security status of the device. In turn, this heightens application security, data protection and compliance management for the organization.
According to Sean Lawrence, Chief Information Officer for Dimension Data Asia Pacific, “In October 2013, we ran a survey to gauge the level of interest in a BYOD program for laptops in the workplace. Out of 700 responses, 85 percent of respondents expressed interest in the program. In order to cater to the changing expectations and desires in our workforce, we needed to enable our employees to work on their preferred device of choice – smartphones, tablets or laptops – and hence the investment in expanding our BYOD program to include laptops.”
“Citrix XenDesktop meets all our requirements for creating new and innovative ways for our highly tech-savvy potential and current employees to be more productive from any location and on any device. Equally important, Citrix NetScaler is a scalable networking platform that supports our dynamic business needs in a vast region catering to all 60 of our regional offices in 13 countries without compromising security. We are able to minimize downtime allowing us, for example, to perform software updates and maintenance from a single location,” shared Sean Lawrence. “IT management is now streamlined, allowing for a greater focus on more strategic initiatives to drive business value and lower our total cost of operation,” added Sean Lawrence.
“Citrix is very committed to helping businesses capitalize on the benefits of enterprise mobility. We are very excited to be working with our close partner Dimension Data, as they progress in their journey towards a mobile-enabled workforce leveraging Citrix technologies. This comprehensive BYOD strategy will help Dimension Data to enable greater workforce flexibility, improve productivity and ultimately retain and attract better talent,” said Mark Micallef, Area Vice President, ASEAN, Citrix.
