Migrating to Windows 7 with user virtualisation

Previously, most CIOs and IT departments would have shuddered in fear at organisations taking a mobile approach to work. The strain this mobility placed on IT resources was huge. But now, user virtualisation solutions enable a level of mobility that wasn’t available to employees before. This, along with the ability to allow IT managers to centrally manage and set up any desktop regardless of device, platform or location, means IT teams also see huge resource benefits.

With workforces becoming increasingly spread across many different locations and employees using multiple devices, IT managers are facing increased pressure on IT resources to ensure login times are kept to a minimum and that employees have reliable access to user profiles, wherever they are working.

At Santos, we aim to promote a flexible approach to work. But with more than 3200 employees and thousands more contractors working across several offices and many field sites, we were faced with the issue of many remote workers taking up to 40 minutes to log in each morning, due to their large profile sizes. As a result, our IT helpdesk would spend up to a quarter of their time dealing with simple login issues. It was proving to be a real drain on our resources and staff productivity, as well as being an incredible amount of time to spend on something as basic as starting up a PC.

Our solution to this challenge also had to address the impending Windows 7 migration process. With the Windows XP cut-off date looming, it’s definitely something front of mind for IT managers. Therefore, Santos engaged with AppSense to help transition the company’s laptop and desktop fleet from Windows XP to Windows 7 using DesktopNow. The project delivered a Windows 7 SOE to the business and, importantly, removed key pain points, including the critical roaming profile issue.

These sorts of user virtualisation solutions allow IT managers to centrally manage and set up any desktop regardless of device, platform or location. A further benefit following the migration has been that our service centre is now receiving 30% less profile-related calls. Remote employees have also reported dramatically decreased login times with users accessing their desktop quickly and getting straight to work.

At Santos, we embraced the solution for more than just virtualising the user experience; application management stood out as a real advantage for us too. It means that our IT team can now limit access to functions in expensive, specialist applications by controlling functionality inside those applications. It also allowed us to increase security and productivity while reducing support costs through Windows privilege management. Lastly, it meant we now offer a consistent user experience across all Windows platforms, physical and virtual, and across all devices and locations.

User virtualisation solutions enable a level of mobility to employees that never existed before and has allowed for a number devices with fast effective access to their systems, while at the same time cutting company costs.

*Rob Van Den Brink is the manager of IS Operations at Santos. Rob has worked at the ASX-listed company for six years and is responsible for maintaining and continuously improving a stable IS infrastructure and service delivery environment for all at Santos.