HDFC Life has deployed Citrix XenDesktop, a desktop virtualization solution.
Citrix desktop virtualization solution has enabled HDFC Life employees to securely access business applications and data from their personal mobile devices.
The other benefit was better manageability of the IT services and reduction in real estate costs.
“Citrix’s platform and software enables virtualization at any level – including XenDesktop for end point virtualization, XenServer for server virtualization and XenApp for consolidating applications,” said Thomson Thomas, senior vice president – IT (Head Business Systems and Technology) at HDFC Standard Life Insurance.
Recently, Thermax, an energy environment major, decided to implement the Citrix desktop virtualization solution to enhance information security and improve its productivity and cost savings.
Desktop virtualization became vital for the life insurance company that has around 500 branches in India touching customers in over 900 cities and towns.
The deployment of Citrix XenDesktop assisted HDFC Life to eliminate legacy infrastructure. In addition, its employees could connect with tablets and mobiles and improve connectivity for customer engagement. HDFC Life also reduced information security related issues.
“Increasingly, financial institutions are realizing the value of adopting technologies such as desktop virtualization and mobility to be more responsive to customer needs,” said Sanjay Deshmukh, area vice president, India Subcontinent, Citrix.
Completed in two phases, HDFC Life currently uses 2000 thin clients that run the virtualized desktop.
While HDFC Life deployed Citrix XenDesktop initially for sales function, it later decided to replace the desktops of other functions such as training and operations with the VDI platform.
Citrix says the company ported all its business applications namely sales tracking system, sales data and reports and the learning management system on thin client.
The deployment of Citrix XenDesktop has yielded a host of benefits for HDFC Life. The speed at which the user could access applications was phenomenally better than that in the desktop environment.
Also, with 2000 thin clients being utilized in a coverage ratio of 1:3, employees don’t require dedicated terminals, thereby optimizing their terminal capacities.
