Burwood’s Modern Workplace Solutions Meet Immediate Scale and Long-Term Growth Requirements While Delighting End-Users
Changes in staffing, shifts in operating knowledge of an existing Citrix environment, and new remote access requirements for NFR’s now almost all-remote employees created the perfect storm for NFR’s IT leadership team, forcing them to decide: Upgrade Citrix or find an alternative to meet the demand.
Changes in staffing, shifts in operating knowledge of an existing Citrix environment, and new remote access requirements for NFR’s now almost all-remote employees created the perfect storm for NFR’s IT leadership team, forcing them to decide: Upgrade Citrix or find an alternative to meet the demand.
Rather than abandon the work they put in to get the existing environment to function, NFR decided to call in Burwood Group for its Modern Workplace solution, which included upgrading to the latest Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops offering. Burwood Group set NFR up to scale and grow even more in the future, but Burwood did not solely modernize the organization’s systems. NFR’s end-user engagement with all its applications was also transformed.
Burwood Group made everyone’s lives better as access became more intuitive through a better presentation to the end-users. Employees no longer have to struggle with customized macro-based settings that never seemed to work or save when they finally got them to work. Users are finally “happy” connecting remotely.
Now, employees simply “click and work.”
Upgrading and Scaling the Old Way of Doing Things Wasn’t Going to Fly
NFR was already experiencing remote access growing pains. But, when the time came to support nearly everyone working from home, NFR saw a reversal in remote access needs: 15 remote workers turned
to 180 almost overnight.
This explosion of the use of their existing Citrix implementation exposed, at scale, the many issues they had with their current operating environment. The frustration associated with accessing remote systems that only 15 employees dealt with for years became an impossible reality to support.
Configuration and management complexities of the original implementation left employees experiencing access issues, performance issues, printing issues, and more – all on a wide scale. This was an employee nightmare, but it was also an IT situation that proved to be unsustainable.
Burwood’s Modern Workplace solution for NFR also included identity and access management (IAM) projects, including Active Directory, and MFA for M365, further improving the employee experience with established roles and responsibilities.
Continuing the Collaboration
““Working with Burwood proved to our organization that good partners exist!””
The ongoing relationship with Burwood continues to add a lot of value beyond just the initial project. With this upgrade project under their belt, both companies continue to be aligned in partnership and are open to expanding to additional practice areas when appropriate.
When the next thing comes up, Burwood is often the first stop. Be it Modern Workplace and beyond, NFR regularly asks, “Is this something that Burwood can help with?”
Sometimes, that answer has been “yes,” with many from the Burwood team getting involved with a variety of projects, including working with other Citrix technologies such as NetScaler. If there is a skill set missing or staff is not available inside NFR, Burwood Group is considered to help with projects.
Optimization Across Every Aspect is a Result of the Strong Relationship
Burwood’s team already has a proven track record of successfully managing Citrix within any environment. Burwood took the time to apply this knowledge to their understanding of NFR’s environment. Burwood also took the time to explain their insights, strategy, and plan to NFR as the project progressed. This open communication established a strong, trusted relationship with NFRs IT staff, giving Burwood and NFR the ability to define the appropriate settings to alleviate interoperability at the operational level while also eliminating frustration
at the end-user level.
Ultimately, Burwood’s Modern Workplace not only allowed NFR to provide secure remote access at scale in a way that makes the end-users happy, but it also ended up reducing complexity in the operating environment, making the platform more efficient, saving time in the day-to-day management of the environment, and allowing for smoother upgrades and the ability to grow at scale going forward.
Operational Optimization was the Main Objective: Reducing Complexity Proved Equally Valuable
NFR found themselves settled into what seemed to be a functional Citrix-enabled infrastructure. Still, when remote work became the norm, not the exception, they quickly realized they couldn’t get out of this somewhat-functional rut to grow beyond the latest and greatest updates. With significant investment in and being happy with Citrix overall, NFR didn’t want to replace the platform. The existing implementation just wasn’t mapping well to NFR’s unique operating environment.
““Burwood Group knows the environment and why the options selected are best suited for NFR’s requirements, always presenting the best solution/option for the situation.””
The real challenge – and therefore the bulk of the upgrade requirements – stems from the fact that 98% of the applications that NFR uses are custom-built. With the exception of Microsoft 365, very little comes off the shelf. When NFR brought Burwood in to help them with their Citrix upgrade and Modern Workplace solution, the final solution needed to be easier to manage and meet the edge need of granting remote access. It also needed to work well with all the in-house developed applications.
Burwood’s implementation and configuration of the solution streamlined the upgrade and made the access to – and management of – the environment less complex.
NFR’s IT Staff Found A Co-Pilot in the Burwood Team
Burwood’s proven experience and confidence in their work were repeatedly demonstrated through their knowledge of the environment and technologies, their actions, and their results.
Burwood performed a discovery and provided an analysis of the best path forward for the new Citrix environment. Burwood was extremely expedient yet still very collaborative, coaching the NFR team along the way, making it easy for NFR’s IT staff to follow the path to the desired end goal.
As the program progressed, Burwood’s experience was present as it helped the two teams avoid known issues or potential pitfalls. Operating as a “virtual remote pilot,” Burwood’s team helped overcome many of the previously-frustrating experiences NFR had with the platform, making the human experience at every level more than acceptable – they made it enjoyable.
Burwood Group Expertise
““After implementing Burwood’s Modern Workplace solutions, there isn’t anything that isn’t better after the project.””
