Sterling
Insurance Group, an independent UK insurer employing 350
people, needed to change its application deployment infrastructure,
built on Windows and running on
Citrix Presentation Server, because slow performance was
affecting customer service.
The firm offers a range of products and services, including
household, commercial and creditor insurance. Since 1994, the group
has grown to become one of the most successful independent insurers
in the country.
Until recently, the organisation's employees relied on a
business application that often responded badly to simple requests
such as quotes, sometimes taking up to a minute to return the
results.
Simon Hooper, infrastructure manager at Sterling Insurance
Group, said the application, which was developed in-house, was
struggling to cope with business growth. "Users experienced system
slowdowns and when logging on to their applications, they were
forced to sign on a number of times." In addition, the IT team did
not have centralised control over user access, and individuals had
to be set up separately, which was time consuming and
laborious.
"Employees found it difficult to function efficiently, while the
IT team spent a considerable amount of time dealing with support,"
he explained.
Managers were concerned that delays in generating quotes had
started to affect the professional service for which the business
was known, Hooper said. "The system took up to a minute to create a
quote, and we could no longer afford that kind of delay."
The firm tried to improve system performance, but decided
instead to replace the application with a customised off-the-shelf
package and run it on a new operating system.
The insurer found Windows Server 2008 now gave users access to
the application running on a remote client machine "seamlessly", so
they didn't know the application was running remotely, a feature
only available previously using Citrix software. Hence the insurer
avoided the cost of a buying both Citrix and Microsoft licences for
the new deployment.
Simon Ratcliff, Sterling Insurance Group senior server engineer,
said,
"
Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services licences are about £55
per person. If we were to use Citrix we would be required to
purchase Terminal Services licences at £55 per person and spend an
additional £50 per person for the Citrix licences."
The new application runs from a central installation on Intel
processor-based servers and is distributed to users without having
to deploy it to each computer. Because Windows Server 2008 Terminal
Services RemoteApp launches and runs as a application window on the
users' desktops, employees can access the program with a single
sign-on alongside their other applications as though it's running
on the desktop PC.
Network load balancing features enhance application performance
by distributing users evenly between the servers, in an effort to
prevent system slowdowns. The IT team also uses the Reliability and
Performance Console available in Windows Server 2008 to view
statistics and alerts about how machines are running.
Administrators control user policies, updates and security Active
Directory services, first introduced in Windows 2000.
"Running on Windows Server 2008, we can customise each
application to suit our individual requirements," Ratcliff
said.
The implementation, which went live in April, went relatively
smoothly, according to Martin Clare, principal analyst with
Embrionic, the IT services firm working with Sterling Insurance.
Only the single sign-on agent running on users' Windows XP desktop
PCs needed a hot-fix from Microsoft, he said.
The operating system and application should now support
commercial growth, Ratcliff said.
Quotation delays no longer occurred and users could work more
efficiently and flexibly as a result of faster, more reliable
access both in and out of the office, he added.
Sterling Insurance Group now expects the application to generate
quotes in less than five seconds, a saving of more than 90% on the
performance of the old system. The single sign-on for users and
access to applications helps to close the gap between the internal
and external user experiences.
Fewer user requests are expected to ensure significant
productivity improvements for IT staff too, Ratcliff said. "The
single sign-on means there's no second password to be reset, and
there will be few technical issues due to system slowdowns. IT
administrators can focus on more strategic activities."
Sterling Insurance Group can offer customers a more responsive
turnaround of insurance claims and quotes. "We can eradicate
embarrassing delays, boost relationships and secure customer
loyalty," said Hooper.
The new system also enabled more flexible working, he said.
"With Terminal Services in Windows Server 2008, users have the same
access and performance on computers at home as they would in the
office. Advanced security and control over our network gives
employees greater flexibility and workplace satisfaction."
Software and Services:
Microsoft Server Product Portfolio
Windows Server 2008
Technologies:
Active Directory
Terminal Services RemoteApp
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