16/06/2011
By Scott Thompson
Britannia is using Citrix XenDesktop to give its relocated mortgage service team seamless access to corporate systems through virtual desktops. The deployment is part of an ongoing integration process following the merger between Britannia Building Society and The Co-operative Financial Services in January 2009.
Britannia’s 200-strong team had moved from Leek to Stockport. Desktop virtualisation technology has provided secure, seamless and immediate access to business-critical mortgage service applications. XenDesktop is also supporting the organisations’ early integration objectives ahead of an overall integration programme, allowing the heritage organisations to integrate while still running their own systems, but without compromising security, escalating costs or impacting high-service levels. Feedback from the relocated team has been incredibly positive, and the technology has been judged a success due to the seamless transition and stable end-solution.
Dave Turton, Wintel server manager, Britannia says: “Managing a merger can be challenging from an IT perspective, especially when the success of the business is directly linked to staff having access to the right applications and systems. We were aware of the benefits that desktop virtualisation could deliver, and we have been impressed with the ease of integration and how quickly the technology has delivered tangible value to our colleagues. We are already trialling Citrix solutions to investigate how desktop virtualisation can be implemented more widely across the company.”
