Citrix Enterprise Architect with 18 years demonstrable experience in virtual desktop design and rollout from SMB’s to large corporates.
Provided Citrix assistance to resolve performance and stability issues.
Provided expertise in VMWare and Citrix for a multimillion pound data centre consolidation project.
Provided Citrix expertise to help Wakefield District Housing design their Citrix XenApp solution
Preferred partner with the Vitalize on all Citrix related projects having worked on a number of projects including Rix & Kay.
Preferred partner with the UKN Group on all Citrix related projects having worked on a number of major tenders and private works include, MCH, MichelDever and Runnymede council.
Thomas Eggar End to end design, build, rollout and ongoing support for a virtual desktop and remote access solution for all 450 staff at Thomas Eggar including Netscaler.
End to end design, build, rollout and ongoing support for a virtual desktop and remote access solution for all staff at RC Treatt including Netscaler.
Provided Citrix expertise to resolve performance issues on their Citrix XenApp solution running on iSCI SAN.
Built out the Citrix Environment for Southend and Basildon NHS Trust including lossless image resolution to allow remote diagnostics on x-ray scans.
Scottish TV MBuilt a pilot solution of VMWare View and Citrix Xendesktop so Scottish TV could compare solutions. Citrix was Chosen with XenApp saving them £200K on a 400 seat requirement.
Provided Citrix expertise to build out Citrix XenServer on IBM storage arrays.
Long term client, Provided Citrix expertise to perform a Citrix upgrade with Novell networking and remote access along with continued to support
Citrix consultancy work to provide a health check to resolve a number of operational and performance issues.
Provided Citrix expertise to design and build a bespoke XenApp solution to host a single core application from a new data centre hosted by Star Internet.
Ongoing support for Citrix XenServer environment and Praim Dumb terminals to Petroleum Pipe Company Limited.
PLUMBING ACADEMY Provide a fully managed DDAS hosted Citrix Solution from our data centres.
OSBRONE Provided Citrix XenApp Expertise on a building project at London Embankment building project and remote access.
MOURANT End to end build design and rollout of a 900 user Citrix estate across UK and Jersey including Access Gateway.
Misco Preferred partner providing consultancy on all Citrix related projects generated by Misco.
Micheldever In conjunction with the UKN Group, provided end to end design, build, rollout and ongoing support for a virtual desktop and remote access solution for all 600 staff at Micheldever including Netscaler.
Mencaps Ongoing client Managed support client involved in many aspects of Mencaps infrastructure, acting as their TDA which includes a complete rebuilt of their Citrix virtual Desktop solution and Netscaler for 3,500 users.
Medway Council End to end design, build, rollout and ongoing support for a virtual desktop and remote access solution for all 2,500 staff at Medway Council including Netscaler.
MATTHEW ARNOLD & BALDWIN Ongoing client complete Citrix virtual desktop rebuild for all MAB staff with remote access with Citrix Netscaler and 24×7 support services.
Martin Tolhurst’s Ongoing client providing full managed support responsible for the rebuilt of Martin Tolhurst’s entire IT, including Citrix virtual desktop with Netscaler.
Marketform End to end design, build, rollout for a virtual desktop and remote access solution for all staff at Marketform.
Merton In conjunction with Capita, end to end design, build, rollout and ongoing support for a virtual desktop and remote access solution for all 2,000 staff at Merton Council including Netscaler with GSLB
London Stock Exchange In conjunction with i-SYS provided end to end design, build, rollout and ongoing support for a virtual desktop and remote access solution for all London and Milan staff at The London Stock Exchange including Netscaler with GSLB
LONDON CLUBS INTERNATIONAL Provided Citrix expertise to perform a Citrix health and remedial work to rectify slow logon times and general performance issues.
LOCKTON Provided Citrix expertise on Lockton’s Citrix virtual desktop project.
Islington In conjunction with 2e2 acted as TDA for Islington Citrix XenApp solution including getting smart readers working on the N3 network.
IPES is a long term client and ongoing, responsible for most of the IT installations at IPES including Citrix virtual desktops, remote access and support.
Ongoing and long term client proving Citrix expertise and support on an ad-hoc basis as and when needed.
Ongoing managed support solution with a fully hosted and managed virtual desktop and remote access solution hosted from our data centres using Citrix XenApp and Netscaler.
End to end design, build, rollout and ongoing support for a virtual desktop and remote access solution for all staff at the Hobbs Parker
Provided Citrix Consultancy & support to UK and Germany Citrix environment including Netscaler.
Design and built the Citrix virtual desktop solution for HAVAS used by all their staff with continued support.
Built the Citrix Netscaler solution for Gasunie to provide secure access to Intranet sites.
Provided emergency Citrix expertise to assist Fisher Clinical Services to help with major issues with user profiles that were generating 100’s of daily support tickets. Then later implemented Thinprint and Access Gateway.
Provided expertise to build Citrix Access Gateway Enterprise edition remote access solution.
Provided expertise in Citrix for a number of internal projects.
Provided Citrix expertise to help EPR evaluate Citrix virtual desktop solutions with high end GPU requirements.
End to end design, build, rollout and ongoing support for a virtual desktop solution to merge IT services across three local authorities Thanet, Dover and Canterbury now known as East Kent Services saving a total of £2.7M
Design, built and rolled out the Citrix virtual desktop solution for all staff in UK and Channel Island staff.
Provided Citrix Expertise to build out a Citrix virtual desktop solution for 1,500 users on HP Left Hand SAN and VMWare.
Built Citrix Netscaler solution for COLT Internet in UK and Germany.
End to end design, build, rollout and ongoing support for a virtual desktop and remote access solution for all 1,500 users at the Cobra Group.
Provided consultancy to perform Citrix Health Checks to rectify performance related issues.
Part time Senior Citrix Consultant, part of Citrix Consulting team.
Provided Citrix Expertise to get Care Fusion’s USB attached Spirometer software working in a Citrix Environment as many of their customers use Citrix.
Provided Citrix expertise to upgrade Care International’s Citrix XenApp farm and remote access with Citrix Netscaler
Acting as TDA on large VDI tenders and provided Citrix Expertise and resource on including London Borough of Merton, Bolton and Wigan, Barnet Council, Telefonica and Barton Willmore.
Provided Citrix expertise to build a pilot virtual desktop solution.
Ongoing relationship, engaged to provide application packing skills for British Medical Association’s Citrix environment and support services
Ongoing relationship. Build and rolled out Citrix virtual desktops to all Barton Willmore staff and support services including remote access with Netscaler
Ongoing relationship in providing Citrix technical resources for a number of Azlan channel partners.
Ongoing relationship in providing Citrix technical resources for a number of Azlan channel partners.
Ongoing relationship in providing Citrix technical resources for a number of Assured Networks key clients including GDF Suez and Greenergy.
Provided Citrix expertise help the Arts Council with their Citrix XenApp design.
Long standing client with XenServer Virtualisation for all of Areen’s servers spread across two data centres for 450 users and Dell Equallogic SAN. Pilot VDI project with XenDesktop with ongoing support.
Thomas Eggar LLP, a top-100 U.K. law firm, simplifies IT management, lowers costs and delivers a secure and stable mobile workspace with Citrix XenApp.
Industry
Professional / Public Services
Citrix products
Key benefits
across its six offices.
The challenge: simplifying complex software requirements Thomas Eggar was typical of many growing, multi-site, multi-discipline law firms. It had evolved a complex estate of often incompatible software applications to support the needs of different parts of the firm. As Paul explains, “Often the legal profession appears to be behind the times when it comes to technology and that’s largely because of the difficulties in integrating essential applications.”
Typically, a law firm runs a large document management system that must interoperate with a practice management system and separate case management systems, each highly specialised to meet the specific needs of different areas of law. Data must flow freely between these systems. Centrally held documents must be accessible by the practice and case management systems. The vendors of these systems are often at different stages of upgrading their products so that different systems may have different desktop requirements. Paul explains, “One of our practices needed a special case management system that would only work with a certain version of Adobe Reader. The rest of the firm’s systems required a different version. That’s typical of the level of complexity we have. When you multiply that up by Tax and Trust and Property and all the other unique requirements we have, desktop management gets very fragmented and messy.”
As a consequence, Paul’s team had to manage a wide variety of PC desktops, each tailored to specific needs, across the firm’s offices and employees. This placed a considerable overhead on the IT team.
To complicate matters further, Thomas Eggar was about to merge with another law firm. Overnight, on the evening of the merger, Paul’s team would need to provide 74 new staff with a fully integrated Thomas Eggar desktop, while also merging the two firms’ practice management, finance and other administrative systems.
Security, of course, was a critical concern. While Paul and his team needed to simplify IT management, they had to maintain the security of confidential documents and records.
The solution: delivering a single, centrally managed desktop to any device
| Case StudyThomas Eggar LLP is a top-100 U.K. law firm operating across the south of England. Founded in 1881, the firm offers an award-winning private client practice, a property practice and a commercial practice with specialisation in sectors including retail, financial services, manufacturing, sports and leisure, and technology, media and telecoms (TMT). Thomas Eggar has an annual turnover of £37 million. Head of IT Paul Serkis is responsible for providing effective IT systems and services to the firm’s 500 employees, partners and directors |
Paul and his team started to explore ways to simplify the firm’s desktop software
“Perhaps the biggest benefit has been showcasing what’s possible. The Citrix solution has enabled us to look forwards. I can’t express how much this solution has opened our eyes to different ways of working.”
Paul Serkis
Head of IT
Case Study requirements. They evaluated a number of potential partners before selecting Citrix Gold Solution Advisor Thintech Ltd. Thintech proposed using Citrix XenApp to deliver a single, secure desktop image to all users, on any device and in any location. With XenApp, applications and data could be centralized securely in the data centre and a single desktop image delivered to all users. System administration would be managed centrally, reducing cost and improving security. Applications with specific platform requirements (like the case management systems) could be run on separate virtual machines and delivered seamlessly to any user with the appropriate access rights.
“Thintech was very good,” says Paul. “The team came in, held our hand and helped us through the period of change in a controlled manner. They helped us establish the necessary processes and policies in advance so that we avoided problems. Essentially, what we have now is a single ‘fat build’ of a desktop image that we can deploy anywhere.”
Key benefit: enabling simpler IT management
Just as Paul’s team had the Citrix desktop ready,
Thomas Eggar’s imminent merger with Pritchard Englefield was announced. The IT team had just one evening to provide Pritchard Englefield’s staff with a working Thomas Eggar desktop. “The timing was perfect for us,” explains Paul. “Our Citrix desktop was ready and we deployed it immediately to Pritchard Englefield’s existing desktops and laptops. It went very, very well.”
Since then, the XenApp virtual desktop has been rolled out to almost everyone in the expanded firm. It gives users secure access to their familiar Windows apps and desktop while vastly simplifying support and management needs. “If we had continued with the individual desktop approach, we would need another couple of staff by now,” explains Paul.
Key benefit: reducing IT costs using existing
PCs and new thin-client terminals Thomas Eggar has extended the life of existing desktop and laptop PCs by delivering the virtual desktop. Because applications now run in the data centre instead of on the user’s device, PC hardware does not need upgrading to meet system requirements of updated or new applications. Paul explains, “In 2012/13, my PC replacement budget was around £90,000. In
2013/14, it was down to just £40,000 and in
2014/15, we’ve spent nothing!”
As well as breaking the PC hardware replacement cycle, Paul’s team has been deploying costeffective Wyse thin-client terminals into hot-desking areas. “A PC and docking station costs us around £650 to £750 each, but a thinclient terminal is only £150,” explains Paul. “And management is simpler, too.”
Key benefit: providing worker flexibility with a secure mobile desktop “Perhaps the biggest benefit has been showcasing what’s possible,” says Paul. “The Citrix solution has enabled us to look forwards.” Particularly in the London office, Paul has seen employees handing back their laptops, preferring instead to use thin-client terminals in the office and secure, two-factor authentication to access their virtual desktop from home. “They don’t like carrying laptops around. Now, they simply carry their security fob and log in wherever they like.”
With Citrix virtualisation, users view and work with their apps and data over the network rather than having them installed locally. Sensitive case notes, client data and other
Case Study information are secured in the data centre and employees can access them from home, a client’s office and even in court. If a laptop, tablet or other device is lost or stolen, sensitive data remains secure.
Looking Ahead
“I imagine in the next two years, we won’t have any corporate-owned laptops in the firm. Everyone will access the Citrix desktop from a personal or thin-client device,” explains Paul. “Virtualisation also puts us in a good position to look at full cloud-computing solutions in the future. It gives us a lot of flexibility.”
The success of the XenApp solution has encouraged the firm to consider other ways of extending flexible working. Thomas Eggar is evaluating a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy. Paul’s team is considering Citrix XenMobile® for mobile device and app management, and Citrix XenDesktop® for delivery of other types of virtual desktops, to further extend the staff’s mobile capabilities. Paul can also see the potential for lower real estate costs in the future, as more employees work flexibly from home or in a hot-desking environment. “I can’t express how much this solution has opened our eyes to different ways of working.”
The London Borough of Merton has announced that itis deploying Citrix technology to reduce costs and provide staff with a flexible working environment. Implemented by IT consultancy Thintech,the UK Citrix Partner for Capita, the solution not only allows staff to access critical applications from any location via any device, but will also enable the Council to potentially become a shared desktop provider to other London councils.
Merton Council’s workforce is greatly dispersed, with many individuals either being positioned offsite or moving from location-to-location as and when needed. With the UK Government pressurising the public sector to meet efficiency quotas and reduce costs, the Council approached Citrix technology as a solution to the costs associated with maintaining a PC estate spread across various locations.
As such, Merton Councilis deploying Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop technology, supplied by Thintech,to offer a range of desktop virtualisation technologies via the Citrix FlexCast model, including hosted shared desktops and client-side virtualisation. Used in combination with Citrix Receiver, XenApp and XenDesktop willallow Merton staff to benefit from Bring-Your-Own-Device schemes, using Android, iPhone and iPad devices to access work applications, documents and rich-media on the move, as if they were in the office. The Council’s use of Citrix NetScalerwill also allow employees to access a cloud-based internal network where server-based resources and personal desktops can be securely stored.
The project, currently in its advanced stages, is being deployed across a PC estate of 1,750 users. Once the project is complete, the benefits will extend to a 2,000-strong user base. The Council then plans to become a shared services provider, allowing other councils to merge theirIT infrastructures with that of Merton’s to reap the benefits of virtual computing technology.
Richard Warren, Head of IT Service Delivery at London Borough of Merton said: “Since implementing Citrixsolutions through Thintech, we’ve been able to ensure that our staff haveaccess to the information they need wherever they are, whatever the device they use. We have also achieved significant efficiency savings through the initiative by consolidating office resources, meaning that we now needfewer office buildings available for our staff to hot desk from. By consolidating our sites, not only have we saved money on office space, we’ve also been able to reduce the management overheads associated with running the PC estate.
“The flexibility this technology provides truly allows Merton to become a forward-looking local authority at the forefront of innovation, and allows us to subsequently share our technology with other authorities.”
“The challenges Merton were faced with – high administrative overheads and a dispersed workforce – are not uncommon within the public sector but are easily solved by the flexibility of virtual desktops,” said DavidBibby at Thintech.“The solutions are easily managed and will also allow the Council to simplify their existing network infrastructure so that the IT department can focus on the core network.”
“Desktop virtualisation is a technology that provides much more than vital cost efficiencies in a time of economic pressure,” said James Stevenson, Area Vice President, Northern Europe at Citrix. “Merton Council can now provide its employees with the tools they need to get the job done, wherever they are. The flexibility, mobility and productivity experienceoffered via cloud services technology means that the Council can run a slicker, streamlined operation that other authorities can follow.”
About London Borough of Merton
Visit Merton Council’s web site for further information http://www.merton.gov.uk/
About Citrix
Citrix (NASDAQ:CTXS) transforms how businesses and IT work and people collaborate in the cloud era. With market-leading cloud, collaboration, networking and virtualization technologies, Citrix powers mobile workstyles and cloud services, making complex enterprise IT simpler and more accessible for 260,000 organizations. Citrix products touch 75 percent of Internet users each day and it partners with more than 10,000 companies in 100 countries. Annual revenue in 2011 was $2.21 billion. Learn more at www.citrix.com.
East Kent Shared Services has issued Citrix mobile workspace technology to organisations to reduce operational cost and increase collaboration.
The organisation provides shared services to Canterbury city council, Dover and Thanet District Councils, and organisations such as East Kent Housing and East Kent HR Partnership. It has around 1,500 IT users…
Medway Council serves a population of 270,000 in Kent, United Kingdom. The council’s geography is 50 per cent rural, 50 per cent urban and embraces a wide demographic range. Like most local governments, Medway has faced financial constraints following a reduction in central government funding. Head of ICT Moira Bragg runs a team of 60 that supports the council’s estate of over 100 separate locations. She explains, “Most local authorities are looking for ways to transform their services. At Medway, we have a programme that is looking for ways to drive efficiency: doing things better, but more efficiently. That includes working more flexibly to reduce the number of properties occupied by staff.”…
Three councils in East Kent have agreed to replace their CRM systems with one single shared platform.
The three systems will be replaced by a transactional platform for online forms and integrated digital services, which is being provided by UK-based digital services firm Jadu…
Three Kent councils have opted to share services, deploying Citrix as they try to save £2.7m over four years.
Canterbury, Dover and Thanet District Councils will share Citrix mobile workspace technology via East Kent Services (EKS), their shared services provider for customer services, income and payments, to boost IT savings by 42% more than originally conceived
The Success Guide V4
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READ MORE“Since implementing Citrix solutions through Brett, we’ve been able to ensure that our staff have access to the information they need wherever they are, whatever the device they use. We have also achieved significant efficiency savings through the initiative by consolidating office resources, meaning we now need fewer office buildings available for our staff to hot desk from. By consolidating our sites, not only have we saved money on office space, we’ve also been able to reduce the management overheads associated with running the PC estate. The flexibility this technology provides truly allows Merton to become a forward-looking local authority at the forefront of innovation, and allows us to subsequently share our technology with other authorities,”
Retired, part time with Liquid Promotions Ltd
“Brett has an attention to detail, as most people working in IT do, but he has the rare ability to see things from the end user’s perspective. He has used Citrix technology to create a simple user platform within the Cloud, which gives maximum benefit to companies and individuals on the move, at a remarkably low cost.”
Premier Accounts Business Development at Arrow
“Brett is by far one of the the most professional and business savvy people I have ever had the pleasure of working with. Not only is he the most accredited man I know when it comes to Citrix but he always seems to be one step ahead of the competition. He puts his customers needs first and always applies his knowledge and skills to their ever changing needs. It will be a pleasure to work with Brett as long as I am in this industry.”
IT Manager at Reddie&Grose LLP
“Brett worked on a replacement of our Citrix environment. He was very professional and curtious. He understood our requirements and completed the roleout within timescales. There were some techincal issues encountered, however, Brett was more than able to resolve these. Brett prvided more than what was expected. I would consider using Brett again.”
Managing Director at RASc Ltd
“Brett clearly deserves the title of Subject Matter Expert in all things to do with the Citrix. I have yet to meet anyone that displays a better understanding of their product set down to even the smallest detail. He is to Citrix what Ross Brawn is to motorsport. He is also a driven, serial entrepreneur with a clear vision and direction and has a passion for quality of service. I have no doubt that he will achieve his goals. It’s a pleasure to know and to work with him.”
Owner, DelfiX Ltd – www.delfixtrading.com
“Brett is very knowledgeable of Citrix systems. He is very resourceful and determined to find solutions when complexity is high. I have worked with him for 5 years and found that whenever his services were needed he has worked unconditionally to resolve problems.Brett is a very pleasant and reliable partner for any Citrix business application.”
Citrix Virtualization Architect
“I’ve associated with Brett on several occasions and across various projects. He is extremely technical and astute coupled with excellent business skills and personal awareness. I’ve enjoyed working with Brett, sharing ideas, bashing technologies, and creating truly bespoke non-cookie cutter solutions”
WebOps Engineer at Equal Experts
“Working with Brett on a number of significant Citrix installations, it was refreshing to work closely with someone who has significant expert knowledge and experiencing with Citrix products. His clear understanding of complex technical requirements and ability to translate those into technical configurations was instrumental in ensuring all the projects we worked on were completed to the highest standard.”
Marketing and Technology Consultant
“Brett is without a doubt one of the UK’s leading experts and thought leaders when it comes to anything regarding Virtual Desktops. I would recommend Brett every single time. Brett’s deep technical understanding and ability to translate that to a language that business owners understands is why Thintech is a leading Gold Citrix Partner.”
Interim Programme atCapita
“I first came across Brett following the need to employ a Citrix expert / consultant to take a look at a number of performance issues impacting a live call centre running Citrix. Brett came recommended to me by a colleague who had worked with him previously. Within a day of arriving on site Brett had identified the problem(s), he then went on to fix and test the issues before rolling out the changes. We were able to leave the site 4 days later with a happy group of stakeholders. There is nothing this guy doesn’t know about Citrix….He is a virtual Ninja!”
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