Reference story - DISA
Towards a unified workspace across three continents
Founded in 1900, DISA is the world’s leading supplier of foundry equipment and metal surface finishing systems. With over 1200 employees in more than 13 locations,
efficient desktop management became a serious issue. In 2007, the company decided to redesign its IT strategy thoroughly. Using RES PowerFuse and RES Wisdom, by
October 2008 all 1200 DISA workstations were converted to centrally managed , personalized, secure and reliable workspaces.
The One Client Project
With factories, sales and service offices in three continents and an extensive agent network, DISA serves international industrial manufacturers, foundries and metalworking industries with leading edge technology solutions, tailored to their specific needs.
Sascha Maier is not only IT Manager for Switzerland, Germany and France, he is also ‘Project Manager for the One Client Project’. “I'm responsible for the Global Solution and migration of all client desktops and Laptops or workspaces as we like to call them, worldwide together with my team. That means hardware, software, packaging, training and license management: everything. So all DISA employees are my customers!”
From 1000 to 100 applications
In the summer of 2007, DISA started the One Client Project. Sascha recalls: “It was part of our strategy to build one company. Each location had its own client solution. Software implementation and change management was impossible. In our first global software scan we found thousand different applications within DISA, in many different languages! We wanted to reduce that to hundred, all in English.”
RES Wisdom was a key element in achieving that goal. “It was absolutely brilliant. We were able to scan our PC’s in seconds, producing detailed overviews of all software
installed. Then, we presented all our department managers with their own list, and asked them to select what they really needed. It turned out that in some cases we used up to 10 different software packages for the same task. It was a major global consolidation effort, including much testing and training, but it was certainly worth it. It works great, and everyone is getting used to it. With only 2 small locations left, we are now down to 110 applications.”
A global centrally streamed solution
The number of applications was not the only issue. DISA envisioned to manage all software from a central location, and to build a global support team, with eight members worldwide. “That’s exactly why we selected RES PowerFuse and RES Wisdom, combined with Microsoft SoftGrid, Citrix and VMware Thinapp. We use RES PowerFuse for user workspace management and its excellent reporting
facilities. RES Wisdom is used to manage Windows XP and applications we can’t stream like Thinapp packages. SoftGrid is the streaming solution, to deliver the workspace to the employees globally.”
What about heavier applications, like AutoCAD? “DISA uses even three: AutoCAD, CATIA and SolidWorks. All are Softgrid packages globally in the same version available for all clients. Most of the other packages are pushed to the desktop by RES Wisdom. No more local installations, no more MSI files is our philosophy!”
One workspace per department
At each location, DISA now uses a dedicated server to deliver SoftGrid packages to employee user workspaces. In addition, the servers are used for Wisdom Services, and for computer deployment using Ghost. Larger locations have a physical server with a virtual server on top. All servers are managed and monitored from a central location.
How many different workspaces are used? “At smaller locations, everyone gets the same applications and settings. At larger locations we have separate workspaces
per department. This workspace is always available, no matter which pc or laptop is used.” Projects like these can tell you a lot about your own company. “In the process, we
found out that our needs are more continent-based than we originally thought. So after the conversion is completed, we will reorganize our workspaces accordingly: Europe, Asia, and the rest.”
One and one is three
The combination of RES PowerFuse and RES Wisdom offers many advantages. Sascha Maier even helped RES Software to add one: “I suggested to RES Software to enable application installation based on the computer name. If a computer shows up first time in Wisdom, Wisdom knowswhich applications are required for that particular PC and will start the related modules. If after first login the user tries to start an application which has not yet been installed, RES Wisdom will now do that automatically. This functionality will be included in the next RES Wisdom version, but we are using it already.”
No more lost drawings
Improving security was an important requirement from the start, especially in the Far East. Sascha confirms: “Intellectual property is a big issue. We found out we were
losing drawings, for example in China. RES PowerFuse now helps us to prevent that. Within seconds, we can grant or deny access from a central location. All USB and other
ports are disabled by default, and we can grant access on demand. And for the first time, we can produce overviews of people having access. We also have logs of people
trying to connect.” Did he catch anyone yet? “Not so far, we are still rolling out in China. But in Europe, not a day goes by without people trying to get access.”
PC down, work continues
The project is still under way, but the Support department can already see the results. “We definitely get less support calls. RES PowerFuse is very stable. And if a PC goes
down, a user can now simply take another one. After login, he receives his own workspace, with his own streamed applications. He can continue his work, while we reinstall the other PC.”
In China, they love the remote support function. It used to be a 2,5 hour drive for our IT staff from our factory to the Shanghai office, just to install a new PC. Now we can do it remotely in a matter of minutes.
Sascha Maier, Global Client Manager, Worldwide