4 reasons Citrix and Windows Virtual Desktop are better together for manufacturing & retail

Manufacturers and retailers all over the world experience a huge transformation. In this blog we will address big trends that drive this transformation, like the COVID-19 pandemic, the rise of the global workforce and the demand for continuous (digital) innovation. In addition, we will also explain how organizations can respond to these developments with the joint solutions from Microsoft and Citrix.

Digitization because of COVID-19

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the trend of remote work has taken off in ways nobody could have imagined a year ago. When offices closed and engineers needed to stay at home remote work and collaboration became a normality. COVID-19 has accelerated the adoption of fully digitized approaches to re-create the best of in-person learning through live video and social sharing. Furthermore, online sales skyrocketed because of the lockdown.

Mobile global workforce

More than 42% of the global workforce will be mobile by 2022. To enable remote work, having the right technology is crucial. A survey conducted by Microsoft illustrates this convincingly: 93% of millennial employees value technology when choosing an employer. PWC says that the structure and execution of talent processes will need to be re-thought and built around the realities of a likely protracted and uneven recovery, to continue achieving desired business outcomes as well as inclusive employee experiences.

In manufacturing and retail digital innovation is the new imperative

Digitization also has its impact on manufacturers and retailers. For years manufacturers and retailers are experiencing a substantial change in their industries because of the rise of new technologies. Because of the above-mentioned trends this rise has accelerated greatly. To thrive in the near future, manufacturers and retailers need to take innovation to a higher level. Developments like IoT, digital twins or predictive analytics give manufacturers and retailers the opportunity to stay ahead of the competition.  But to be able to take advantages of the benefits digital technologies provide, manufacturers need to make sure they have the right IT systems and infrastructure to scale rapidly and seamlessly.

Microsoft and Citrix reimagine the flexible workplace within manufacturing and retail

To help manufacturers and retailers to respond to these trends Microsoft and Citrix have joined forces. Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft says the following about this collaboration: “As organizations everywhere adapt to new ways of work, they need to reimagine how work gets done. Together with Citrix, we will apply the power of Azure to this challenge, helping our customers seamlessly and securely connect their employees to their applications, so they can be more agile and productive wherever they are.”

In this blog we will show you how the four pillars of the collaboration between Citrix and Microsoft provide the best solutions to respond to the many challenges manufacturers and retailers face. But before we dive in, let’s quickly introduce the protagonists: Windows Virtual Desktop and Citrix Cloud.

Windows Virtual Desktop 

Windows Virtual Desktop (also known as WVD) is a virtual machine that hosts a desktop and app virtualization service that runs on the Azure cloud. The platform can bring together Microsoft 365 and Azure to provide users with a multi-session Windows 10 experience. This gives organizations great advantages like reducing IT costs and faster innovation. Starting with the costs, whenever you run an instance of Windows on a virtual machine that runs on-premises, you need a certain number of base resources, like memory, CPU and storage per VM. So that is a cost per user. When running Windows 10 multi-session you use these same resources, but for multiple users.

Furthermore on-premises virtual desktops are built for 3 to 5 years, and then after that period organizations decide what to do next. If they want to continue with an on-prem virtual desktop, they probably have to upgrade to a new version of Windows, a new version of Office and other software and they need to purchase new hardware. Windows Virtual Desktop is continuously updated so you can break through the 5-year cycle and start with continuous improvement of your virtual desktop infrastructure.

Citrix Cloud 

Citrix Cloud is a platform that hosts and administers Citrix services. It connects to your resources through connectors on any cloud or infrastructure you choose (on-premises, public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud). It allows you to create, manage, and deploy workspaces with apps and data to your end-users from a single console.

Now that we introduced WVD and Citrix Cloud, let’s look at the advantages of their combined usage.

1. Any device, any application, any connection for engineers
   
   Especially in the Work from everywhere era, engineers demand extreme flexibility from their IT departments. Luckily flexibility is in the DNA of both Microsoft and Citrix. We provide users with the possibility to work on any device. That way they can use their trusted smartphones, tablets and laptops (no matter what operating system they use) for their work or to communicate and collaborate. Through an all-in-one UI they can directly access their favorite apps, such as Microsoft Teams, their calendars and even apps that run on-premises. And last but not least they can work on any connection. This is especially useful in times where the whole household works from home and bandwidth is limited. Especially for engineers this is a must because they tend to work with heavy documents that need advanced simulation and graphic capabilities.
   A great advantage from remote work is the fact that you are not limited to hire people from a specific region. Hiring people from other countries however is only possible if you have a remote environment that runs in the public cloud and if you at the same time chose a data center that is located in that remote country. That way you don’t have to cope with latency problems and employees or contractors have a fluent digital work experience.

2. Secure and effective work from home for engineers and retail staff
   
   Security should be a top priority for manufacturers and retailers. Securing Intellectual Property has never been more urgent with hackers from all over the world trying to steel company secrets. On the other hand it has never been more challenging to secure employees because they work on decentralized laptops. Many security solutions however lack user friendliness. Staff needs to log in with separate credentials on different devices and applications. The result: users try to find (insecure) shortcuts. That is why Citrix and Microsoft provide a secure environment out of the box, without compromising the user experience. This solution gives engineers the ability to do what they are supposed to do in their jobs: innovate your products and production process. They don’t need to worry about security.

3. Personalized hybrid cloud journey for manufacturers and retailers
   
   To fulfill users’ wishes for flexibility, an increasing number of organizations is moving its workloads to the cloud. But since different organizations are at different locations in their cloud journeys, it’s our combined vision that manufacturers and retailers should go at their own pace. Instead of large all-or-nothing migration projects that take months and are very costly, you can start with the quick wins. If you have workloads which you want to run on Virtual Desktop as part of a new project, it only takes you five clicks in the Citrix Cloud Management layer to deploy a new Windows Virtual Desktop.

4. Proven joint track record
   
   With our joint customer base of more than 400.000 organizations that have relied on our joint solutions for more than 30 years, we have a lot of experience in complimenting each other. Since actions speak louder than words, let’s take a look at two reference cases:

Centrica simplifies and standardizes desktop for 18,000 users
Centrica used virtual desktops on physical servers in its data centers. But with 30,000 employees in international locations, serving 26 million customers in global energy markets, it wanted to improve the flexibility, scalability, and affordability. With Citrix Cloud Services, Citrix ADC and Microsoft Azure they managed to reduce the complexity from 44 managed servers into a single URL. The project has deployed and migrated thousands of users to a global desktop at a fast pace, without disrupting the business, while delivering cost savings at the same time. The project was cost-neutral even before the full roll-out. It was forecasted that the project would even produce cost savings in the first full year of operation due to the new consumption-based payment model.

Nudie Jeans supports its sustainable denim with greener IT
Nudie Jeans’ move to cloud computing started when it opened direct operations in the U.S. It needed secure access to corporate resources for employees worldwide and wanted to engage with technology providers that share its sustainability values. Citrix and Microsoft provide a secure and sustainable desktop for employees wherever they are, enabling international expansion and flexible homeworking.

Are you interested in the possibilities Microsoft and Citrix can provide to your manufacturing company? Click here to learn more about our joint solutions.