Developing a company on a national and international scale cannot be done without a flexible information system which can be extended as required. This must allow, and not hinder, the rapid establishment of new branches, and allow new employees to access data securely.

When MPO Fenêtres decided to modernise its infrastructure in order to improve its IT equipment management, the company’s IT team had four expectations :

• To simplify deployments. “We were looking for a simple solution which was easy to set up and operational from the very first day. In fact, we intended to open new branches and to deploy our ERP over about 50 workstations within a few weeks. It was also crucial for us that this solution reduced the time the technician had to spend installing a new client workstation,” explains Daniel Desauney, CIO of MPO Fenêtres.
• To remain compatible with the existing system. “It was important for us to choose a solution which didn’t require specific learning. But, at the same time, we didn’t want to disrupt our infrastructure,” says Mr. Desauney.
• To secure our data. “Our aim was also to ensure the security of company data and remote site data at all times. For this, we needed to find a solution which allowed client workstations to be locked and prevented the installation of applications that are detrimental to productivity, whilst improving the control over system access.”
• To reduce maintenance to a minimum. “Our technicians were having to spend too much time updating drivers and applications on each workstation. Our ideal solution had to be able to automate all of these operations and therefore reduce our service time. Finally, all our users did not necessarily have the same version of office software. The solution we were looking for therefore had to be compatible and accommodate all their differences.”

• In choosing the NEC VPCC solution on the advice of ASPerience (1), Daniel Desaunay opted for a progressive and very economic redesign of the MPO Fenêtres information system. His practical experience allows him to highlight several major advantages...
• Just a few hours to deploy everything. “When NEC showed us the VPCC solution, we immediately tested it on our infrastructure. In doing so, we didn’t detect any compatibility problems with our hardware (barcode reader and printer, etc.). The most surprising part is that everything was nearly functional within one day ; our technician already had the solution in hand,” confirms Daniel Desaunay. “After deployment, the infrastructure was functional from the second day.”
• Remote maintenance and administration : a true pleasure. “Staying in the Windows XP environment is a real plus. With VPCC, we only need to “create” the first machine. Then we duplicate the image by simply copying and pasting. The same applies for deploying applications. Everything is automated remotely and compatibility with our existing applications is ensured, with centralised control on the technicians’ workstations. In practice, to implement a new workstation, we only need to create a new virtual machine and assign it a name and password. The longest part today is unpacking the thin client terminal and physically installing it !”
• VPCC eliminates the risks of data losses. “Finally, our data is centralised and completely secured. If there is a power failure, the user finds his work just as it was left. It is also impossible for users to install an application which is not validated by the IT service. For our team, this is a gain in time and peace of mind which is much appreciated.”