Supported by
Vol 1 Issue 2
Sanjay Kukreja Principal Technology Services eClerx
CIO
Insights
KPO firm optimizes global IT approach eClerx gains 40 percent process and cost savings efficiencies through desktop virtualization
Company: eClerx Services Ltd Industry: Professional Services & Consulting Country: India Employees: 5,500 Website: www.eclerx.com Business need To ensure compliance with client security requirements and improve the capabilities of the company’s global talent pool, eClerx wanted to move to a virtual desktop environment. Solution eClerx delivered desktop and application virtualization across the organization through Dell™ Wyse thin clients and Citrix® XenDesktop™/XenApp™ hosted on Dell PowerEdge™ servers.
“ If we compare our previous desktop environment to our new virtual desktop infrastructure powered by Dell, we estimate that we have achieved overall cost-savings and efficiency improvements of 40 percent.” Sanjay Kukreja, Principal, Technology Services, eClerx
Benefits • Remote IT management strategy delivers 40 percent improvement in overall efficiency and cost savings • Revised security policy meets strict compliance requirements • Improved productivity with 99.99 percent reliability helps focus on client delivery • Provision of global talent pools for company-wide projects through virtual teams Solutions featured • Desktop Virtualization • Server
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CIO
Insights eClerx Services Ltd (eClerx) is a Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) and ISO 27001 certified company with a strong focus on information security. In addition to middle and back office operation support, they provide data management and analytics solutions to sales and marketing organizations.
“ The concept of virtual teams has become far more prominent within the organization and this means we can deliver specific skill sets and experience to clients regardless of location. We can offer clients a truly global talent pool without geographical limits. With thin client architecture our employees can work anywhere and remain completely connected to projects and resources.” Sanjay Kukreja, Principal, Technology Services, eClerx
Incorporated in 2000, the organization is India’s first and only publicly listed KPO company, which is traded on both the Bombay and National Stock Exchanges of India. In addition to operating five global delivery centers in India, eClerx and its subsidiaries have offices in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, and Singapore. eClerx is an existing Dell vendor and provides more than 50 Fortune 500 and Internet Retailer 500 companies with expertise in consulting, and improving and automating process workflows. As an organization experiencing 30 percent year-on year growth, they are witnessing a rapid increase in the demand for KPO services. eClerx delivers a large number of data processing and data analysis projects from their India delivery centers and wanted to ensure that the company met the stringent security requirements of their customers’ organizations.
With 5,500 professionals, there were a number of challenges arising from simultaneously managing the desktop environment and providing effective support to all users. eClerx’s IT team was finding it increasingly difficult to deliver highly reliable access to data and applications required for client projects, while continuing to provide control and protection of the company’s environment. SanjayKukreja, Principal, Technology Services, eClerx, says, “With our existing desktop environment, we needed to rely on large numbers of support staff to ensure that individual desktops had the right security settings and to respond to user issues and service requests. It was becoming an increasingly inefficient way of managing our infrastructure.” Thin client technology opens up new possibilities for KPO firm The company began evaluating applications and desktop
virtualization solutions that would host virtual applications and desktops throughout the organization. eClerx wanted to improve the capabilities of the company’s skilled global workforce. In addition, they wanted to eliminate security vulnerabilities arising from data stored on desktops, available to all users. A virtual desktop environment would bring the company focus back on client delivery and minimize routine maintenance tasks such as provisioning individual desktops and installing updates and patches. eClerx conducted a pilot using Citrix® XenDesktop™/ XenApp™ on Dell Wyse thin clients, hosted on Dell PowerEdge™ M910 blade servers. Upon completion of the successful pilot, the company deployed Dell Wyse C10LE thin clients within the delivery centers in India. “Running a virtual desktop environment on Dell Wyse thin clients is more cost-effective in terms of the investment capital required to deploy the solution and the day-to-day management,” says Kukreja.
Technology at work Hardware Dell™ PowerEdge™ M910 blade servers Dell Wyse C10LE thin clients
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CIO
Insights Strategic IT management delivers 40 percent improvement in overall efficiency and cost-savings As a knowledge process outsourcing company, eClerx is recognizing significant benefits from improved mobility, productivity, and security. “If we compare our previous desktop environment to our new virtual desktop infrastructure powered by Dell, we estimate that we have achieved overall cost-savings and
keep their business secure,” says Kukreja. Improves productivity and focus on client delivery through 99.99 percent reliability eClerx is improving the productivity of their workforce as a result of the company’s evolving desktop strategy. With no data held at the desktop level, the Dell Wyse thin clients are highly reliable and deliver 99.99 percent availability to users. This means
company’s employees have improved flexibility in being able to work within any office and any desk, without having to worry about accessing the required project resources. This increased agility has enabled the company to enact form virtual teams across offices. Kukreja says, “The concept of virtual teams has become far more prominent within the organization and this means we can deliver specific skill sets and experience to
efficiency improvements of 40
clients, regardless of location.
percent,” says Kukreja.
We can offer clients a truly global talent pool without geographical
Revised security policy meets strict compliance requirements
limits. With thin
All company data is now residing on the Dell PowerEdge blade servers and is remotely managed by the eClerx IT team. Previously, multiple users shared individual desktops during work shifts within the delivery centers, which made it difficult to segregate user access. With Citrix® XenDesktop™ XenApp™ and Dell Wyse thin client technology, eClerx can create and update user profiles for specific contracts with each client. Our complete security policy has changed. While we provided employees with unlimited data and desktop services access earlier, we now grant them access only to the specific files and applications that they need. This guarantees that we can enforce strict security requirements of our clients to
remain completely
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client architecture, our employees can work anywhere and connected to projects and resources.”
employees can focus on project delivery, instead of solving IT issues. Kukreja says, “We’ve received a positive response from our employees due to a decrease in the number of IT issues they experienced. Their attention is on our client projects and not on managing internal processes.” Business gains access to a global talent pool to optimize resourcing of KPO projects As a KPO company, eClerx gains an advantage in being able to select the right employees for projects from a global talent pool. The
“We’ve received a positive response from our employees due to the reduction in IT issues that they experience. Their attention is on our client projects and not on managing internal processes.” Sanjay Kukreja, Principal, Technology Services, eClerx
Assessment
You can take the desk out
out of the
desktop
Dell Desktop Virtualization Solutions Gone are the days when work was limited to the office desk. With office branches in multiple locations, frequent business trips, and an increase in the number of meetings held out-of-office, there’s an urgent need of being able to access information from any location. At the same time, security, manageability, and cost-effectiveness also need to be kept in mind. Virtualized Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) enables employees to access the information stored on their desktops, onthe-go. Being completely centralized, it allows the IT administrator to control and regulate access, thereby making the system more secure and easily manageable. Dell’s VDI solutions include a complete architecture of devices, softwares, services, and infrastructure that work together to give you a flexible, scalable, intergrated solution. Depending on the size of your business, you can choose between DVS Simplified and DVS Enterprise.
DVS Simplified This is for small and medium businesses with a management requirement of 500 desktops or less. The process is made simpler with impeccable support from our ProSupport service.
DVS Enterprise This is for large businesses that need to manage more than 500 desktops. It lets you choose from VMware®, Citrix®, or Microsoft® software and also includes an option of design, implementation, and support. Our 24/7 ProSupport service will help you at every step of the process.
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Back to
Basics
Personal Devices vs. Business Devices: Consumerization and its impact on IT The Reality of Consumerization Earlier, the use and roles of business devices and personal devices were clearly demarcated, to address issues of privacy and data security. Today, however, the use of personal devices for business purposes is rising. Consumers are increasingly shifting to working on their personal devices and this shift from business devices to personal devices is referred to as ‘Consumerization’. The shift is real and it is happening right now. Consumerization gives the end-user more control and power. Smartphones are the gateway drugs, educating people on the endless possibilities of multi-tasking. This knowledge translates very easily to PCs and can be adapted very quickly as personal devices are equipped with business tools/access as well. This has resulted in entry of personal into enterprise than the other way around. Consumerization is best illustrated in the fall of RIM and rise of Android, iOS, and Apple’s Business App Store . In addition, reduced cost of entry makes this entire process attainable. Consumerization Trends End-users herald this shift as they feel more connected to their personal devices. To them, being connected is equivalent to being free. Flexibility, autonomy, and work-life balance are a few attributes that are further driving this trend. Over the last two years there has been a significant increase in the number of end-users opting for personal devices. Figure 1 illustrates the same.
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Figure 1 2011
2010 30.7% Business PC, smartphone
40.7% Business PC, smartphone, tablet
69.3% Business PC, smartphone
59.3% Business PC, smartphone, tablet
Source: IDC information Worker Custom Survey, sponsored by Unisys, May 2011 and May 2010 Q1 (2011); Q4 (2010). Which, if any, of the following devices do you use to access your organization’s business applications such as employee benefits, customer billing, client relationship tools, or productivity tools such as spreadsheets, word processors, etc.?
In addition, most consumers are crossing over between using personally purchased Smartphones and PCs for both personal and work purposes. Moreover, while staying connected to email/calendar is great, most consumers increasingly want to create work content, from anywhere, on their own devices, as illustrated in figure 2. Figure 2: Business tasks performed using personal devices 98%
83%
Calendar Phone calls
79% Texting
67% Social media application
38% 24%
Other enterprise application
15%
CRM
10%
ERP
10%
Others
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
Source: Dimensional Research, Dell KACE ITDM survey, August, 2011.
“Consumers only need IT for network hookup and will take on the support themselves. Consumerization unlocks end-user freedom, while supporting IT need for control.” Forrester
Back to
Basics The Rise of the Prosumers According to Forrester, the term ‘Prosumers’ (Professional Consumers) was first used in early 2006 and was used to communicate consumer empowerment. However, despite all the convenience, Prosumers do express a concern about mixing business/work and personal data. In US, UK, and Germany, the primary concern of
end-users was regarding confidentiality of their personal data, as per the Prosumer Profiling report, Sept, 2011, illustrated in figure 3. Other concerns include: • Tracking and usage of personal data by the organization • No permission by organization to store confidential, work related data on a device that also doubles as a personal device
Figure 3 Challenges of using a Prosumer Device (US only) Hard to get away from work with business and personal on one device
29%
25%
Worry about merging my work and my personal contacts for email and calendars
19%
Need to make my personal data/contacts available to my IT department
16%
1%
Figure 4 83% Tablets such as iPads and similar devices will be an intergral part of how we conduct business/provide services in future
Keeping seperate files and data for work and personal use
28%
18%
In India and China, however, Prosumers are far less concerned about the previously mentioned issues, though they express the need for some security feature between modes. While IT recognizes the challenges of Consumerization, it also understands the benefits. Illustrated below in figure 4 are the percentages of organizations that agree with various attributes of personal devices.
80% Our IT department’s workload increases as employees bring consumer devices into the workplace
Need to make my personal data/contacts available to my IT department Not able to keep sensitive personal documents/ files on device
79% Our senior executives expect us to support their use of consumer devices
Not able to keep sensitive business documents/files on device 75%
30%
Allowing employees to bring consumer devices as a company policy increases morale
Others None of these
Source: Prosumer Profiling – Sept, 2011
Designing for Prosumers calls for a focus on various aspects: · Solution/set of products · Software as a service · Designing for the high-end person, the laptop power users · The device is not irrelevant; it is intensely personal · Image befits the price · SSD storage is extremely important · Travel size – airplane coach trays should be the guideline for maximum screen size
74% Employees who bring consumer devices into the workplace and IT support of them is inevitable
“72% of firms allow employees to use their own Smartphone or tablet for work, 4x the amount in ’08” Aberdeen Group ’11
72% Employees who bring consumer devices into the workplace are more productive
0%
20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Source: IDC Business IT Survey, sponsored by Unisys, May 2011 Q17. Please rate your level of agreement or disagreement with the following statements regarding the impact of employees bringing consumer devices into the workplace.
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Back to
Basics Consumerization is fast catching on and the trend is now prolific. However, Gartner, the firm that coined term Consumerization reports, “You can see that Consumerization is disappearing. It is more about balancing the stuff on the cloud through device optimization. ‘Conventional’ is being replaced by ‘cloud’ service behavior. There is no gap between consumer and professional notebooks. People will use devices which conveniently allow them to access different Cloud services when needed.” It also defines the following: The personal cloud (PC): Is your own personal collection of data and applications The work cloud: Is a personal collection of applications provided by your company The social cloud: Facebook, Twitter, etc. The government cloud: Is a collection of medical records, social security, etc Gartner also explores how portability, connectivity, consumption, and personalization drive behavior versus device selection.
“Consumerization of IT = the practice of enterprises allowing end users to select the specific technology of their choice when purchasing businesscritical devices.” IDC, You Put Your Mac on My Corporate Network: The Extended Enterprise and Implications for Support, July 2010
Dell’s POV on Consumerization Dell is offering its employees access to their corporate email through personal devices that meet some basic requirements. Popular mobile platforms such as Android, IOS, and BlackBerry will support this. Once a request for this service is submitted to the IT service desk, Dell will secure and partition the device such that personal data is protected and cannot be accessed by the company. Additional software support will be provided to the employees at no cost, though service charges
incurred aren’t included in this. Another initiative the dell is offering to consumers is Dell mobile phone at an employee discount. This device helps consolidate business and personal needs while cutting costs at the same time. Employees will also be offered number portability where they can move their Dell number to a personal account in their name and financial responsibility.
“The Consumerization of technology means that more end users want to bring technologies that they have at home into to the workplace — and enterprise IT organizations are seeking more ways to respond to their demands.” Forrester, The Pros And Cons Of Free Solutions In Desktop Videoconferencing, May 2011
Editorial From the team at EEKC Dell and CAI are pleased to present the second edition of the EEKC. This newsletter covers a wide range of topics with an aim to assist CIOs improve their organization’s efficiency. We have focused specially on the benefits of virtualization solutions in enterprise environments. We look forward to your views, reviews and opinions. Keep writing in!
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Tapan Garg Founder and CEO World CIO Council and CIO Association of India E: tapan@cioindia.org W: www.cioindia.org