OpenReality realises savings for housing provider

Citrix-based virtual environment slashes costs to assist growth

An implementation by networking and infrastructure provider OpenReality has saved £731,000 in capex for social housing and property management association Places for People.

Jon Thomson, head of technology at Places for People, said the Citrix partner had established the "best virtual environment" for the organisation, based on Citrix XenDesktop and XenApp.

"It was imperative that we had an IT system that would support our mobile workforce. With over a quarter of a million customers and nearly 143,000 properties to support around the country, staff neither have the time nor, with the advent of virtual desktops, should they need to travel to use technology," Thomson said.

According to a statement from Oxfordshire-based OpenReality, the deployment saved £731,000 in capital costs and £100,000 per annum in recurring costs for the organisation, as part of a restructure which also reduced its 35 offices across the UK to just 21.

Flexible working is key, it indicated.

"Improved employee efficiency has boosted customer service excellence, meeting core business objectives. The carbon footprint is reduced by nearly 400 tonnes of CO2 [a year]," according to OpenReality.

"Places for People Group is one of the largest property management, development and regeneration companies in the UK."

OpenReality and its virtual solutions arm Brightcloud first drew up a proof of concept, followed by a pilot to prove the feasibility of the plan. A full Citrix XenDesktop and XenApp infrastructure, with XenApp 6.5, is now incorporated.

Desktop provision is now "controlled, quick and efficient" across 200 Places for People sites, it said, with Citrix Receiver facilitating BYOD.

OpenReality was contacted for further comment but had not responded at press time.