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Industry
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Legal
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Customer
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Belin McCormick, P.C.
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Product
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Ericom Connect ®
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Challenges
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- Provide the firm's attorneys with a secure, fast and more robust alternative to LogMeIn
- Improve disaster recovery readiness
- Find less complex and more cost-effective alternative to VDI - requiring less management overhead and hardware investment
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Solutions
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- Implement Ericom Connect to provide browser-based access to physical Windows desktops from home - PCs, Macs and tablet devices
- Implement two-factor authentication (2FA) for an extra layer of security
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Benefits
- Attorneys gained full access to the firm's Worldox document management system and other important Windows-based applications while working from home
- Eliminated the cost and maintenance of a VDI system, including a substantial hardware investment in servers and SAN capacity
- Great remote user-experience - fast and responsive, as if the attorneys were physically in front of their office PCs
"Ericom offered the best of both worlds - it came with all the benefits of VDI but without the complexity of managing virtual desktops."
Jim Struve
IT Director, Belin McCormick, P.C.
Background
Belin McCormick, P.C. is a full-service law firm that has been providing superior quality legal services to businesses, institutions and individuals from its location in Des Moines, Iowa since 1978. In line with the firm's commitment to excellence, Belin McCormick, P.C. uses a multidisciplinary approach to the law in order to provide innovative solutions for clients of all sizes, including national and multinational Fortune 500 companies. The firm's elite team of lawyers provide counsel on a wide range of practice areas including taxation, litigation, corporate and commercial, labor and employment, and health care law.
In an effort to provide fast and reliable remote access experiences for attorneys and improve disaster recovery readiness, Jim Struve, Belin McCormick's IT Director needed to replace the firm's existing solution, powered by a virtual private network (VPN) and the LogMeIn service. The current configuration was slow and impeded attorneys from serving clients effectively.
Seeking a New Solution
Struve piloted several solutions including VMware Horizon with PCoIP terminals. Because the firm had desktops with unique configurations, the costs of VDI outweighed the benefits, especially when considering the substantial hardware investment in servers and a storage area network (SAN). The biggest concern was that users noticed (and were unhappy about) a performance degradation when using the VDI system in-house. Through the pilot, Struve determined it was more cost-effective to manage physical desktops than with VMWare Horizon.
To ensure attorneys had no performance issues accessing their office computers, Struve researched RDP acceleration tools and discovered Ericom Software's Blaze solution, which ultimately led to the deployment of Ericom Connect.
"Given our firm's specific needs with user satisfaction being an extremely important consideration, Ericom Connect offered the best solution, based on performance, functionality and overall value." stated Struve.
Supporting Mixed Environments
Belin McCormick, P.C. attorneys use a mix of PC and iMac desktops, some with dual monitor configurations. Others use laptops and tablets. Among office productivity tools, the firm utilizes the Worldox document management system to manage large case files and business correspondence.
With Ericom Connect, attorneys can simply open a Web browser, access remote computers and work as if they were physically in the office. Ericom's HTML5 technology requires no endpoint configuration and maintenance, making it extremely easy to connect and access applications and files. Additionally, Ericom Connect's AccessPad client enabled attorneys with dual monitors to easily perform tasks remotely.
"Our attorneys love Ericom Connect," added Struve. "It is easy to use and there are many options for remote clients. Furthermore, the Blaze acceleration technology makes remote sessions noticeably fast, especially comparing the experience with the other solutions, such as VMware Horizon."
Enhanced Security
To ensure the utmost in data security and client privacy, Belin McCormick, P.C. integrated Ericom Connect with two-factor authentication powered by Fortinet's FortiAuthenticator platform. According to Struve, setup was very easy and the systems are transparent to users, making accessibility simple and fast.
Faster Performance, More Value
Ericom Connect has provided a simple and seamless solution for the attorneys at Belin McCormick, P.C. to be more productive, especially when they are out of the office. Additionally, it offered more flexibility and compared to VMware Horizon and LogMeIn, delivered faster performance. Eliminating the need for VDI allowed Struve to invest in infrastructure to support the firm's disaster recovery initiatives.
