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Industry
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Aerospace
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Customer
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Inflite Engineering Services Ltd
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Product
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PowerTerm WebConnect Enterprise
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Challenges
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- Reduce the cost of IT ownership
- Improve the reliability and performance of desktop IT
- Provide a Windows-based platform for the deployment of new business applications
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Solutions
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- Select PowerTerm WebConnect Enterprise
- Roll out the solution to 150 desktops across 8 sites
- Handle more support and maintenance tasks remotely
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Benefits
- Reduced the IT cost per user from £180 to £79
- Achieved sustainable annual savings of £100,000 in the first year - a figure that is expected to increase to £200,000
- Reduced network traffic levels and removed the need for a network upgrade
- Paved the way for the deployment of new applications that improve business efficiency
- Improved IT department efficiency and productivity
"The deployment of PowerTerm WebConnect has enabled us to reduce our annual IT expenditure by £100,000 in the first year alone. We calculate that we have reduced the IT cost per user by more than half from £180 to £79."
David Wilkin
Information Services Manager Inflite Engineering Services Ltd
The Background
The aerospace industry is very a competitive environment, in which both operational efficiency and cost efficiency really matter. Businesses in this sector rely on a range of industry-specific applications to support their operations. They demand high standards of application reliability and performance to help them operate efficiently - but at the same time, look to IT to deliver sustainable cost reductions.
A leading provider of aerospace components and services, Inflite Engineering Services Ltd has successfully improved its business applications and reduced costs through the use of PowerTerm WebConnect. In the first twelve months alone, the company cut IT costs per user by more than half and gained £100,000 through tangible IT savings.
A number of priorities
Lower cost of ownership was undoubtedly the company's primary requirement for its new IT system. However, Inflite also had a number of other priorities.
The aerospace industry is tightly regulated by a range of different organisations, and everything that Inflite does is subject to careful scrutiny. In particular, the company has to be able to provide audit trails for every single aircraft part, including each individual component, right the way down to the raw materials. "In the event of an aircraft disaster, we would have to be able to deliver this audit information in an instant," says Wilkin. "It is therefore very important for us to have reliable systems that are available 24x7."
In addition to system reliability, speed was another absolute prerequisite for Inflite. Its aging systems consistently provided very poor response times. "It used to take quite a few seconds before responses to enquiries were generated," says Wilkin. "There were also often ten to twelve process steps required to complete very simple, routine tasks like raising purchase orders."
The new IT systems had to address these issues by supporting more efficient processes and delivering improvements in productivity. "It's very expensive to keep an aircraft on the ground, so our speed of turnaround is very important," explains Wilkin. "If we cannot source parts quickly, scheduled maintenance works can be delayed. This not only plays havoc with our aircraft hangar scheduling, but can result in revenue losses for our customers. And this is simply unacceptable."
Following the installation of PowerTerm WebConnect, Inflite has been able to reduce staff in its IT department by 20% and work much more efficiently. In the past, whenever Inflite wanted to upgrade an application, it had to actually visit more than 150 PCs dispersed over seven separate sites across the UK. "System upgrades frequently took around two weeks and involved lots of travel," recalls Wilkin. "Now, with PowerTerm WebConnect we can do the task in ten minutes."
Inflite has also made savings by reducing its software licence costs. The company uses Ericom's application broker software to manage its licenses and, as a result, it only has to purchase a license for each desktop, not one for each user. "This strategy has saved us in excess of £18,000 in Microsoft licenses alone," comments Wilkin. "We are reducing costs all the way down the line."
He says: "The deployment of PowerTerm WebConnect has enabled us to reduce our annual IT expenditure by £100,000 in the first year alone. We calculate that we have reduced the IT cost per user by more than half from £180 to £79."
A wide range of business improvements
As well as delivering cost savings, the implementation of PowerTerm WebConnect has also paved the way for the introduction of much-needed new business applications. "In the IT department, we are now able to make better use of our time to deliver improved business solutions, rather than simply propping the business up," says Wilkin. "We have been able to develop and deploy new Windows-based applications that can really help the business to move forwards."
The company has recently acquired a business on a separate site, and it plans to roll out PowerTerm WebConnect to additional users there. The IT team will be able to deploy the new systems quickly and easily, as it can set up new users and lead user training - all without leaving the IT department.
Wilkin says: "PowerTerm WebConnect is contributing indirectly to a wide range of business improvements and efficiency gains across the whole organisation, because it is enabling us to deliver better business applications."
A single desktop solution
From an initial list of fourteen potential products, Inflite drew up a shortlist of four solutions and carried out a series of bench tests across different sites over a period of 30 days. "Ericom offered a single desktop solution that was easy to manage across multiple sites," says Wilkin. "In our evaluations, we identified that PowerTerm WebConnect had the greatest potential to deliver a lower IT cost per user."
PowerTerm WebConnect is a server-based computing solution that provides flexible and secure enterprise-wide access to business applications based on virtual desktops, terminal servers and legacy computers. Centrally managed, it enables companies to reduce IT complexity and desktop management costs.
Wilkin is confident that Inflite made the right decision in selecting PowerTerm WebConnect. Initially, the company rolled out the solution to nearly 150 desktops across all parts of the business. Then, after PowerTerm WebConnect had been in use for twelve months, Inflite prepared a number of 'before and after' cost analyses to verify that its anticipated savings had indeed been realised.
A clear cost advantage
Inflite's calculations showed that the company had reduced its annual IT costs by £100,000 in a year. This saving stems from a number of areas including:
- Reduced staff in the IT department
- More efficient support and maintenance processes
- Better software licence management
