Desktop / VDI Solutions Established specialists in the design and deployment of desktop solutions for corporate customers, Centralis have the skills and experience necessary to deliver the right desktop solution for each customer.  Whether it is Citrix XenDesktop, WYSE Thin Computing, Virtual Desktops or customised user interfaces, Centralis align the desktop to the business, reducing costs and increasing flexibility.

Simplifying the Business Desktop

	Selected Centralis Case Studies
	The AA Centralis CLAM and Panasonic combine to offer toughness to the AA at the roadside. Centrica Centralis provide standard builds to secure  remote worker PCs throughout the UK. BUPA Securely delivering applications to non-managed PCs.
	Business Issues
	Reduce Costs: Provide users with the computing environment they need without opening up the organisation to the support and maintenance costs of deploying and managing PC desktop estates Simplify Business Process: Provide a secure, task focussed environment, reducing training and increases productivity Corporate Image: Customised builds secure against user driven change allow the organisation to deliver and enforce corporate branding in terms of images, colour schemes, screen savers etc. Corporate Data: Thin client solutions allow organisations to prevent data or even the desktops from leaving the data centre - providing increased resilience & security Simplify Support Process: Standard builds and centralised systems greatly reduce the time to troubleshoot issues and replace defective equipment

The desktop is a critical component in any organisation - and a significant contributor to any cost model.  Centralis has over ten years experience of designing, deploying and updating desktops, and is dedicated to driving down the client cost without compromising user experience or functionality.

Drawing on product offerings from Citrix, Wyse, VMware, AppSense and ScriptLogic, together with the customised offering from Centralis, our Desktop solutions are based on a proven track record across hundreds of thousands of client devices.

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure

Virtualisation allows organisations to deploy desktops within the data centre that can be accessed remotely or from any device within the the LAN.  Virtual desktops are ideal for knowledge workers and developers, allowing complex application environments to be replicated within virtual machines, rather than being tied into specific desktop hardware. 

They can also be deployed for task-based workers, where a defined environment can be created which exactly matches the employees work, but can be accessed from any client, including Thin Computing devices.

Centralis is one of a small number of companies selected to be spearhead partners for the new Citrix XenDesktop, with full access to evaluation software and a proven track record of proof of customer deployments.

The main advantage is that the desktop is accessible from any standard client device, without the data or configuration leaving the organisation.  This greatly simplifies application provisioning, security and patching / updates.  In this way virtualisation can be an effective part of an outsourcing or offshoring solution, removing the overhead of legacy client devices.  The second advantage is that the desktops become part of an overall resource "pool".  Whereas fixed desktops are expensive to purchase and deploy, consume large amounts of power and may well remain unused for large parts of the working day, virtual desktops can be created on demand from templates.

Combining VDI with thin computing delivers the following key benefits:

• Low-cost of ownership for the client devices
• Provision secured, centralised applications onto unmanaged PCs
• Create complex environments for developers - with full control over reboots and local installations
• Add application and / or operating system streaming for additional centralisation and flexibility
• The XenDesktop "broker" gives users a single interface to VDI and virtualised applications

Find more information contact us or request a copy of our VDI  white paper.

∆ Top of page

Ardence Streaming

The Ardence Software Streaming Platform delivers both operating systems and applications on-demand, creating a new model for dynamic, cost-effective deployment. Using Ardence's software-streaming technology, Windows desktops (and servers) can be deployed from bare metal (or virtual machine) to production use in minutes. Ardence's on-demand virtualization  increases IT agility, security and reliability, and enables organisations to react much more quickly to opportunities and market trends.

At the desktop level Ardence Ardence creates a virtual disk - a vDisk - of a desktop's operating system and applications by taking a snapshot of the OS and application image and storing the image as a file on the network. The vDisks contain the configurations required to support various business uses or functions (e.g. Middle Management, Point-of-Care/Sale, Engineering, Marketing, and Accounting) that a computer might perform. When the computer is powered up, instead of booting from a local hard disk, the PC boots from the vDisk and the Ardence Desktop Edition streams the assigned image to the desktop. The computer starts running the assigned configuration immediately - no waiting to download the entire OS.

Find more information see our Ardence certification page.

∆ Top of page

Wyse Thin Computing

Wyse have more than 20 years experience in delivering cost-effective and easily managed computing.  Offering customer six key benefits around Security, Manageability, Availability, Reliability, Total Cost of Ownership and Scalability, Wyse market-leading Thin Computing solution combines:

Hardware: Secure access devices that provide a simpler and easier way to deliver the productivity and application flexibility of a PC.

Software: Optimised thin client operating systems and management software that lets devices be deployed, maintained and upgraded from one location.

Find more information from our partners website.

∆ Top of page

AppSense Application & Environment Manager

Proactive Endpoint Protection:

• Stop Malware
• Stop unauthorised applications
• Self Heal endpoints
• Manage Device Access

AppSense Desktop Security

AppSense Desktop Security automatically protects against malware, prevents unauthorized application use and preserves endpoint environments to enhance security and productivity across the enterprise.

AppSense Desktop Security comprises two integrated component products – AppSense Application Manager Desktop Edition and AppSense Environment Manager Desktop Edition – that are centrally configured and deployed to create a single solution to secure your enterprise desktop environments.
 

AppSense Application Manager Desktop Edition

AppSense Application Manager Desktop Edition provides out-of-the-box protection against malicious attacks and prevents unwanted applications from running.

AppSense Application Manager Desktop Edition intercepts all execution requests and automatically blocks any unwanted applications, including script-based and executable viruses, Trojans, spyware and worms.

Updating your anti-virus software as soon as a new virus appears is no longer a chaotic activity as you are covered out-of-the-box. Any unwanted code not known to the system administrator is automatically blocked, stopping an attack in its tracks.

Free 21 day evaluation – www.appsense.com/centralis

AppSense Environment Manager Desktop Edition

AppSense Environment Manager Desktop Edition protects your endpoint configuration, preventing business disruption and preserving employee productivity.

Computer and user policies are enforced using the AppSense self-healing mechanism, which preserves registry entries and system configurations, even if incidents occur that take the device out of its defined environmental settings. 

Application features can be locked-down or removed and external device connections prohibited, eliminating vulnerability from back door attacks and data theft, whilst enabling employees to work more efficiently.

Free 21 day evaluation – www.appsense.com/centralis

Centralis CLAM

Whether the users desktop interface is delivered from a PC, laptop, hand-held PDA or smartphone, providing a simple, easy to use interface is essential. Adding the required level of security, standards, customer branding and remote management is where Centralis corporate desktop solutions add significant value.

The Mobile Solutions Manager for Centrica says "Centralis have delivered a managed desktop for Centrica's mobile workers which has reduced the return to base rate for laptop PCs by two thirds. The Centralis CLAM software locks down a standard PC build and delivers a customised user interface, known as a "shell". This approach supports thousands of our engineers in the field by providing them with a user interface designed specifically for their job, and supports Centrica by reducing our support costs for this vital group of users."

Centralis can provide desktop solutions based on our own software, CLAM, which is widely used by our corporate customers, or through customisation and configuration of PC operating systems and browser delivered web interfaces. Centralis also provide solutions for desktop PCs, portables and Windows based mobile devices such as PDA’s and smartphones.

Chris Bailey, Head of Business Systems at The AA comments "Working with Centralis has allowed the AA to maintain the build quality, integrity and resilience of the Patrols laptop PC, improving reliability and availability of the systems for the patrol. This in turn has helped to maintain a low cost base for the general support of the laptops."

Across all of our solutions, our desktop interfaces are designed to be:

∆ Top of page

ScriptLogic Desktop Authority

Desktop Authority® reduces total cost of desktop and application ownership by enabling administrators to proactively manage, inventory, secure and support desktops from a central location, offering:

• Manage - Comprehensive configuration of the user's environment
• Inventory - Enterprise hardware and software inventory with built-in and custom reporting
• Secure Patch and Anti-Spyware - management of desktops from a centralized console
• Support - Remote management and control from any java-enabled browser

Find more and evaluation software on the ScriptLogic Website.

∆ Top of page