Having implemented Citrix application delivery on a departmental level and experienced its benefits, BUPA worked with Centralis, a Platinum Solution Advisor, to create a virtual workplace for the entire organisation. Most of the 8,000 employees will be able to access line-of-business applications from anywhere, including in the hospitals, care homes, nurseries, UK call centres and on the road. With Citrix, BUPA has a standardised, centrally managed infrastructure on which to build its global expansion.
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Centralis Case StudyBUPA |
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Delivering application access to roaming and international users "We can now
solve 75 percent of users' IT queries without ever visiting
their desktop. We are able to expand more quickly,
without increasing the cost of our infrastructure.”
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| Features: Citrix Application Delivery, Secure Remote Access, Flexible Working, Centralis Consultancy | |
Summary
When market-leading healthcare provider BUPA needed a more flexible approach to delivering a virtual workplace, they engaged Centralis to design a centralised solution that would enable secure remote access for roaming executives, international users and offshore administration workers.
About the Customer
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“ Senior BUPA executives can expect to access their applications even when making business trips abroad. We want to make it possible for them to get out their laptops in a hotel room and access any legacy application without any hassle. " |
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Ian Shaw, Head of IT Services, BUPA |
BUPA is a leading British provider of healthcare, with 36 hospitals and over 250 care homes in the UK, as well as child nurseries and Wellness, the company's preventative care division. The company's international division provides health cover and care for members in nearly 190 countries worldwide.
The Challenge
As the UK's leading medical insurance company, BUPA needs effective customer service to field treatment claims from members and to deal with customer enquiries. However, following the decision to pilot the processing of some claims and administration tasks to India, BUPA faced the challenge of delivering its CFS (Customer Facing System) application to the new centre whilst keeping customer records centrally stored and up-to-date in the UK.
In turn, the company wanted to equip its travelling executives with the tools to work effectively whilst visiting remote locations. BUPA also wanted to ensure all contact with insured customers was handled by BUPA staff in the UK. Finally, BUPA wanted to standardise the infrastructure of the entire company to create a centralised system that was easy to manage and support.
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" When an organisation seeks to exploit leading edge technology, you need to recognise that you need a partner which is an expert to make success easier. In Centralis BUPA found experts who also matched our delivery approach in every way and, best of all, kept to their promises. " |
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Ian Shaw, Head of IT Services, BUPA |
The Centralis Solution
This capability will also help BUPA International, the company's overseas health division, which will shortly be able to deliver SWAN, another customer service and claims processing application, to employees in other countries such as Malta or Egypt.
The Benefits to the Customer
By centralising IT support, BUPA expects to recognise considerable cost savings. "We can now solve 75 percent of our users' IT queries without ever visiting their desktop," explained Ian Shaw, , Head of IT Services at BUPA. "With so many locations across the country, this obviously saves man-hours in terms of travelling. It is also going to be easier to grow internationally, since there is no need for local support."
"There is now consistency of administration across the company, what's more, senior BUPA executives can expect to access their applications even when making business trips abroad. We want to make it possible for them to get out their laptops in a hotel room and access any legacy application without any hassle - and that is exactly what Citrix application delivery will enable."
"The healthcare industry is highly acquisitive, with new care homes and international sites being brought into the group on a regular basis," continued Shaw. "With Citrix we can deliver applications to new users by merely giving them a device and a connection to the network. We are now able to expand more quickly, without increasing the cost of our infrastructure."
"When an organisation seeks to exploit leading edge technology, you need to recognise that you need a partner which is an expert to make success easier. In Centralis BUPA found experts who also matched our delivery approach in every way and, best of all, kept to their promises."