The Municipality of Almelo is committed to flexworking and fully implemented the new way of working in 2015. Almost all employees are provided with a mobile device (laptop or iPad). The employees had long been using a central desktop concept based on Citrix XenApp. CAD workers fell by the wayside because their virtual desktop did not meet the hardware requirements of CAD software. PQR advised municipality of Almelo to implement new NVIDIA technology. The result is a centralized desktop for CAD workers as well as a better user experience thanks to the combined technology of Citrix and NVIDIA.
Municipality of Almelo
Almelo is a city and municipality in the province of Overijssel. The municipality of Almelo covers an area of 69 km² and has 72,511 inhabitants (May 1, 2014, source: CBS). In addition to the city of Almelo, the municipality includes the nuclei of Aadorp, Bornerbroek and Mariaparochie. The municipality employs a total of 800 people, many of whom began working flexibly in 2015, both on and off the premises. The immediate reason for this was the arrival of a new town hall where no one has a permanent place to work.
The municipality’s flex work concept
The municipality of Almelo has been working with a central desktop concept based on Citrix technology for some time. This means that employees are no longer tied to a physical workplace. Evert-Jan van de Keuken, Central ICT Infrastructure Manager at the municipality: “People can use all the workstations within the organization to access the centrally offered desktop. It is also possible to gain secure remote access to the same desktop from an external location, such as at home or on the road. Thus, it no longer matters to an employee where he or she works and what type of device is used. The workplace is place- and device-independent. This central workplace concept allows us to flex-work within the municipality.”
Graphic means workplace-specific
Like all municipalities within the Netherlands, the municipality of Almelo employs Computer Aided Design (CAD) staff. These employees use special software such as Adobe CS5 and Bentley Microstation. This software places special requirements on the workstation. Workstations must be equipped with a graphics card. By default, central desktop concepts are not equipped with a GPU so heavy graphics applications, such as CAD, are not feasible. This means that the CAD draftsmen of the Municipality of Almelo have a fixed workstation equipped with the dedicated software and GPU. Van de Keuken: “The CAD workstations of the municipality of Almelo do not fit within the flexwork concept, because they are tied to the physical location where the desktop with graphics card is placed. We asked PQR to help us think about how we could still include the CAD workstations in the flex work concept. We often spar with PQR on the subject of central desktops and consider them a reliable discussion partner, partly because they are known for their expertise in the field of workplace concepts.”
Unprecedented possibilities
The central desktop infrastructure made it impossible to offer heavy graphics applications flexibly, simply because the graphics card was missing. NVIDIA has developed GRID technology specifically for virtual central desktop environments. “Actually, the concept is as old as the road to Rome,” says Van de Keuken. ” For example, Schiphol used to use terminal services, simple devices used the intelligence of the database where everything ran. That was already a centralized desktop concept. Over the years this has developed further and further, and now we can offer complete desktops, even with 3D graphics. By equipping one of the servers, which facilitates the central desktop concept, with a graphics card, the system now does meet the special requirements of the CAD software and we can offer central desktops with CAD software.”
Flex is the standard
GRID technology not only enables flexible working for CAD staff, but also provides a better user experience. “The fixed workstations that are currently equipped with a graphics card are working with older technology and it is not as good as the NVIDIA card. In addition, we use Citrix XenApp to present the central desktop. Citrix offers a very rich “user experience” with the HDX remote display protocol. We also save space because only terminals need to be placed on the desks. Where there used to be one or two screens with desktop on the desk, there is now only a terminal. After all, the virtual desktop can be accessed from any terminal.” The CAD workstations are now fully incorporated within the flex work concept and the user experience has improved from the previous situation. “A win-win situation for our CAD colleagues! Municipalities nowadays all try to work according to the flex-work concept. Of course, you keep jobs where that flyer doesn’t apply: a counter clerk doesn’t fit into such a workplace concept. And until recently, employees using CAD stations didn’t fit into this concept either. That has now changed. With the help of NVIDIA GRID technology, we have added functional value to our central desktop facility. We now also offer the graphics workstation device- and location-independent.”
Problem
- Municipality of Almelo works according to a flex work concept;
- CAD workers could not use a virtual desktop because the software requires a graphics card. They could not flex.
The PQR approach
- New NVIDIA GRID technology enables virtual graphics card provisioning;
- Server facilitating central desktop infrastructure is equipped with NVIDIA GRID K2, making the system compliant with CAD software requirements.
Results
- Central desktop concept based on Citrix XenApp now also for CAD employees;
- Technology is better than at the fixed workstation, improving the user experience;
- Less hardware in the workplace;
- Flexwork for CAD employees.