Guarding UK migrate to the cloud

Guarding UK migrates to the cloud with Citrix and VESK Virtual Desktops

~ seamless move aids growth and productivity whilst maintaining high security standards ~

Chalfont, September 08, 2011: Guarding UK, the specialist manned guarding and key holding supplier, has chosen to move its technology infrastructure to the cloud using specialist IT support provider, VESK, and Citrix virtual computing solutions to provide seamless access to its critical applications.

In its line of work, Guarding UK has to comply with a number of regulations and requirements – including the Security Industry Authority, the Private Security Industry Act 2001 which requires all security personnel to be licensed, and numerous ISO standards and accreditations.

As such, Guarding UK is using Citrix XenApp, XenDesktop and Citrix Receiver, supplied by VESK, to ensure consistency, accountability and security of information, as well as to keep track of workers’ whereabouts. The technology allows staff to securely access server-based resources, company applications and their personal desktops, wherever they are and whatever device they are using.

With Citrix Receiver employees can use their corporate Android, iPhone and iPad devices to access work on the move, as if they were in the office. Contract negotiations, day-to-day correspondence and the company’s clock-in rota system can now all be accessed securely and quickly from anywhere, directly from the virtualised server and desktop cloud infrastructure. In addition, the move has realised annual IT cost savings of 40% due to the reduced need for Microsoft licensing and new hardware.

Guarding UK’s workforce is largely dispersed, with ground level staff positioned at hundreds of interchangeable venues around the country, and back-office staff across Guarding UK’s network of four offices. Prior to moving to the cloud, staff working in offices outside the company’s HQ in Enfield found that applications, such as Sage, ran slowly when working from the VPN. This time lag was frustrating for staff and meant that opening new offices was a labourious task.

Major Frank Quigley, director at Guarding UK said: “Since we’ve moved to using Citrix solutions through VESK we’ve been able to support our burgeoning business more effectively. New offices can now be opened within a matter of hours, rather than weeks, remotely. Our staff around the country, whether office-based or mobile, are now able to access applications seamlessly – it’s vastly improved our levels of efficiency, cut our IT costs by 40% a year and reduced demands on our IT team.”

“Fast, solid, secure communications are critical for my line of work. I wouldn’t have moved my IT operations to the cloud if I wasn’t 100% certain that our data would be safe there,” continued Major Quigley. “We can now work even harder for our clients to deliver our high quality of service, and we wouldn’t jeopardise that for anything.”

“The flexibility of virtualised desktops, apps and servers means that Guarding UK can focus its attention on key business drivers of servicing their customers and growing as an organisation,” said James Mackie. Technical director at VESK. “As the solution is simple to manage, and requires no additional training for staff, the benefits are immediate.”

“Although still approached with caution by many organisations, the cloud has proven to offer secure, seamless and speedy access to critical applications and data,” said Kevin Bland, Director, Channel, UK, Ireland & South Africa at Citrix. “Moving to the cloud using virtual computing solutions allows an organisation to expand rapidly whilst increasing productivity and reducing costs, as highlighted by Guarding UK, the fastest growing specialist manned guarding company in the country.”