sustainabletimes
13
Continued...
Virtual environment
delivers solid savings
Social housingand
propertymanagement
groupPlaces for
Peoplehas reduced its
carbon footprint and
transformedproductivity
and customer service
levelswith the
implementationof
aCitrixXenDesktop
andXenAppvirtual
computing solution that
enablesoffice-based
andmobile staff to
recordandaccess data
viavirtual desktops in
real-time.Over the last
year, thenot-for-profit
propertymanagement,
development and
regeneration company
has savedover £731,000
in capital and support
costs and reduced its
carbon footprint by
nearly400 tonnes.
infrastructure and look at technologies
that could better support theway the
business and its employeesworked –or
couldwork.Therewere alsoover 200
smaller ‘scheme’ sites to be factored
into the build.
Thiswas not a simple process.The
new IT infrastructure had to comply
with stringent industry regulations and
ensure that everyonewithin Places
for People – includingmobile staff –
couldmeet the number one business
objective: the delivery of outstanding
customer service.
With these criteria inmind, Jon
Thomson,Headof IM&T at Places for
People, decided that a virtual desktop
environmentwould bestmeet the
business’s needs.
“Itwas imperative thatwe had
an IT system thatwould support our
mobileworkforce.Withover a quarter
of amillion customers andnearly
143,000 properties to support around
Places for PeopleGroup isoneof
the largest propertymanagement,
development and regeneration
companies in theUK.Thenationwide
group is theumbrellaorganisation
for 16 companies that together own
ormanageover 143,000homes.
It alsobuilds andmanages socially
and commerciallydriven shopping
centres, leisure facilities and schools.
A large proportionof theGroup’s
business is the provisionof social
housing andmaintenance and
specialist care and support services so
that people can live independently in
their ownhomes.The Places for People
Group employs over 5,000 people and
has assetsworthmore than£3 billion.
Amobileworkforce
Since 2000, Places for People has
grown rapidly through a combination
of acquisition andorganic growth.
This expansionhas created significant
challenges for the IT department.
Originally, the IT team supported
1,500 desktop PCs inmultiple locations
across the country.Now, it supports
more than3,000 employees,who sit in
four distinctmobileworkforces –head
office, housingmanagement, skilled
labour and carework – eachof which
has its own IT provision and support
needs.
Before,when therewas a 100%
desktop-based IT infrastructure,
staff hadnooption but to travel to
a Places for People office each time
they needed to access data or update
information.This affected productivity
and efficiency, and increased the
potential for delays in service and the
loss of information.
For IT staff,monitoring and
managing the ageing PC infrastructure
to keep downtime to aminimum took
up a lot of time, resources and budget.
IT review
When the decisionwasmade to
rationalise from35 to21office
sites, Places for People seized
the opportunity to review its IT
computing
For IT staff,
monitoring
andmanaging
the ageingPC
infrastructure to
keepdowntime to
aminimum took
upa lot of time,
resources and
budget.
“
