Level 1&2 Support Centre cloud at leading payment solutions provider
During the project 30 workstations in two countries were fully virtualized, moving them from client’s stand-alone PCs to VMware View 4.
Client profile
Our client provides end-to-end, e-wallet and card-based e-payment solutions that enable businesses to take control of payments. Our client develops branded, pseudo-banking programs for their customers or give them access to our consumer account programs. Our client provides products like virtual account, fraud detection engines, pre-paid debit cards and virtual MasterCard.
Our client is regulated by the Financial Services Authority under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and the EU Directive on electronic money. Our client is authorised by the FSA to issue electronic money as a specialised electronic money issuer subject to regulatory requirements and supervision.
Need
Security is a key issue in the payment solutions business. Operating with several support units which are geographically distributed poses real security issues due to high staff turnover and the sensitivity of the data. PsiPay is constantly working to improve the security and protection of their system and the sensitive and valuable information they hold. In addition, the company sought ways to improve their efficiency and flexibility, minimizing downtime and accessibility in case of technical problems.
Solution
A VMware View™ 4 desktop virtualization solution was implemented. This solution lets an enterprise manage operating systems, applications and user personae independently of each other. VMware View 4 simplifies desktop management, reduces desktop operational costs and increases control for IT while providing end users with flexible access and a superior desktop experience - over any network.
Main benefits
- Improved data security. The ability to move data from the edge of the IT environment into the data center inherently reduces the security risks to PsiPay. Using virtual PCs inhibits the connection of external storage devices to extract data out of the enterprise environment. Centralization of data access mitigates the risk of data leakage or theft and simplifies compliance procedures.
- Significantly decreased down time. Centralized access and use of a thin client noticeably decreases downtime – in case of hardware problems, users simply change workstation, move office or even go to another support centre to continue their work.
- Flexibility of access. Since the corporate desktop environment is centralized, access can be provided to users from any machine, if they need to change their workstation or do not have access to their corporate PCs. In situations where users need to work from home, away from their desks or among other remote workers, secure access to the data is provided any time and anywhere. VMware View can also automate desktop backup and recovery of a business process in the data center. Virtual machines significantly simplify disaster recovery because central IT staff can easily revert virtual desktops back to their last-known working states.
- Avoid important data loss. On a regular computer, the hard drive can crash and data can be lost. With centralized virtual desktops, data is stored only on high-availability storage systems which constantly make backups of that data.
Long term benefits
Among the long term benefits Psi-Pay expects are reductions in CapEx hardware costs, simplified PC maintenance and reduced administration and management costs.
