Yorkshire Housing is expected to announce the completion of its desktop transformation project in November 2011 as part of its relocation of 27 existing offices to a single main office in Leeds. Assist is managing the installation of a new thin-client platform and rolling out a XenDesktop migration for 1000 seats in preparation for the move. Assist is also supporting the housing provider with its cloud-computing applications.
The new desktop service is expected go live in November 2011, with the office relocation being completed by February 2012. The total project is reported to have cost of around £330,000, with approximately £230,000 spent with Assist.
Yorkshire Housing’s current desktops have been in place for seven years and will be replaced by XenDesktop and thin clients. All data and applications will be centrally managed, allowing all employees to work remotely and from home when needed while still having direct access to their core business applications and data.
IT becomes ‘business enabler’
As well as being a core part of its relocation plan, the desktop transformation project is also part of Yorkshire Housing’s aim to change its IT services from being a ‘costly hindrance’ to a business enabler, with the new systems expected to lower running costs and deliver better value for money.
The housing provider spent £250,000 seven years ago on traditional PCs with a shelf life of just three years; the new infrastructure project from Assist is costing a total of around £330,000 for a technology platform that will last 10 years and the thin clients expected to last 5-10 years.
