We are pleased to talk to René Lenze, executive officer at the office company group, about why office company chose oneclick™ as its solution and what goals and successes have been achieved through its use.
About office company
The office company group is a reliable partner for digital transformation and cloud solutions. With a holistic 360° approach, it guarantees a future-proof communication and IT infrastructure. As a strategic partner, office company provides competent support for all requirements relating to digitalization, cloud solutions and IT and telecommunication systems. The offer includes total solutions, all-round protection and 24×7 support. With over 25 years of expert experience and specific industry knowledge, office company is broadly positioned and a competent partner on the way to the new age of the cloud.
For more information see: office company
Initial situation
- Server on site at the customer for the provision of software applications
- Remote access to the company network exclusively via VPN connection to a remote desktop server
- Review of numerous invoices from various solutions deployed in customer projects
Impact
- Cumbersome setup of on-premises environments and upfront investment for customers
- Time-consuming implementation and operation of VPN infrastructure and low access control
- Complex invoice control
Solution
- Migration from on-premises customer to the cloud
- Secure and high-performance access to servers via browser
- Multi-tenant administration tool for better management, maintenance and billing of customer environments
What IT solutions did you use for application delivery before you switched to oneclick™?
In order to implement home office or remote workstations for our customers, we used to establish a connection via a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to a remote desktop server. The servers were usually located at the customer’s site. A VPN was the only way to access the company network from outside. Otherwise, remote access could not have taken place due to many security risks. However, the IT environments were cumbersome to set up and operate. In addition, VPN offered little access control.
What problem did office company solve with oneclick™?
With oneclick™, we can now offer our customers remote workstations under the motto “work from anywhere” and “public cloud PC”. In addition to the new cloud PCs, we can also connect servers that are still located on customer premises to oneclick™ and thus centrally manage the entire customer infrastructure from one platform. The complexity of customer networks has been significantly reduced by oneclick™ acting as an interface between servers and users. Delivery via streaming isolates the respective corporate IT from the user’s end device. Thus, only the oneclick™ platform in the corporate network needs to be trusted instead of each individual user.
Where did office company start looking for a solution to the problem?
With a search on the internet. We were looking for a way to offer our customers a holistic package from connection to delivery of their applications and to make customer networks more secure and user-friendly. We then came across oneclick™ via various mentions in IT media and comparative analyses.
How did oneclick™ stand out from other options?
Security is one of the top priorities for both us and our customers. We achieve the security standards much more easily by operating in the data center, rather than on servers directly at the customer’s site. The integration of different cloud providers in oneclick™ and the simple pull-up of server power make local hosting unnecessary. Especially the secure delivery of the cloud PCs via highly encrypted streaming allowed oneclick™ to score in our eyes.
Was there an obstacle that almost prevented the deployment of oneclick™?
Initially, we had some difficulty navigating the oneclick™ pricing and licensing model. Major obstacles did not arise. From the setup of a test account to the first booking for a customer, everything went smoothly. Our customers quickly learn to use the intuitive interface of oneclick™ to access their cloud PC platform and appreciate the newfound flexibility.
What was the decisive product feature for your decision?
By and large, it was a strategic decision. We needed a tool to work more efficiently. The main reason for choosing oneclick™ was that the platform was easy to use after a short training period, without our employees having to undergo intensive training beforehand. In addition, we were convinced by the easy scalability: With oneclick™, we can react to any change in customer demand at short notice. Customer management enables central management of all our projects. The simplified provisioning processes allow us to offer individual product and service packages for customers and still implement them with little additional effort. Finally, we were also convinced by the high security standard of oneclick™ with its Zero Trust Architecture, whereby all data really stays on the server.
What does office company like best about working with oneclick?
The fast and direct communication channel to oneclick is particularly positive. The support staff can be reached at any time and provide feedback in the shortest possible time. In the case of more complex problems or more extensive inquiries from our customers, internal specialists are immediately called in to find a solution as quickly as possible.
What have you achieved by using oneclick™?
By switching to the oneclick™ platform, we have cloudified – i.e. migrated to the cloud – our customers’ on-premises environments with their extensive server-based programs without any major effort. Since there is no longer a need to maintain a server setup on site, the customer no longer needs to invest a large sum in infrastructure upfront, but can plan with monthly costs depending on the number of users. We can make our customers’ software usable from any location. The new concept allows us to win more new customers and also to implement more complex projects. In addition, we have been able to shorten the time required for project realization quite considerably. This makes our employees more efficient and gives them more time to win new customers or take care of existing ones. Customers like it, too. Once a customer has made a decision on a cloud PC, they usually want to get started as quickly as possible. We have also made progress with billing. We have been able to reduce the monthly checking work to a few minutes because of the clear breakdown of all components by client. The previously complex content checking of various solutions has been greatly simplified.
What exceeded your expectations in the collaboration with oneclick?
The onboarding and introduction to the functions of the oneclick™ platform went very well. We received comprehensive training and free demo licenses that we could use to demonstrate our self-assembled product packages to customers. After only a short time, we were able to carry out projects ourselves and successfully use the platform on our own.