Case Study: Lush Handmade Cosmetics
Lush Handmade Cosmetics: “With Parallels Remote Application Server, licensing costs have significantly reduced. We are able to easily create a stable network environment that is easy to deploy and manage.” ~ Dale Hobbs, Manager, Network and Security Systems
Lush Handmade Cosmetics (http://www.lushusa.com/) chose Parallels Remote Application Server over Citrix to overcome licensing issues related to it (Citrix). This move resulted in a significant increase of ROI for the company.
Company Overview
Lush Handmade Cosmetics was founded by Mark Constantine, Liz Weir and few other colleagues in 1995. The company produces hair and skin products using fresh and natural ingredients. The name LUSH was chosen by its customers in a competition. In 1996, the company got international status with a branch in Vancouver. Today, there are 210 stores in North America and all ingredients are supplied by the two kitchen factory set-ups in Canada. In addition, the company donated $2 million to charity in the first five years of its operations. Furthermore, the company also rewards people who research on cruelty-free science with the LUSH prize.
The Challenge
Lush has multiple shops in the U.S. and the UK. The company has a total of 210 shops in North America. The natural ingredients are supplied by the two kitchen factories located in Canada. There are more than 250 users that concurrently access corporate resources. Initially, the company was using Citrix as its virtualization platform. Despite Citrix being good, its licensing costs were significantly higher. Consequently, the company was on the lookout for a simple tool that could consolidate all IT operations while being cost-effective and easy to manage.
The Solution
Lush Handmade Cosmetics chose Parallels Remote Application Server to create a stable remote access infrastructure. Using Parallels Remote Application Server, applications were published from a centralized location for 250 concurrent users. General applications such as Microsoft Office and customized ERP applications were remotely delivered to end-users.
Key Benefits
Lush Handmade Cosmetics realized an immediate benefit: a significant reduction in licensing costs. Parallels Remote Application Server came at a fraction of the cost when compared against the price of its competitors. At the same time, this virtualization tool offered all of Citrix’s features out of the box with the standard license.
As a result, the company was able to consolidate their entire IT operations across all shops and publish applications and desktops to every user from a centralized location. The network was device-independent, OS-independent and infrastructure-independent.
By using Parallels Remote Application Server, the company was able to create a stable network infrastructure that was easy to deploy and manage. Parallels Remote Application Server came as a comprehensive virtualization package where all basic features were offered in the standard edition. Moreover, key components such as load balancing and universal printing feature were auto-configured.
About Lush Handmade Cosmetics
Lush Handmade Cosmetics is a leading cosmetic retailer in the UK. It offers cosmetics products prepared from fresh and natural ingredients. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Poole, England. Mark Constantine, a trained trichologist and Liz Weir, a beauty therapist, first started a hair and beauty salon in 1970. Later, they started Lush along with a few other colleagues. The company’s business structure is based on partnerships. Today, the company has 210 stores in North America. In addition, Charity Pot is a hand-body lotion created by Lush where all revenues go to charity. The company also supports animal rights and other campaigning groups. For more information on Lush, feel free to visit their website.
