Case Study: Effect ICT Reduces TCO and Complexity by Switching to Parallels RAS
Last updated on August 17, 2021
Company Overview: Effect ICT
Based in Noordwijk, Netherlands, Effect ICT Solutions (Learn more) is a managed service provider (MSP) that implements IT infrastructure business solutions. Since 1991, the company has worked successfully for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) with five to 250 workplaces. Effect ICT provides experience, project management, and innovative solutions for the automation of business IT infrastructure.
The Challenge: Unsatisfied with sluggish, complex application delivery solution
Effect ICT has many SMB customers that require personalized settings and quick changes in their systems configurations. With this many customers requiring granular control, the Effect ICT IT staff needed an efficient solution that could process complex tasks and adapt their system to meet their clients’ requirements.
Additionally, as the competition became more aggressive, Effect ICT’s margins started getting eroded. Increasing the final price on their solutions would have lost them market share, so Effect ICT started actively looking for an alternative that could reduce their TCO and complexity.
The Solution: Parallels RAS offers seamless virtualization solution
After careful consideration, Henk Nachtegaal, the CEO of Effect ICT, decided to implement Parallels® Remote Application Server (RAS) in order to provide a more stable, affordable application and desktop delivery solution to customers. The solution was easier to install than Citrix, and it allowed the MSP company to provide seamless application delivery, remote assistance, and desktop management.
Effect ICT uses comprehensive virtualization solution Parallels RAS to deliver its customers’ Microsoft Office, browsers, and customized applications on a wide range of devices. Nearly all devices are deployed at their customers’ workplaces, including Windows, Mac®, Chromebook™, Android, iPhone®, iPad®, and Linux. The company also relies on the Parallels HTML5 Client to deliver applications and desktops over web browsers on any device or platform.
In addition, the Service Provider License Agreement (SPLA) model licensing meant that Effect ICT did not pay upfront costs, but rather paid based on what was made available to customers each billing period. With Parallels RAS SPLA licensing, Effect ICT was able to activate multiple farms using a single license key and take advantage of automated usage accounting and billing.
“Parallels Remote Application Server is a complete and secure solution. It’s very easy to set up and manage. It’s flexible, cost-effective, easy to use, and supports almost every endpoint device. On top of all that, their support is excellent.” –Henk Nachtegaal, Founder and CEO of Effect ICT
Key Benefits: Straightforward, low-cost, BYOD-enabled application delivery solution
Effect ICT experienced many benefits after switching to Parallels RAS. Integration with Microsoft Azure’s cloud service platform meant that the MSP could scale its solution more easily in the future and provide more flexibility to its customers.
Above all, Effect ICT’s top reason for choosing Parallels RAS over Citrix was automated load balancing. With its all-inclusive virtualization solution, critical functionality features such as load balancing were installed immediately and without issue. This meant that private cloud–based resources could be used more efficiently, which improved virtualization stability for customers.
Another benefit of the Parallels RAS solution was the fact that the entire solution could be set up on their private cloud within five minutes. In contrast, the process of installing Citrix virtualization solutions took months and was an ongoing, unfinished project that sank company resources and time.
Importantly, Effect ICT was able to lower costs by implementing Parallels RAS. SPLA licensing made the virtualization solution particularly attractive, with its comprehensive set of virtualization features including an automated load balancer and printer redirection.
Effect ICT was able to take advantage of the mobile-friendly end-user experience afforded by Parallels RAS to help their customers implement bring-your-own-device (BYOD) and choose-your-own-device (CYOD) policies. Using Parallels RAS, Effect ICT could connect nearly any remote device to the private cloud server and deliver a close-to-native experience to end users on any device, including Android and iOS.
“If you’re looking for an affordable, uncomplicated way to expand your business, look no farther than Parallels RAS.” –Henk Nachtegaal, Founder and CEO of Effect ICT
About Parallels
Parallels is a global leader in virtual desktop, application delivery, and mobile device management solutions. Thousands of organizations worldwide trust in the reliability and scalability of Parallels VDI and virtualization solutions. Parallels makes it simple and affordable to deliver applications to any device over the cloud, or with on-premises and hybrid deployments.
The company’s solution portfolio includes the award-winning Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS), providing platform-independent virtual desktop, application delivery, and integrated thin-client management from a unified interface to any modern operating system.
