Case Study: How W.S. Badcock Corp. Delivers Applications to 1,000 Users—Across 8 States

“High-quality cross-platform support is the #1 benefit of the switch from Citrix to Parallels Remote Application Server. Now, with the efforts of W.S. Badcock network engineers like Michael Buckley, we are able to efficiently deliver desktops and applications to Linux, Macintosh, and Windows devices with ease.” ~ Todd Zacharias, Manager, IT Network Systems

Badcock chose Parallels Remote Application Server to create a remote network infrastructure that delivers desktops and applications to a range of devices based on group policies from terminal servers, which promoted easy management of the entire infrastructure from a centralized dashboard.

Company Overview

Badcock Home Furnishings is a leading provider of home furniture in the US. The company was started in 1904 in Mulberry, Florida, by Henry Stanhope Badcock. When Wogan Stanhope Badcock, Jr. was named president in 1967, the company quickly expanded its business to other states. More than 300 Badcock stores were set up in eight states. This number includes 75 corporate stores and 240 dealer-owned stores. Today, Badcock is a household name in different parts of the US.

The Challenge

With more than 300 stores located in eight states, Badcock has around 1,400 users who require access to corporate resources. The company had to use a large number of terminal servers that published applications and desktops for remote users. Citrix was used as the virtualization platform. However, different group policies had to be configured for different user groups, and managing the large number of terminal servers and group policies was a challenge for the company. Moreover, because users accessed the resources from different OSes including Macintosh, Linux, and Windows, providing cross-platform solutions was a challenge.

The Solution

Badcock chose Parallels Remote Application Server to deliver desktops and applications to a range of devices. Among Badcock’s 1,400 users, 1,000 were concurrent users. Windows Remote Desktop Services (RDS) was configured. There was no VDI setup. The company published regulation applications such as MS Office and Internet Explorer®, along with customized applications such as Storis Point of Sale. Badcock’s solution relied on the application publishing, load balancing, and HTML5 gateway features of Parallels Remote Application Server.

Key Benefits

Badcock realized an immediate benefit with the ability to provide cross-platform support. From a centralized location, the company was able to publish desktops and applications to a diversified group of users working on Macintosh, Windows, and Linux devices.

By using Parallels Remote Application Server, the company was able to consolidate IT operations across its stores in eight states, which significantly lowered its licensing costs. The company was also able to reduce the number of terminal servers as well as the number of different application versions and group policies. By reducing administrative tasks, managing the entire infrastructure became easier and more efficient.

The High Availability Load Balancing feature of Parallels Remote Application Server enabled Badcock to efficiently distribute peak traffic to available servers. The company is planning to add additional terminal servers and is confident that Parallels Remote Application Server will enable them to efficiently manage the expanding infrastructure.

About Badcock

Badcock is a leading provider of world-class furniture in the US. The company was founded in 1904 by English immigrant Henry Stanhope Badcock in Mulberry, Florida. The company prospered until 1928, when the business was hit by the land boom/bust. During the Depression, Henry’s son Wogan introduced the dealer operation system. He also introduced credit with installment options. From 1969 to 1976, the company opened 150 stores. In the 1980s, the company earned an annual revenue of $100 million. Today, the company has more than 300 stores in eight states. With world-class furniture and easy financing options, Badcock is now a household name for furniture shopping. For more information, visit badcock.com.