Customer Story: Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre

Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre boosts productivity with virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI)

Background:

Located within the dynamic Southbank entertainment precinct, the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre (BCEC) is a world-class venue that hosts around 1,300 events each year.

With 44 meeting rooms, a total combined floor area of 172,000sqm, and a range of in-house services including catering and audio visual, BCEC is capable of hosting events ranging in size from 8 to 8,000 people.

Most notably, the Centre played host to the G20 Leaders’ Summit in 2014, which was attended by world leaders such as Barack Obama, David Cameron and Vladimir Putin.

The Challenge:

Supporting a mix of permanent and casual staff across administration, marketing, IT, food & beverage, production and more, BCEC was experiencing some challenges in meeting the productivity, mobility and agility demands from both customers and internal end users.

As well as a traditional desktop and laptop asset pool, limited mobility and network access were creating challenges across the Centre, which in turn was impacting productivity, costs and user experience.

For example, employees would have to go back to their own individual desktop to perform normal work functions.

What’s more, maintaining a static and disparate end-user operating environment presented a number of ongoing challenges for BCEC. As well as being labour intensive and costly to manage, there were concerns about the overall security of the network and sensitive data.

With the Brisbane G20 Summit fast approaching, BCEC needed a state-of-the-art solution that would ensure operations weren’t compromised during this significant international event.

“Our new virtual desktop infrastructure has given our teams more flexibility in the way they carry out their tasks around the building. Whether it’s communicating with colleagues, updating event information or accessing critical files and information, we now have an efficient, stable and secure operating environment.”

Andrew McDonald, IT Manager, BCEC

The Solution:

As a leading Australian business technology provider, Data^#3 was engaged to transform the Centre’s End-User Computing experience.

In addition to implementing HP Proliant Servers and EMC VNX Storage to handle increasing network activity and data storage requirements, the solution also included the deployment of VMware Horizon View. This enterprise-grade virtual desktop infrastructure was a key component in delivering a more stable, intuitive and efficient desktop experience for BCEC.

Furthermore, a combination of new and existing devices, including point-of-sale terminals, were integrated into the solution so that all Centre staff would have the ability to access their desktop remotely from anywhere within the building. This ‘Follow Me Desktop’ experience is where the real productivity gains were set to be realised.

Given the requirements and challenges, Data^#3 proposed a staged approach to ensure maximum effectiveness and control throughout the implementation. This approach included an application and use-case discovery analysis, which produced the key inputs needed to build a compelling business-case, plus a pilot to give business stakeholders the confidence to embrace the opportunity for change.

The Outcome

As well as creating a more dynamic desktop experience, the Data^#3 solution has streamlined and simplified BCEC’s standard operating environment. This reduces the costs associated with maintaining the environment and delivers a more consistent end user experience.

Importantly, the new solution has increased mobility throughout the organisation, providing users with seamless, secure remote access to information and networks. The result is enhanced efficiency and productivity across the workforce, plus better collaboration between individuals and teams.

“Our new virtual desktop infrastructure has given our teams more flexibility in the way they carry out their tasks around the building. Whether it’s communicating with colleagues, updating event information or accessing critical files and information, we now have an efficient, stable and secure operating environment,” says Andrew McDonald, IT Manager, BCEC.

The built-in flexibility and scalability of the solution also allows BCEC to respond more quickly to business changes, as well as deploy new applications or operating systems such as Windows 10 with greater ease and efficiency.

What’s more, a consolidated server environment means the Centre is using less power, plus the virtual desktop platform also contributes to less paper being printed – both important considerations as part of BCEC’s strong environmental and sustainability principles.

McDonald continues:

“Data^#3 has been a reliable and insightful partner throughout the entire process. They listened to our challenges, understood our requirements, and delivered a customised solution that meets our needs both now and into the future.”

“The major test came when we hosted the G20 Leaders’ Summit in 2014 where our new capabilities met every challenge. We continue to innovate and discover new productivity opportunities on the basis of our VDI initiatives.”

Download the Case Study – Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre

To learn more about how Data^#3 can assist your organisation, call 1300 23 28 23, or Enquire Online.