Expand Networks, the leader in optimising WANs for branch office consolidation and virtualisation, today announced Picanol, a developer of hi-tech weaving machines, has deployed Expand Networks' WAN optimisation technology to optimise the delivery of its server-based computing infrastructure and bring users into virtual proximity of application and data centre services.
Based in Belgium, Picanol Group has 15 branch offices around the world, with over 500 remote users accessing centralised applications and data over Microsoft Terminal Services. Limited bandwidth in some areas, in addition to an inability to separate business-critical from non-essential traffic, led to poor application performance and frustrated users. Following an evaluation of WAN Optimisation technology from Expand Networks, Picanol Group selected Expand Networks for its better ROI, unique ability to monitor, optimise, and control the interactive RDP sessions of Microsoft Terminal Services and provide a superior end-user experience.
“With the RDP sessions too bandwidth intensive for the WAN, the performance of key applications such as our Microsoft Dynamics ERP system was poor. In addition, we had no view or control of the applications on the network and, therefore, couldn't prioritise the business-critical traffic, which affected user and network productivity,” said Bart Lagast, System Engineer, Picanol. “During evaluation, Expand Networks produced significantly better results than its competitors, and was chosen as its integrated technology is ideal for accelerating RDP traffic and has impressive QOS capabilities to monitor and control this traffic.”
Expand Networks' integrated WAN optimisation technology uses techniques such as byte-level caching and dynamic compression that specifically enable the real-time interactive TCP traffic of Microsoft Terminal Services RDP to be maximised. The unique ability to monitor, accelerate and control RDP traffic successfully optimised the server-based computing project for Picanol.
“By deploying Expand, latency on the WAN is mitigated and RDP traffic is being accelerated by up to 400%. We now have a user friendly and optimised WAN with greatly improved application response times of all critical applications, including Sharepoint, Lotus Notes and Microsoft Exchange. Accelerating Exchange in particular has been of great value as it has enabled us to consolidate our mail servers, greatly reducing the TCO on the infrastructure,” continued Bart Lagast. “Expand's integrated QOS capabilities also gives us a greater understanding and control of traffic on the WAN. This is important for us for if there is a failure with either the MPLS network or IP VPN, we can prioritise applications and divert the traffic in a controlled way.
In addition, we have some file servers running on VMware and we are using Expand's WAFS technology to accelerate the file traffic. The multiple benefits that Expand has given Picanol equates into an ROI of only one year.”
“IT managers are always being challenged to improve network performance and user productivity, but more than ever in today's economy, they also need to deliver costs savings and prove tangible benefits in investments,” said Mike Betz, VP Sales EMEA, Expand Networks. “Expand Networks has clearly demonstrated that a single investment in its integrated WAN optimisation technology can support multiple projects, stretch IT budgets further and provide a rapid ROI, while reducing the TCO on the infrastructure.”
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