When the pandemic forced the UK into lockdown, many businesses were without a plan. Markerstudy Group wasn't among them. With the help of Citrix Systems, Inc. and its partner IGEL, the Kent-based insurance provider went all-in on the cloud and quickly enabled its employees to work safely and securely from home.

"We transitioned to Citrix Cloud services wholesale and within two weeks were operating business as usual with 1,500 call center staff working normally and supporting customers from home," said Ian Richardson, Infrastructure Team Leader, Markerstudy. "We advised colleagues to take their computers home, plug them in, connect them to the Internet and they will work. And they did."

Speeding to the Cloud

Markerstudy had long been running Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops on-premise in its two datacenters to provide consistent, secure and reliable access to the applications and information employees need to get work done, wherever it needs to get done. As part of efforts to streamline and modernize its IT infrastructure to support the new model, Markerstudy, working closely with application delivery and security specialists CloudDNA, began moving to the cloud.

And in doing so, the company was able to pick up the pace and achieve its objectives more quickly.

Enabling Secure, Hybrid Work

"Citrix runs this ‘front door' entry which removes a considerable management overhead compared to our previous on-premise solution," Richardson said. "We don't have to worry about DDOS attacks, updates, patching or access security - it's all provided along with a four nines availability. It's an excellent security boundary which has allowed us to mobilize people from home."

To further bolster its security, Markerstudy took the additional step of standardizing on IGEL OS and converted laptops, desktops and HP thin clients into ‘locked down' centrally controlled devices which could be managed through a single window using IGEL's Universal Management Suite (UMS).

"Markerstudy were early adopters of a hybrid approach to staff working across multiple locations," said Adam Miller, Head of Group IT, Markerstudy. "The combination of Citrix and IGEL facilitates seamless secure access to our platforms and a consistent user experience, which both boosts end-user adoption and ultimately staff productivity."

Markerstudy joins more than 400,000 companies around the world who are using Citrix solutions to power secure hybrid work and boost employee engagement and productivity. Click here to learn more about these solutions and the results they can deliver.