As digital progress rapidly expands, companies, particularly those in the public sector, with their need for reliable and scalable systems, must modernize their IT infrastructure and integrate cloud technologies. A service provider in Germany, confronted with the limits of their fully utilized local system, wanted to leverage the benefits of the cloud. Our cooperation enabled the transition of their existing Horizon VDI system to Azure using the advanced Horizon Cloud Next Gen. This is where we came in. Together, we adapted their on-premises Horizon VDI framework to Azure with the innovative Horizon Cloud Next Gen.
In recent years, the client has pursued a cloud-first strategy and invested heavily in Microsoft Azure as their primary cloud provider. They are convinced, based on their on-premises experience, of the value of Horizon – particularly the benefits of App Volumes for application lifecycle management and the Dynamic Environment Manager for managing profile and user environment settings. The challenge was that this infrastructure had reached its capacity, and the client wanted to secure their future by expanding to the cloud.
comdivision proposed a three-pronged solution:
1) Expand the on-premises Horizon Virtual Desktops to the Azure-hosted cloud and ensure secure and easy access from any location via a VMware Horizon Cloud Next Gen Pod.
2) Shift enterprise application lifecycle management and delivery with App Volumes from on-premises to the cloud.
3) Test the capabilities of virtual desktops with individual GPUs in the cloud.
During the proof of concept (PoC), we demonstrated how straightforward it is to set up and centrally manage a Horizon Cloud Next Gen Pod. Thanks to VMware's hosting and management of the connection brokers and App Volumes managers, the IT team could focus on value-adding activities instead of spending time managing infrastructure components.
By using App Volumes on Horizon Cloud Next Gen, the client could continue their established application lifecycle management practices. We converted existing applications into VHD format, uploaded them to Azure, and made them immediately ready for use.
Additionally, we managed profile and user settings with the Dynamic Environment Manager (DEM) and seamlessly transferred the existing DEM configuration to the cloud. These configurations can be automatically replicated in future installations, allowing for centralized management.
During the PoC process, we also set up a pool with different GPU configurations where various use cases, such as CAD applications, could be tested.
