Mission Helps Ultivue Run Windows More Efficiently In Amazon WorkSpaces

Highlights

• Integrated with AWS AD Connect to allow end users to log in to Amazon WorkSpaces with same set of credentials as Microsoft Active Directory.
• Moved databases on internal server to MySQL on AWS RDS (Relational Database Service)
• Provided cost efficient solution that reduced estimated costs by 40%.

“Mission helped us learn how to use Amazon WorkSpaces so end users can work efficiently in our cloud environment. When passwords change in one environment, it takes place in the other environment automatically. Mission also set up workgroup permissions so we have appropriate access with a strong security posture.”

— Doug Wood, Principal Software Engineer, Ultivue

The Challenge

Ultivue found its Microsoft Windows end user environment regularly experienced performance issues when accessing the company’s graphics-heavy biomarker detection and tissue analysis application running on the Amazon Web Services cloud platform. As end users connected through a virtual private network (VPN) tunnel, the Information Technology (IT) team needed to enable quick and secure file access while keeping the environment simple to manage.

The Solution

Ultivue once again turned to Mission, the partner who migrated their on-premises IT environment to AWS. Instead of deploying a remote desktop server solution, which would require managing multiple servers while making the environment more complex than necessary and may not have eliminated all performance issues, Mission recommended Amazon WorkSpaces—a managed, secure cloud desktop service for quickly provisioning Windows desktops to on-premises and remote employees. A key objective was ensuring the solution would be cost effective while also providing the performance and power needs of the organization overall.

The deployment of Amazon WorkSpaces was done in a tiered approach with the Ultivue team. First, a golden image was built for each of their environments; one for Services and another for Research and Development as each environment had different application needs. Next, several different bundles were created for each image. While most users were able to work using the Performance bundle, there were several that had higher CPU and memory requirements so bundles were created based on the Power and PowerPro options as well. Mission met with the team at Ultivue to determine the best running mode for WorkSpaces and came up with a solution that mixed and matched fixed fee pricing for users who would remain active throughout the day and hourly pricing for staff that had a need to use the applications, but not frequently.

The Results

• Provided end users with their own virtual desktop in Amazon WorkSpaces, so when one user accesses an application, other users are not impacted.
• Created a secure way to access to AWS remotely from any location—office, home or on the road—so end users can work productively at all times and have the same experience no matter where they are located.
• Enabled IT to easily manage desktops, with the ability to update, patch and restore images for groups of users at scheduled times to avoid hampering end-user productivity.

Mission deployment of Amazon WorkSpaces provided end users with their own virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), so when one user accesses an application, other users are not impacted. This also enabled a more secure way to access Ultivue's applications on AWS remotely from any location - office, home or on the road - so end users can work productively at all times and have the same experience no matter where they are located. The solution also enables Ultivue’s Information Technology team to easily manage desktops, with the ability to update, patch and restore images for groups of users at scheduled times to avoid hampering end-user productivity.

Finally, Mission was able to provide this solution in a cost friendly manner that enabled each unique user profile to leverage the right-sized image complete with only those applications required. Further, Mission segregated these profiles so that overall costs would be minimal for casual vs. full-time users. This approach reduced estimated costs by 40%.

Key Benefits of AWS Cloud Platform Built by Mission

• Provided users with same desktop via Amazon WorkSpaces, whether working on-premises or at home.
• Facilitated easy transition for end users to a new computing environment.
• Synchronized the cloud with on-premises environment for access to historical data.
• Created a new online channel for client interactions through secure web connections.
• Generated consistent application performance, even as number of end users tripled.

AWS Services Used in the Ultivue Cloud Environment

• Amazon WorkSpaces
• Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2)—with Microsoft Windows and application load balancers
• Elastic Block Store (EBS)
• Amazon Machine Images (AMI)
• Relational Database Service (RDS)
• Simple Storage Service (S3)
• Glacier
• AWS Directory Service
• Virtual Private Cloud (VPC)
• Lambda Functions
• Identify and Access Management (IAM)