Dublin : Unity Technology Solutions, Ireland’s leading independent provider of ICT Managed Services, today announced the successful implementation of a desktop, server and application virtualisation solution for the Daughters of Charity Service. This is providing applications and desktops to 300 employees around Dublin. 

 

The Daughters of Charity Service has been providing services to people with intellectual disabilities and to their families since 1892.  With 1,000 employees in Dublin, the Daughters of Charity Service provides a number of different residential options and community based services to its service users.

 

The Citrix solution, supplied by Data Solutions and implemented by Unity Technology Solutions, a Citrix Gold Solutions Advisor, has delivered such simplicity and ease of deployment that it is enabling Daughters of Charity Service to make significant savings in terms of IT resources. The centralised delivery and management of servers and desktop applications using Citrix XenDesktop, XenServer and XenApp has enabled the IT department to save time and money, and allows the organisation to concentrate funding on improving client care. 

 

Thomas Mac Ardle, IT Manager, Daughters of Charity Service said, “The diverse clinical needs of people with intellectual disabilities require a multifaceted workforce which includes direct care and support and multi-disciplinary teams. It is essential these employees have 24x7 access to the most up-to-date applications such as client records, treatment notes and access to email to collaborate with colleagues.

 

“The Citrix solution allows us to provide a consistent experience for all of our employees, no matter where they are logging in from. They are not tied to being in one location and have the same icons presented to them, regardless of how or where they are logging in. They are never in doubt about what actions to take.”

 

All of the Daughters of Charity Service’s most critical applications are run on Citrix XenApp, such as its HR and Payroll, client reports and its main communications tool, Microsoft Office.

 

The Daughters of Charity Service is also currently testing a new Electronic Client Record system. This will eliminate the large amounts of paper records and will create highly accurate networks of information for its diverse teams. The simplicity with which this can be deployed using Citrix will remove all the time and pain from this process and any issues can be easily fixed from one location.

 

The Service also plans to provide Skype to all clients to make the cherished contact with families easier. Skype and Citrix recently announced a strategic partnership which will expand Skype's business offerings by providing powerful collaboration features for organisations of all sizes to set up and hold video meetings.  As Unity are a leading voice and unified communications partner, the ability to integrate both the voice and data requirements for Daughters of Charity Service will be hugely beneficial.

 

Niall Gilmore, country manager, Ireland, Citrix said, “The main role of the Daughters of Charity Service is as a caring organisation for people with intellectual disabilities and while IT is essential to deliver an effective service it is not its primary function. Implementing virtualisation technologies has enabled them to reduce the cost of IT, as well as the time it takes to manage it. As a result it has been able to direct resources to where they are needed most, in the care of its clients.”

 

Paul Sullivan, business development manager at Unity Technology Solutions said “We looked at the latest Citrix Technologies such as XenDesktop and XenServer to leverage the existing Citrix environment at Daughters of Charity Service to make it more efficient and easier to manage for their IT staff.   Through this project we can see how desktop, server and application virtualisation can be used to help organisations and users at every level.  Seeing what the Daughters of Charity Service is planning to do, particularly in terms of the electronic client records and video conferencing, demonstrates the tangible business benefits this technology can offer.”

 

 

-Ends-

 

About Daughters of Charity Service

The Daughters of Charity Service has been providing services to people with intellectual disabilities and to their families since 1892.  With 1,000 employees in Dublin, the Daughters of Charity Service provides a number of different residential options and community based services to its service users. For more information visit: www.docservice.ie

 

 

About Unity Technology Solutions

Unity Technology Solutions has been the independent ICT partner of choice for companies throughout Ireland for more than 20 years. With the skills of more than 130 technical, sales, support and administrative staff, Unity Technology Solutions help organisations, large and small, in every industry, to integrate technology with their business.  Unity works with the world’s most advanced, most innovative, most reliable technologies.  Unity provides a complete suite of integrated solutions across the entire ICT spectrum and delivers them as part of one, end-to-end, managed service. 

www.unity.ie

 

About Citrix

Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTXS) is a leading provider of virtual computing solutions that help companies deliver IT as an on-demand service. Founded in 1989, Citrix combines virtualization, networking, and cloud computing technologies into a full portfolio of products that enable virtual workstyles for users and virtual datacenters for IT.  More than 230,000 organizations worldwide rely on Citrix to help them build simpler and more cost-effective IT environments.  Citrix partners with over 10,000 companies in more than 100 countries. Annual revenue in 2010 was $1.87 billion.

 

 

 

Press Contact

Niamh O’Sullivan

Comit Communications & Marketing

tel: 01 2157675

mob: 085 7667193

email: nosullivan@comitmarketing.com

or via our website: http://www.comitmarketing.com