Large-Scale VDI Import Substitution: Sberbank Replaces Citrix with Termidesk from the Astra Group

There is now a massive migration to import-independent IT products across the country, as this is the best way to keep organizations operational and open up opportunities for further economic development. One of the most in-demand technologies has become infrastructure of virtual workplaces – VDI: it allows increasing the degree of staff mobility, reducing IT system costs and improving the efficiency of many business processes.

This year Sberbank has launched a large–scale project to replace foreign software. The project implements the innovative Termidesk solution from Uveon - Cloud Technologies, part of PJSC Astra Group. This large-scale implementation is designed to create a virtual workplace service for more than 150,000 employees of the bank, and its implementation promises to be not only reliable and secure, but also as convenient as possible.

The bank experts have tested many Russian VDI systems. The key requirements were availability of a proprietary access protocol, an efficient load balancer for VDI and terminal services, and a remote support tool. Flexibility in managing user profiles and ability to scale were also important aspects. The system must guarantee a high level of fault tolerance both at the Data Center (Data Center) level and across the entire infrastructure, meeting more than 200 requirements.

Termidesk was chosen due to its ability to handle loads of 100,000 user connections or more, as well as the availability of its proprietary Tera access protocol, which optimizes connections even on weak communication channels.

It is important to note that the implementation of Termidesk is almost unnoticeable for the bank employees. The Astra Consulting team, responsible for implementation of the project, carefully examines each stage to ensure smooth operation of the system and maintain the usual workflow.

"We strive not only for reliability and security, but also to ensure that Sberbank employees can work as efficiently as before," comments Denis Mukhin, Director of Business Development at Uveon - Cloud Technologies.

Alexey Larin, Executive Director in the Department of Modern Digital User Solutions (SberUser) Sberbank, emphasizes: "Replacing Citrix with Termidesk is not an easy task, but thanks to the joint efforts of our expert team and Termidesk developers, we have managed to maintain the high standards of customer service of the bank. We understand that the quality of our IT infrastructure depends on successful implementation of this project."

Among the key advantages of Termidesk is the Aggregator component, which greatly simplifies system management, as well as high fault tolerance and disaster tolerance of the architecture. All this together makes it possible to ensure that the transition process does not affect the high level of customer service of Sberbank.

"The replacement of western products with domestic technologies guarantees stability of services for the bank customers, which corresponds to the company's mission and high standards of service. The expert teams of the Bank and Uveon have demonstrated high professionalism and involvement in achieving common goal", adds Andrey Karlov, Senior Managing Director, Director of the Department of Modern Digital User Solutions (SberUser) Sberbank.

Thus, Sberbank is not only taking a step towards complete independence from foreign technologies, but also creating comfortable conditions for its staff, which will certainly have a positive impact on overall work efficiency. The transfer of the majority of the bank employees to this solution is expected to be completed in early 2025.

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