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Achieve Better Control and Manageability
See how an integrator and consultancy tied together its far-flung staff with internal data using features in Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition.
by John Zipperer

Posted December 12, 2003

Craig Nelson

You had better be an early adopter and expert in Microsoft products if you are in the business of helping other companies adopt that same technology. That mindset is a driving force behind the constant striving to stay ahead of the curve at Avanade, a consultant and integrator of Microsoft solutions for enterprise clients. Its customer base of Global 2000 companies uses its services to design and deploy Web services applications, create new solutions, and get as much value as possible out of their existing infrastructure. Avanade not only is in the spotlight when it comes to adopting the latest Microsoft products, but it has the advantage of being stocked with consultants trained in the platform. Both of these aspects played a part in the company's migration to Windows Server 2003 and its Terminal Servers last year.

Craig Nelson, director of infrastructure for Avanade's internal information systems department, says his company relies on maintaining a high level of access to its internal resources, so it needs to provide flexible and robust remote-access capabilities. "Though we have VPN and Web-based access to resources, we've found that our users are even more productive using the remote desktop experience," he says. "It even works for users who are connected to the network via traditionally 'slow' connections such as dial-up."

Microsoft's Terminal Services solutions are part of its "Windows Anywhere" approach to letting users access Windows applications from a variety of devices and locations. Terminal Services plays a key role in administering remote sessions by supporting a number of different Microsoft client versions, can use 128-bit encryption, and can work over low bandwidth connections (see Resources). The server is where the application execution takes place, with the network transmitting only the display information (along with keyboard- and mouse-related data) between the server and the end user.

Avanade wanted to move from its Windows Server 2000 platform to Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition; an important component of that switch involved upgrading its terminal server farm to allow it to provide a thin-client access experience to its users. Nelson says Microsoft contacted his company during the beta release phases of Windows Server 2003 to get its feedback on the product. "We evaluated the platform and had to make a big decision: Should we stick with Windows Server 2000 or migrate to Windows Server 2003?"

Avanade is a joint venture between business consultant firm Accenture and Microsoft, so it arguably did not have a choice about moving to Windows Server 2003; after all, its job is to be a global center for Microsoft platform expertise. But that necessity doesn't mean it didn't evaluate its choices, and before the migration was over, the company would ensure that the new solution provided dramatically improved remote-access capabilities. It was also looking for a solution that would improve the end-user experience and lighten the administrator's workload. Thanks to the continued evolution of enterprise suites that can simultaneously give more power and abilities to users and administrators alike, Avanade thought it had a winner.