“36% of manufacturing enterprises realize above average business value from IT spending in digitalization when compared with peers,” says a Gartner report on how advanced manufacturing companies are now capitalizing on the latest technology trends to drive value.
One of these technology tools that has been adding consistent value to manufacturing businesses is Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS). In fact, the need for cost-effective digital transformation is already driving the industry towards desktop virtualization. The desktop virtualization market in manufacturing is expected to register a CAGR of 9.3% over the forecast period of 2021 – 2026.
A crucial advantage that DaaS brings in for the manufacturing industry is the massive time saving in device procurement and the subsequent cost saving. Manufacturing businesses heavily rely on devices with high-end specifications for their graphics professionals to develop CAD models and complex engineering simulations. These specifications vary based on project requirements, which is where the long road to hardware procurement begins. With DaaS, this road becomes much shorter.
Anunta helped a well-known steel mill in India get past the financial and schedule constraints related to buying devices for their graphics team.
The customer had multiple projects which depended on devices with high-end graphics specifications. While the smooth execution of the project relied on these end user devices, there were multiple challenges associated with it.
One was the massive amount of time spent on device procurement. Because of the highly specific hardware configurations, this followed a long process that involved understanding the specifications. Thus, inviting bids from OEMs, finalizing the brand, procuring the end user device, installing the required software, and shipping the device to the end user. The average time taken for device procurement and deployment was a minimum of 6 weeks.
Apart from the time and cost involved in device procurement, another challenge lay in de-provisioning the device at the completion of the project. Since each project came with varying hardware specifications, device repurposing was a rare scenario, resulting in idle resources.
Anunta helped a manufacturer overcome challenges by transitioning them to a DaaS infrastructure using Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD). We significantly reduced device procurement time from 6 weeks to 3 days, even for high-end specifications. Additionally, we ensured efficient de-provisioning of virtual machines after projects, eliminating any waste from idle hardware.
The customer also benefitted from a subscription-based model, saving cost, and ensuring easy scalability.
Overall, Anunta was able to improve application availability dramatically with no major IT incidents, ensuring seamless and reliable manufacturing operations and processes.
DaaS directly contributes to business growth by eliminating the need for significant investments in hardware purchase, maintenance, and upgrades. With no major infrastructural constraints, the money can be rightfully invested in other crucial operations for growth and market expansion.
DaaS offers a hidden benefit by helping businesses achieve their ESG goals. Adopting DaaS can help manufacturing organizations significantly cut their energy and carbon footprint, especially in large-scale operations with several buildings and sophisticated technology.
The manufacturing industry, long burdened by its large fleet of on-premises equipment, can now adapt to the changing times and embrace digital transformation. By simplifying its IT infrastructure and desktop management and eliminating security and cost concerns. DaaS has the potential to effectively boost the digital workplace transformation strategies of manufacturing businesses.