NEC Corporation of America, a premier provider of IT, network and identity management solutions, today announced a successful first-phase implementation and operation of NEC's Virtual PC Center (VPCC) at the New York Branch of Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co., Ltd (STB).
The complete virtual PC solution provides STB with a remote terminal system for business continuity in a time of disaster. This implementation is the first virtual PC deployment by a Japanese bank's overseas branch. The primary goal of the system was internal security and business continuity via secure remote access for strategic business users.
"The beauty of NEC's VPCC system is that STB can securely store data and applications within the controls of the data center and enjoy a new level of business continuity without impacting the user experience," said Toshiaki Furusawa, vice president, department manager of IT at Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co., Ltd. "It is much simpler to deploy and manage a solution that allows authorized personnel to access the company network through any VPCC thin client device and work as if using a traditional PC with its familiar desktop multimedia environment."
STB implemented a complete remote virtual PC system from NEC, including: thin client devices, NEC Virtual PC servers, NEC's management servers running NEC's SigmaSystemCenter integrated management software, a Virtual Private Network (VPN) server, and VMware virtualization platform software.
"Enterprises are looking for the next level of data protection and high availability," said Gary Bates, principal solutions architect, Solutions Business of NEC Corporation of America. "NEC's VPCC delivers a total desktop PC replacement solution at a lower cost, with greater data security, and a seamless user experience."
The newly implemented system virtualizes and consolidates each user's individual PC environment - including data and software - on the server; and automatically allocates server resources such as CPUs in accordance with users' workloads. This is the first time an overseas branch of a Japanese bank has employed this type of virtual PC technology.
The main characteristics of the business continuity system that STB's New York branch deployed are:
Business Continuity Through Secure Remote Access
NEC's VPCC System provides business continuity through secure remote access for strategic business users in the event of a disaster. By ensuring secure access to the company's entire internal information system from remote locations, including residences, via the Internet, business executives can respond and manage the company during emergencies such as terrorism, pandemic diseases or natural disaster.
Information Security
Because data resides in the more secure environment of the data center instead of the desktop, information has better protection against theft or virus.
Ease of System Management
System or software upgrades, adding new applications and performing maintenance is simple since the application software and data are all based on servers in the data center and can be managed through remote access.
Scalability
The system offers an easily scalable solution that not only meets this phase of STB's business continuity plan, but will be able to support future phases with increasing numbers of users, operating environments and business systems.
Additional benefits of NEC's VPCC solution include reduced power consumption, lower total cost of ownership compared to a traditional desktop PC, and a single vendor to contact for the entire front-to-backend virtual PC system.
Security and business continuity are of the highest priority within the financial industry. Financial organizations have rigid requirements and high expectations for scalable security management systems from a comprehensive platform.
In response to these requirements and expectations, STB continues to reinforce business infrastructure and, with the implementation of NEC's Virtual PC Center, provide new services and products that are secure and safe and meet customer satisfaction on a timely basis.
NEC Virtual PC Center Solution
The NEC Virtual PC Center is a complete thin client personal computer solution with full PC functionality and multimedia capability. Designed to secure data by replacing the desktop PC, VPCC offers a full virtual PC environment, combining the US100 and US 110 thin client devices with NEC Virtual PC servers and an NEC VPCC management server in the data center. The entire VPCC system is called "virtual" because a user can utilize any VPCC workstation to access the company network, and work as if using a traditional PC with its familiar Microsoft Windows desktop multimedia environment.