BMI Growing Securely in the Cloud

BMI Growing Securely in the Cloud

Case Studies | 4 April 2023

About the Customer

Scaling Securely Across 40 Regions with Azure Virtual Desktop

BMI is Europe’s largest manufacturer in the combined flat and pitched roofing market, with a significant presence in parts of Asia and Africa. To grow its operations in 40 countries, BMI needed a way to provide scalable, secure systems access for its partner eco-system and workforce around the world.

With its first cloud-based desktop in Azure, BMI found the answer to scaling securely while minimising any risk to data and systems.

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Hear from the customer

Antonio Bonillo, (Former) Head of Technology, BMI

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The Challenge

Faster, Secure Onboarding

Previously, onboarding third parties and the remote-based staff was a costly and time-consuming process. Each device had to be set up with access rights and security and shipped from BMI offices, while secure VPN access for devices owned or managed by third parties was equally challenging. Recovering assets at the end of a contract to prevent data from falling into the wrong hands was also difficult and expensive for BMI.

The Solution

Azure Virtual Desktop

Telefónica Tech’s expertise in implementing secure, cloud-based virtual desktops within highly data-sensitive environments gave BMI the confidence that Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) was the right solution. After a successful Proof of Concept, BMI and Telefónica Tech worked closely to architect and deploy the Azure Virtual Desktop using a Cloud Adoption Framework methodology, including security baselines and controls.

The design was scalable across different business units and could be dynamically adapted over time. Telefónica Tech’s ongoing support package provides further peace of mind, proactively maintaining and managing the system.

The Outcomes

Scalable Growth

BMI’s IT team can now onboard third-party partners, entire business units, and remote-based staff in minutes, without sacrificing security or data centre control. With the cloud desktop solution, onboarding is the same amount of time whether it’s 5 or 500 people, and it reduces the cost and risk of sending out, recovering, and exposing devices in different global locations. This scalability also allows BMI to quickly adapt to business needs, scaling desktops up or down according to seasonal demand.

The Outcomes

Faster, Flexible Onboarding

Remote-based employees and third parties can now securely access systems using their own existing devices to log in to virtual sessions. Onboarding times have been reduced from hours to minutes, delivering a significantly smoother start for users.

Cost & Efficiency Savings

Cloud-based desktops remove the need to build, ship, and recover physical devices, while also eliminating the risk of hard drives falling into the wrong hands. A 46% increase in cost‑effectiveness compared to the previous solution.

Seamless Scalability

Desktops can be easily adjusted to support seasonal demand, enabling BMI to adapt quickly to changing business operations.

Improved Sustainability

BMI can now use more energy‑efficient thin‑client devices, and alongside initiatives to reuse, recycle, and resell IT assets, sustainability performance continues to improve.

Enhanced Security

The new virtual desktop enables BMI to rapidly provide access to critical apps and systems—without data ever leaving their own data centre.

Testimonial

“

Thanks to Telefónica Tech and their Azure Virtual Desktop platform, our InfoSec Team has been able to easily onboard 3rd parties who wouldn't normally pass our stringent security assessment. This has allowed us to quickly and securely collaborate with important partners around the world. We are so impressed with the security and convenience that AVD and Telefónica Tech provides. Our InfoSec team has full confidence in the platform and we would highly recommend it to other companies.

Kristoff Groenewald

Chief Technical Architect, Cloud Platforms, BMI