Toppan Vintage Uses VDI and IGEL Endpoints to Support Growth Through Strategic Acquisitions

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Nov 27, 2018, 12:17 ET

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- IGEL, a world leader in endpoint management software for the secure enterprise, today announced that Toppan Vintage has made a substantial investment in new virtual desktop and back-end IT infrastructure to support business growth through strategic acquisitions.

In March 2017, Toppan acquired Vintage Group, a division of PR Newswire, to effectively double in size to over 200 staff, with the business announcing on August 1, 2018 and again on September 4, 2018 the acquisition of Merrill Corporation's Capital Markets and Marketing and Communications Solutions (MCS) businesses.

Thomas Mangan, Toppan Vintage's Vice President, Information Technology and Production Design, explains, "To reduce complexity and eliminate the need for 24/7 IT staff support, we've always used virtualized desktops; we just didn't want traditional PCs and multiple endpoints to manage. However, our previous thin client solution was inadequate as the software was difficult to use and limited to a single display protocol. With so many systems and people coming over with the first Vintage Group acquisition, we needed to scale up and find a better and easier to manage desktop solution for our HQ and remote sites."

Toppan Vintage offers 24/7 boutique-like financial printing and communications solutions for private and publicly traded companies that need to produce shareholder materials like prospectuses, proxy statements and annual reports, and submit this information to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other global regulators. Services range from content editing, design, prepress, printing and data conversion to SEC acceptable HTML standards or any format a customer desires.

US headquartered in Manhattan, New York, with additional locations throughout the United States, Toppan Vintage is part of the Toppan Printing Group, the world's largest printing group based in Tokyo with approximately $14 billion in annual sales.

A Modern Desktop Environment Delivers True Flexibility

After the Vintage Group acquisition, Toppan Vintage standardized on IGEL technology following a demonstration where it saw the capabilities of IGEL's Universal Management Suite (UMS) software which enables the whole endpoint infrastructure to be centrally managed.

Today, around 150 UD3 multimedia endpoints have been deployed along with Citrix XenDesktop all running on Nutanix hyperconverged infrastructure. IGEL Cloud Gateway was purchased to manage and provide access to endpoints located at its branch offices. Furthermore, IGEL's UD Pocket solution is being used which enables IT staff to temporarily repurpose any 64-bit x86 laptop. The UD Pocket – which is the size of a few paper clips – simply plugs into a USB slot and after "booting to USB" enables the device to run IGEL's Linux OS. This provides access to Citrix and their own desktop session without an actual UD3 terminal having to be used. The endpoints were sold by IGEL reseller, Gotham Technology Group based in Montvale, NJ.

As part of the project, Toppan Vintage also updated its server interconnect technology installing 10 gigabit Ethernet switches from Mellanox. Investment in the whole IT project totals around $1 million.

IGEL Provides a Comprehensive Enterprise Desktop Solution

In addition, IGEL was selected for a range of other reasons:

Support for multiple virtualization protocols. This allows Toppan Vintage to manage two environments: its existing legacy VMware Horizon View platform along with the new Citrix XenDesktop and Nutanix infrastructure so that some staff - particularly the Mail and Data Team who look after variable print mailings - can still access core business applications such as BCC software and Planet Press Connect from Objectif Lune. Mangan explains, "Because of licensing and legacy configurations, it was going to be risky to move off VMware Horizon View completely. Instead, we found a solution in IGEL that supports multiple display protocols so that staff can toggle back and forth between the two environments, seamlessly."

Ability to run multiple displays from the UD3 endpoints. All production staff have multiple screens so they can hop between applications yet keep everything open. New Dell screens have been provided for them with existing ones re-used for sales and other business areas where resolution isn't so important. Mangan explains. "Multiple screens allow us to not only work on regular production jobs but monitor email inboxes for client requests or anything that might shift the priority of jobs."

Provision of tailored desktops based on job role. When a user logs in, and it doesn't matter which endpoint they sit at, they get a tailored and personalized desktop based on their location – this is important as Toppan Vintage is a 24/7 operation and runs three daily shifts with staff sharing desks. Employees in New York and Denver log into Citrix-based desktops, with those in New Jersey given the option to choose between Citrix or VMware based on the software they need to access. These policies are managed within the UMS along with other features:

Shadow policies. This allows an administrator to shadow a user's screen to troubleshoot any issues with the virtual desktop. It means no plug-ins or complex helpdesk software is required.

Network policies. Toppan Vintage has various physical networks and different groups get different network access. Mangan adds, "Depending on what network an IGEL endpoint is linked to a completely different profile is applied. And in the event a device has to be replaced, all we have to do is disconnect it, plug in a new one in and in minutes, the user is back up and running."

Easy Roll Out

The installation of the whole IGEL solution was completed quickly. In New Jersey and New York, endpoints were implemented over a weekend. The IGELs were powered on and the profiles sent to the devices over the network with each one then tested. Mangan says, "We worked with IGEL's software engineers to create our policies, then plugged the UD3s into power and our network, the UMS discovered them and did the rest for us. It was remarkably easy."

VDI and IGEL Terminals Delivers a Range of Commercial Benefits

Mangan adds, "The UMS is the management console we'd always hoped to find but didn't get with our previous supplier. That's why we switched to IGEL. I can't say enough good things about it and, even though our fleet of UD3s isn't in the thousands, it's of fundamental benefit. We define a policy and drag and drop this to individual IGEL devices or groups of installed endpoints, with firmware updates simplified too."

In addition, Toppan Vintage is realizing a variety of other benefits:

Endpoint reliability is first class and Toppan Vintage has not had one single valid device failure since installation. This is because the UD3 endpoints don't have moving parts meaning they are practically fail-safe, noiseless with minimal heat generation;

To support a company with over 200 staff operating in shifts, Toppan Vintage estimates it would have had to hire three additional people if PC desktops were used in terms of break/fix and hardware management. Put another way, the business has avoided doubling the size of the IT department by using VDI and IGEL endpoints;

Power savings are significant given each UD3 terminal is highly energy efficient;

Collaboration is enhanced as staff working together on projects can login next to each other and work seamlessly as if they were at their own desks.

Security is maximized. Mangan says, "This was part of the strategy back in 2012. There's zero company data stored on our endpoints, eradicating the risk of someone stealing a PC or laptop to gain access to confidential information."

A Platform for Growth

Moving forward, as the business continues to expand, it is easy to incorporate new users into the overall corporate architecture. David Henkel, Toppan Vintage's VP and Chief Technology officer, comments, "While it is early days with the integration of the Merrill divisions into the business, our new VDI architecture could easily be extended and we'll be working on this over time. Ultimately, Toppan Vintage will be known globally as Toppan Merrill, reflecting our organization's scale and enhanced offerings."

Jed Ayres, President and CEO, IGEL North America, says, "Toppan Vintage's senior management put a lot of trust in its IT team given they've completely changed their desktop infrastructure. It's the strength of IGEL's technology, combined with Citrix and Nutanix solutions, that has facilitated this. VDI with the right endpoints and right endpoint management software provides everyone in the company with a first-class work environment."

About Toppan Vintage
For more information about Toppan Vintage, visit www.toppanvintage.com

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About IGEL
IGEL delivers powerful unified endpoint management software that is revolutionary in its simplicity and purpose-built for the enterprise. The company's world-leading software products include the IGEL OS™, Universal Desktop Converter™ (UDC), IGEL Cloud Gateway™ (ICG), IGEL UD Pocket™ (UDP) and Universal Management Suite™ (UMS). These solutions enable a more secure, manageable and cost-effective endpoint management platform across nearly any x86 device. Additionally, IGEL's German engineered and manufactured thin, zero and all-in-one client solutions deliver the industry's best warranty (5 years), support (3 years after end of life) and management functionality. IGEL enables enterprises to precisely control all devices running IGEL OS as well as Windows OS from a single dashboard interface. IGEL has offices worldwide and is represented by partners in over 50 countries. For more information on IGEL, visit www.igel.com.

SOURCE IGEL