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Effective Remote Work with Digicon featuring Amazon WorkSpaces


Executive Summary

D&A Contractors, Inc. once relied on a traditional virtual desktop deployment that used data center technology to provide remote work capabilities. However, this solution was cumbersome and ineffective for the company. Employees were forced to work with a system that was incompatible with their hardware, provided unstable software, and gave them inconsistent support. During the COVID-19 pandemic, these limitations became too difficult to sustain. Digicon and Amazon Web Services (AWS) were able to step in to provide a stable and convenient remote work solution grounded in modern cloud technology.

About D&A Contractors

The Ventouris family established D&A Contractors, Inc. in 1985.

D&A Contractors excels in all forms of projects from the most general of renovations to specialty construction. D&A employs numerous tradesmen, many of whom have served for over 15 years. The staff consists of master electricians, master plumbers, HVAC mechanics, painters, and certified tradesmen.

Customer Challenge

D&A was working with a traditional IT managed services provider that delivered remote work solutions with virtual desktop software hosted in physical data centers. D&A’s local hardware was often incompatible with the solution, particularly unusual company items such as plotting printers. File sharing was very difficult and required third-party software to transfer data between home and remote work environments. Logging into the environment was only supported on limited client devices. Customer support was provided by an organization that used out-of-date practices and a “one size fits all” approach to its clients.  IT performance was poor, such that architectural files sometimes took several minutes to open. The vendor’s solution was sometimes unavailable and often malfunctioned, all while D&A paid a premium.

Partner Solution

Digicon assisted in this situation with our Business IT Services (BITS) product line, a cloud-native office IT solution for small- and medium-sized businesses. BITS recognizes today’s IT difficulties by including a stable platform for effective remote work, built around Amazon WorkSpaces.

We provisioned a suite of AWS services that met D&A’s business needs and tied it together with support from the Digicon Service Desk. A Digicon-managed Microsoft Active Directory sits at the heart of the solution, maintaining a secure catalog of the customer’s users and enforcing IT policy. AWS FSx delivers highly available, high-performance, and easily backed up Microsoft Windows file sharing, while Amazon WorkDocs has replaced third-party file sharing solutions. Digicon-managed custom applications provide productivity and industry-specific software on AWS EC2 instances. Finally, Amazon WorkSpaces provides a reliable and high-performance environment for remote work, delivered on a lightweight app available on many platforms

The Digicon Service Desk has been able to work with D&A to resolve issues unique to its work environment, ensure that unusual hardware functions properly, and that any individual performance issues are addressed.

Results and Benefits

D&A is now able to effectively collaborate while outside of its office locations, which is where most of the company’s work is done.

Speed issues have been resolved by using performance WorkSpace bundles to ensure that users have adequate resources for their applications. File sharing and moving is easy with a combination of AWS FSx services delivered seamlessly as Windows file shares, and WorkDocs brings in data from unusual locations. 

Contractors can now access their remote work environments from anywhere, including a PC or Macintosh workstation, mobile devices, and with a web application when other solutions are unavailable. User support is now provided by Digicon’s 24/7 service desk with certified support technicians and a focus on individual customers and their specific challenges.

Review of our service architecture under the guidelines of the AWS Well-Architected Framework ensures that D&A continues to benefit from Digicon’s dedication to operational excellence, security, reliability, performance efficiency, cost optimization, and sustainability.

As an additional effect of this transformation, D&A has also lowered its remote work IT costs to two-thirds of its previous expenditure. These further benefits of the AWS Well-Architected Framework have been realized as a result of Digicon’s best practices approach, which considers each pillar to be vital to the success of the solution.

About Digicon Corporation

Digicon Corporation has been innovating since 1985 and remains a trusted IT service provider today. We provide a range of solutions and services centered on IT management, bioinformatics, cloud management, and software development. Our clients, both small and large, in industry, government, and academia can count on us to deliver personalized, comprehensive solutions that suit their needs and exceed their expectations. Digicon is an APN Consulting Partner.

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