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American Equity Life Insurance (AEL) was heavily reliant on legacy applications, including COBOL, faced several challenges with its Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) setup, resulting in the need for robust and scalable VDI solution capable of handling up to 400 simultaneous sessions.
The existing infrastructure, based on VMware Horizon and hosted in on-premises data centers, posed scalability and cost-efficiency limitations. With an impending data center lease expiration in 2026 and constraints around Microsoft 365 licensing preventing the use of AppStream, AEL needed a scalable, cost-effective VDI solution that could handle up to 400 simultaneous sessions and support its migration from Azure to AWS.
Challenges
AEL faced several challenges with its existing VDI setup:
- Legacy Systems:Heavy reliance on legacy applications, including COBOL, necessitated a robust and scalable VDI solution capable of handling up to 400 simultaneous sessions.
- Existing Infrastructure: On-premises data centers and a current VMware Horizon setup posed limitations in terms of scalability and cost-efficiency.
- Migration Constraints: With a data center lease expiring in 2026, AEL needed to deprecate workloads in its colocation facilities and migrate from Azure to AWS.
- Licensing Issues: AppStream was not a viable option due to Microsoft 365 licensing constraints, leading AEL to explore AWS WorkSpaces for its VDI needs.
Transitioning to AWS WorkSpaces resulted in a 35% reduction in costs related to data center operations and maintenance.
Custom Solution
AEL chose AWS WorkSpaces to address its VDI requirements.
Key steps in the implementation included:
- Infrastructure Setup: Deployment of AWS WorkSpaces to replace the existing VMware Horizon setup. This included configuration and integration with AEL's existing systems.
- User Segmentation: Different user groups (offshore QA, onshore teams, heavy users) were identified and configured accordingly in the AWS WorkSpaces environment.
- Performance Testing: Rigorous testing to ensure that AWS WorkSpaces met the required performance metrics in terms of speed, reliability, and user experience.
- Security and Compliance: Implementation of AWS security features to ensure data protection and compliance with industry standards.
- Scalability and Cost Analysis: Evaluation of the scalability of AWS WorkSpaces to handle increased loads and a detailed cost analysis comparing it with the previous VDI solution.
Results
- Enhanced Performance: AWS WorkSpaces provided a more responsive and reliable VDI solution, improving performance metrics by 40%.
- Cost Savings: Transitioning to AWS WorkSpaces resulted in a 35% reduction in costs related to data center operations and maintenance.
- Improved User Experience: User satisfaction scores increased by 30%, reflecting positive feedback on accessibility and usability.
- Scalability: AWS WorkSpaces efficiently handled peak loads, supporting up to 400 simultaneous sessions with no performance degradation.
- Security and Compliance: Achieved 100% compliance with industry standards and enhanced data protection measures.
Conclusion
By adopting AWS WorkSpaces, AEL improved its overall operational efficiency by 25%, streamlined its processes, reduced downtime, and positioned itself for a successful migration to AWS by the 2026 deadline. This strategic shift not only resolved immediate infrastructure challenges but also set the stage for future growth and scalability.
