GVB (Gebäudeversicherung Bern)
From Horizon to the Stars: GVB’s Migration to Azure Virtual Desktop
Branche
Elektronikfertigung
Zielsetzung
Umstellung auf die Microsoft 365 Cloud
Lösung
Microsoft 365 Cloud
GVB’s Migration to Azure Virtual Desktop
GVB (Gebäudeversicherung Bern) ensures reliable protection for all buildings in the Canton of Bern. Specializing in insurance against fire and natural hazards, the company also provides prevention and safety services that strengthen long-term resilience.
Challenge
GVB previously relied on a VMware/Omnissa Horizon environment, where each external user was assigned a personal virtual machine. Since user activity was highly sporadic, the setup resulted in significant overprovisioning and unnecessary costs.
The migration brought several challenges:
- Transitioning from a single-session to a modern multi-session architecture to optimize flexibility and resource utilization.
- Managing fluctuating access demands without overdimensioning the infrastructure.
- Ensuring compatibility of all enterprise applications when running in a multi-session environment.
- Minimizing latency when applications continued to run in the datacenter while users accessed them via Azure.
- Introducing a domainless management approach with Entra ID and Intune, while still guaranteeing access to on-premises resources such as file shares and print servers.
Solution
To address these challenges, GVB chose Experts Inside for their proven expertise in designing and delivering modern workplace infrastructures. The new Azure Virtual Desktop environment was implemented with a focus on scalability, security, and simplicity.
The approach included:
- Infrastructure as Code: Deploying the entire AVD environment via Bicep templates for consistency and automation.
- Image Management: Creating master images using Intune Packages and Azure Image Builder, stored centrally in an Azure Compute Gallery.
- Intune Integration: Adapting existing workplace configurations for AVD, ensuring seamless policy and configuration management.
- Scaling Plans: Automating host pool scaling to dynamically match user demand, avoiding overprovisioning and reducing costs.
“Thanks to the professional support from Experts Inside, we were able to create an Azure Virtual Desktop environment that gives us the flexibility we need. The integration of Hydra has significantly simplified management.”
Dominik Hug, System Engineer & Application Manager Gebäudeversicherung Bern (GVB)
- Profile Management: Using FSLogix profiles stored on Azure Files for a smooth user experience.
- Security: Applying lockdown policies and additional security measures, such as one-way clipboard.
- Advanced Management: Integrating Hydra for simplified and automated AVD management.
- Hybrid Cloud Trust: Ensuring access to local file shares and print servers even without domain-joining the AVD Session Hosts.
The environment was thoroughly tested with key users before rollout, then scaled and gradually introduced to all external users.
Results
By transitioning to Azure Virtual Desktop, GVB gained a flexible, scalable, and cost-efficient solution for external user access. Key achievements include:
- Better resource utilization with a multi-session architecture.
- Dynamic scaling to match demand, avoiding unnecessary costs.
- Simplified management through Entra ID and Intune.
- Proven application performance, unaffected by slightly higher latency.
- Seamless access to local resources, ensuring business continuity.
The new AVD environment enables GVB to handle fluctuating access needs while staying secure and efficient.
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