By: Citrix

Embry (China) Garments Ltd., established in 1975 and based in Hong Kong SAR, is a large enterprise specializing in design, production, marketing and sales of women's lingerie. Embry's brands, including Embry Form and Elaine, are famous at home and abroad, and its products are popular around the world. The company, which has more than 3,000 employees, has sales agencies in Hong Kong SAR, Southeastern Asia and other regions, and production lines in Shenzhen and Changzhou, China. Its annual production volume reaches eight million pieces.

Key Benefits

► Faster application deployment
► Enhanced work efficiency and optimized IT management
► Reduced cost of system maintenance and extended lifespan of devices
► Flexible access via the Web Applications Deployed
► SAP ERP 4.6C
► Lotus Notes
► Other internal systems developed by users
►

Networking Environment

► Citrix Presentation Server running on three dual Baode GII Servers
► MicrosoftWindows NT Server, Terminal Server Edition
► Network: 3Com and Cisco exchange
► About 100 PCs, primarily Lenovo, and HP
► desktops and laptops

THE CHALLENGE: RAPID, COST-EFFECTIVE DEPLOYMENT OF SAP ERP TO 40 SALES AGENCIES

Embry (China) Garments Ltd., had previously deployed SAP enterprise resource planning (ERP) software in some departments; however, with the growth of the business, Embry needed an enterprise-scale rollout to support its business goals and integrate its processes. The company wanted to give its sales agencies - which manage more than 1,000 sales counters in 40 cities, deliver products to the sales counters, and supervise and report on daily sales - the unified platform, increased data visibility and improved decision-making process that SAP could deliver. Accordingly, the company planned to deploy multiple modules of SAP including retail, business intelligence and material management.

Wang Jianping, CTO of Embry (China) Garments Ltd., said, "We only have 10 IT staff in the whole group, geographically dispersed in Shenzhen, Hong Kong and other regions. Considering the tight human resources and budget, we were confronted with the significant challenge of deploying and putting all the SAP modules into operation across the organization within a short timeframe. Then, we faced the long-term challenge of maintaining the new solution with limited staff and budget."

Even if all went smoothly, Wang Jianping realized that it would take several months for his small team to deploy all the SAP modules and get them up and running, and it would also be very tough to train and support a broad sales network spread across China. The company needed a better approach to deploying and managing the new solution than installing it on hundreds of geographically dispersed desktops.


CITRIX ACCESS PLATFORM FOR APPLICATION DEPLOYMENT

Embry (China) Garments Ltd., adopted a Citrix access infrastructure solution with Microsoft Windows NT, Terminal Server Edition. Three Citrix Presentation Servers were deployed at Embry's headquarters, with each supporting up to 50 concurrent users - mainly the staff in the company's sales agencies.

The Citrix solution enables applications such as SAP to be installed, processed, maintained and supported on central servers instead of on each user's computer. The users can connect to the Citrix servers over the network to view and work with the application interface, sending keystrokes and mouse clicks and receiving screen refreshes. Embry also uses Web Interface for Citrix Presentation Server to instantly Web-enable applications and make them accessible to users via any standard browser.

RAPID DEPLOYMENT OF SAP ENHANCES BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS

With the centralized management and deployment capabilities of the Citrix solution, Embry (China) Garments Ltd., completed the rollout of the new ERP system smoothly from the server, instead of having to install the software on each desktop across the enterprise. Centralized deployment allowed the SAP solution to be rolled out in one month instead of the several months required with a traditional
architecture. Citrix access infrastructure has enabled staff to access SAP tools easily and securely from any location or device and to retrieve information from headquarters in real time, eliminating delays in communication. With such a fast deployment, the company can quickly see bottom-line benefits of improved decision-making and oversight of business operations and customer activities.

Although the Citrix system has been operational at Embry for only a short time, the company anticipates that application maintenance costs in the future will be reduced dramatically through centralized administration, support and training. For example, with the centralized administration capabilities of Citrix Presentation Server, the company no longer needs to allocate IT staff to each sales agency, nor does it require IT staff to travel to remote locations to provide support.

Citrix Presentation Server has also released the company from the pain of upgrading its existing computers to support new applications. Because application processing takes place on the Citrix server and users simply view and work with the application interface, the company's old devices can be used to access even the most powerful applications - including SAP ERP - with high performance. This extends the lifespan of hardware and will save a major chunk of IT budget for Embry (China) Garments Ltd.

The remote access capabilities of the Citrix solution enable employees to access information and applications wherever they are located, using any device, over any connection. Now, employees can access their systems via the Web, even from public computers at network bars. After they log out there is no information left on the computer, or even any cache or cookie containing important information in the browser - it all remains securely on the Citrix server.

About the Citrix Access Suite: The Citrix Access Suite is the most powerful enterprise solution available for providing secure, on-demand access to any enterprise resource - from anywhere, with any device, over any network. The Access Suite bundles Citrix Presentation Server, Citrix Access Gateway, and Citrix Password Manager into an always-on connection to information. It is secure by design, centralizes access, provides a robust and resilient foundation for business, and automatically adjusts to dynamic access scenarios.

"With Citrix access infrastructure, Embry (China) Garments Ltd. smoothly completed deployment of SAP ERP within budget in just one month. Citrix also enhances data security and reduces complexity, and is expected to cut IT maintenance costs dramatically." Wang Jianping, Embry (China) Garments Ltd.