Defra

Defra needed a technology provider to manage its vast fleet of mobile devices. It wanted a cloud-based solution, to avoid housing hardware on premise.

At full capacity, the service would need to manage up to 35,000 mobile devices used by DEFRA, Environment Agency (EA) and Rural Payments Agency (RPA) employees.

Since each of these agencies had their own data centre and first-level helpdesk (provided by their respective system integrators) the new MDM service would need to integrate with all of these.

Rich functionality, simplified management and monitoring of multiple mobile devices, and high-grade security made VMware Workspace ONE the perfect MDM solution.

VMware Workspace ONE would enable all Defra mobile devices, of any type, to be managed from a central console. This includes enrolling new devices, managing all apps used by field personnel through secure access to central servers at Defra, managing email access and encryption, and allowing content sharing and collaboration across devices.

Once we’d established clear metrics with DEFRA’s stakeholders at the initiation stage, our technical consultants got to work, designing and building the infrastructure for the hosted service. They integrated it with existing service providers through a central network hub, using Defra’s recently implemented Identity Management System (IDM).

High availability, resilient, active-active architecture was the name of the MDM game. The service is hosted across two geographically dispersed data centres, allowing the load to be shared, or in the event of a fault, switched to just one – offering Defra strong service continuity assurances.

Before launch, we carried out full penetration and security testing to ensure the service was fit for purpose.

We continue to proactively monitor all connections to ensure the availability of the overall network and to respond to any events or losses of connectivity. As a result, we have access to a vast array of reports and information, which we collate and use to monitor performance, and track user activities and requirements.

We manage device enrolments, device support, request fulfilment and fault identification through our 24-hour second- and third-line service desks, which interact with and support the three existing first-line helpdesks. And to make the whole process smoother, we have developed detailed enrolment guides and provide training for existing first-line helpdesk operators.

Our team provides ongoing support to the user enrolment teams, as well as 24-hour major incident management.