Needham Bank sought a solution to enhance remote employee productivity while maintaining security. After switching from Gotomypc to Array Networks' DesktopDirect, the bank achieved a significant reduction in costs, simplified access with single sign-on, and improved productivity without full VPN access. The implementation allowed users to securely access sensitive financial data from iPads, enhancing overall operational efficiency.

1. Market: Banking and Financial Services
Application: Remote Access with Data Leakage Protection
Product: Array DesktopDirect
Array Networks, Inc.
1371 McCarthy Blvd. — Milpitas, CA 95035
www.arraynetworks.net 1.866.MY.ARRAY sales@arraynetworks.net
case studyiPad for Business Productivity
This case study relates to Needham Bank, a leading Massachusetts community bank that has
been providing both commercial and consumer financial products since 1892. With multiple
branches in the state of Massachusetts, the bank is a strong supporter of the local businesses
and residents in the towns and the surrounding areas in which they operate.
The Challenge
Needham Bank’s search for more remote access began when it became clear to IT that enhancing
productivity for employees would be highly beneficial to their business. But because very few
employees are actually entrusted with unrestricted access to the building, it was very difficult to
increase the bank’s overall productivity levels during evenings and weekends.
Security is a major consideration in the financial sector. While the bank needed enhanced produc-
tivity for its employees, it also needed to maintain security and compliance to meet requirements
set forth by examiners and regulators. Full VPN access was not a viable option, mainly due to the
inherent risks of VPN, such as data leakage and laptop theft.
The organization had been using GoToMyPC for remote desktop access, but it had proven to be
more laborious than the bank’s IT department had bargained for, and GoToMyPC’s user interface
had left the end user experience lacking. Users were required to remember multiple passwords,
and usage had dropped to a couple hours per month for only about a dozen users. There were
12 disparate entry points of access, which caused IT endless headaches in troubleshooting
connections and sessions for users who were hardly using the service at all in the first place.
The Solution
When the head of IT first saw DesktopDirect he said,“it became clear what my remote desktop
access requirements really were. Being able to access the PC from any device -- iPad and iPhone,
Windows, Chrome, without establishing proxy sessions, was key. I didn’t want to provide full
VPN access -- with DesktopDirect, I can restrict printing and file sharing and prevent exposure of
sensitive financial data and account information. Plus, we’ve had Array’s excellent support to
hammer out any problem along the way -- and there haven’t been many -- the product just works.
“Before I knew about DesktopDirect, I considered using Windows 7 tablet computers to provide
mobile productivity for users -- but after factoring in the cost of the tablets and software licenses,
I realized that I would have to spend at least $30,000 for just the initial phase of our rollout. With
DesktopDirect and iPad, overall TCO is significantly lower. Plus, taking into account the average
battery life of 2-3 hours for tablet PCs or laptops, vs. the iPad’s 10 hours, and the intuitive user
interface of the iPad, it was clear that DesktopDirect with the iPad was the way to go. Now we can
eliminate the need for laptops altogether, which helps me sleep at night, knowing the bank’s
sensitive data won’t ever get into the wrong hands. When it comes down to it, I’m glad I didn’t
spend $30,000.”
By deploying DesktopDirect, the bank was able to increase productivity for employees at a much
lower total cost of ownership, plus they received the added benefit of the Apple iPad’s intuitive
Array Networks DesktopDirect:
iPad for Access to Business Applications
Industry
Banking and Financial Services
• Enhance employee productivity
• Eliminate need to remember
multiple passwords
• Increase remote desktop access
usage among employees
• Reduce support calls associated
with multiple disparate entry points
Solution
• Array Networks DesktopDirect
with iPad Client Application
Results
• Employee productivity enhanced
at a fraction of the cost of VPN
• Full access to office PCs from the
intuitive iPad interface
• Single-sign-on for easy, one-time,
one-password user login
• Data leakage protection -- data
never leaves the office PC
• Fewer, easier-to-resolve calls for
technical support
Customer Quotes
“...it was clear that DesktopDirect with
the iPad was the way to go”
“...with DesktopDirect, I can prevent
exposure of sensitive financial data”
“...I’m glad I didn’t spend $30,000.”
Challenges

2. user interface, enabling users to benefit from the iPad’s streamlined
design to make accessing and using office PCs that much easier.
Alternative Solutions Considered
James Gordon continues,“Had we not found DesktopDirect, we would
have trudged along with the GoToMyPC solution. DesktopDirect came
along in the nick of time, enabling us to move forward with our iPad and
iPhone deployment. Instead of being stuck with a solution that people
wouldn’t have used, now we have a solution that will enhance the bank’s
productivity and competitiveness for at least a couple years.
”We also had heard great things about other alternate solutions such as
Juniper and Cisco, but those people who chose these vendors seemed to
be making their decisions based entirely on the fact that these guys are the
biggest names in networking. For us, we looked at capabilities, including
the ability to dump into syslog, audit activity, and the 256-bit strong
encryption offered by the Array solution.”
Overall Sentiment So Far
“I know this will be one of those technologies that people don’t know how
they lived without. With the world going the way of the iPhone and iPads,
having access to business intelligence no matter where you are is critical.
”At Needham Bank, accounting staff can now rapidly access financial data
remotely, and the business development team can access core banking
applications to get to account and relationship information, which is key
right before going into a meeting. The lending department can access
lending applications and process information, and I don’t need to
emphasize how important DesktopDirect has been so far to IT -- we were
able to service a support call from an executive assistant who needed help
at the bank -- I was able to provide support remotely from my own iPad
while I was out of the office in my car!
“DesktopDirect is painless -- users can even register themselves. Access is
controlled by a single group policy object which is heavily audited. That,
along with DesktopDirect’s ability to generate detailed reports, has enabled
me to configure my own desktop PC environment for easy, secure access
from anywhere. Since this is the central IT command center for the entire
bank, I can now provide full support at any time, from any location, which
lowers overall IT support overhead, thereby saving the bank money.”
James Gordon
Vice President of IT
Needham Bank
case studyiPad for Business Productivity
Array Networks, Inc.
1371 McCarthy Blvd. — Milpitas, CA 95035
www.arraynetworks.net 1.866.MY.ARRAY sales@arraynetworks.net
Needham Bank’s Remote Desktop Access
Architecture, Using GoToMyPC
Needham Bank’s Remote Desktop Access
Architecture, Using DesktopDirect
- disparate points of network entry
- multiple passwords required
- difficult to troubleshoot
- single point of network entry
- single sign-on (SSO)
- easy to support
iPad and iPhone accessing Windows via DesktopDirect