Avant Group Corporation reduces the time required for virtual desktop operation and maintenance by 90% with Windows 365

A highly secure, cost-effective virtual desktop environment, even for a minimum number of people

Since the founding of Avant Group in 1997, the company has consistently made popularizing information management a mission. In October 2022, Avant Group reorganized with a focus on the future direction of the business. Led by Avant Group Corporation, a holding company, the reorganization clarified the division of business areas among four operating companies. 

1. Avant Corporation: With group management control, consolidated accounting, and business management as pillars, Avant Corporation supports the realization and maximization of intangible corporate value for its customers. They provide everything from consulting to system planning, construction, deployment support, operation, and maintenance in a one-stop manner—including the development of in-house software. They also provide system development and implementation support that combines software developed by other companies and its own products.
2. Internet Disclosure Co, Ltd.: This company has built a database that covers timely disclosure information of the four Avant Group companies and provides search services to auditing firms.
3. ZEAL: Through consulting and system development, ZEAL supports the promotion of corporate DX and data-driven management. They provide platforms that organize and integrate internal and external data along with AI and business intelligence solutions that analyze, predict, and visualize data. They also offer a cloud-based data analysis platform developed in-house and e-learning services that support the development of DX personnel.
4. Diva Corporation: This company handles development of the consolidated accounting system DivaSystem LCA and related products plus outsourcing of consolidated settlement operations and single settlement operations. They also support the value creation process of companies through information disclosure.
   
   

Avant Group Corporation is striving to maximize synergies across the four companies by formulating and driving strategies for the entire Group. According to Mr. Takehisa Kaga, Head of the Group IT Promotion Department at Avant Group Corporation, one of the essential elements for maximizing synergies is the promotion of DX. He explains, “Our department’s mission is to transform the Group with the power of information and IT. Beginning with the establishment of Diva Corporation in 1997, the Group has expanded its business from the bottom up and has a history of organizational changes such as spin-offs and mergers. The IT environment within the Group has also been individually optimized, leading to various challenges. But with the 2022 reorganization, we addressed issues related to the availability of internal systems. Now, we’re working on promoting DX while looking at the entire organization. We’ve set three policies: provide and visualize valuable information, stabilize infrastructure and enhance security, and improve productivity and self-service for all employees.”

The Group uses cloud services such as Microsoft 365 and Azure for their internal IT environment, along with on-premises systems in a hybrid manner. In July 2022, they adopted Windows 365, a software as a service (SaaS) solution that creates a Windows 365 Cloud PC to deliver a complete Windows experience for each user from the Microsoft Cloud.

Mr. Takayuki Saito, Head of the IT Planning Group within the Group IT Promotion Department at Avant Group Corporation, explains, “When supporting accounting operations, it’s very important to give your employees thin clients so that data cannot be saved to local storage. Each of the four operating companies works with business partners to provide services to customers. About three years ago, we prepared to provide virtual desktops from Avant Group for the laptops used by our business partners. At that time, we were building a virtual desktop environment on the assumption that it would be used by several hundred people. But the needs of the field have changed over the past two to three years, and now it’s desirable to have an environment that can be set up quickly and easily for a small number of users. The cost of a conventional virtual desktop environment doesn’t match that use case. So, when we started considering what would be a suitable virtual desktop environment for our Group going forward, Windows 365 appeared at a good time.”

A simple pricing system that easily meets the Group’s potential needs

Avant Group found Windows 365 appealing for three reasons—improved security, ease of introduction and operation, and ease of use. According to Mr. Kaga, the clarity of the pricing system was particularly important in making operations easier. “At Avant Group, we use an IT chargeback model, procuring licenses and charging each business department that uses them. With Windows 365, people can use dedicated resources for a flat rate, which makes it simpler to manage IT costs. I think this has great value.”

Mr. Kaga continues, “There was greater potential need for a virtual desktop environment than we expected. We initially envisioned a use case involving engineers working at customer sites—we’d turn their laptops into virtual desktops to keep them secure. However, when we conducted interviews for the project throughout the Group, HR hiring staff told us, ‘We’re afraid to handle the personal data of students and other job seekers on physical computers.’ We think the licensing system of Windows 365 is very convenient in addressing these potential needs within the company. Leakage of personal information can lead to serious incidents. Despite rules such as, ‘Do not save data to local storage,’ there’s the possibility of minor human errors, like files remaining in the Downloads folder. However, if you switch to Windows 365, you can manage data more safely in the cloud. You can also add licenses easily in single-user increments to minimize costs. We told HR staff, ‘The fee structure will be ready soon, so please wait.’”

Almost zero support requests after deploying Windows 365

Mr. Shunsuke Hanano, Assistant Manager of the IT Planning Group within the Group IT Promotion Department at Avant Group Corporation, also feels strongly that Windows 365 is easy to deploy and operate. “People have had almost no trouble since we started using Windows 365,” says Mr. Hanano.

He continues, “With the virtual desktop we used to use, we could receive support inquiries up to three days a week, but there are hardly any inquiries about Windows 365. Currently, employees from two companies, Avant and Diva, use Windows 365 along with their business partners, and I believe they’re satisfied. From the standpoint of IT operations and maintenance, the absence of complaints is a sign of good service. Overall, I feel that our operations and maintenance efforts have been reduced by about 90%.”

“Some of these users take advantage of Windows 365 on multiple devices. One of our executives, who is highly security conscious, has wanted a thin client for a long time. They have used several virtual desktops and requested support each time, but since this executive switched to Windows 365, there has not been a single request. Moreover, this executive uses not only a Windows computer but also multiple devices, like a Mac and an iPad, and seems to use Windows 365 on all of them without any problems."

Mr. Saito adds, “It’s not much different from a regular laptop. The user experience of Windows 365 is almost the same as using local Windows. Unlike other virtual desktops where multiple users share the same resources, it uses dedicated resources, so the operation is stable. It’s also good that even if one engineer is doing a CPU-heavy task onsite, it doesn’t affect other employees.”

An IT partner that’s proficient in the Microsoft Cloud

Regarding deployment, Mr. Hanano says, “Windows 365 works well with Azure and Microsoft 365, and we completed our preliminary verification smoothly. For employees who want Windows 365, we set up Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) in advance. Then all you have to do is install the app through Microsoft Intune, a mobile device management tool, and set up the URL for access. If business partners and others want to use their own devices, two-factor authentication is mandatory, but such management can also be done centrally. Both the allocation and deletion of Windows 365 can be completed in just a few minutes using Microsoft Entra ID and Intune. It was exactly the same when we switched the environment to Windows 365 for employees participating in overseas projects. I did it while sitting in my seat at the office. It’s very convenient.”

After considering the introduction of Windows 365 in June 2022, Avant Group rolled out the service just one month later. Along with the ease of management, another major factor contributed to this speedy deployment—IT partner Nissho Electronics Corporation. 

“Avant Group is an IT company with many engineers, but they’re all personnel who provide software and services to our customers,” says Mr. Kaga. “For IT within the Group, we have only a few members of our Group IT Promotion Department. To accelerate various projects, we made the natural choice to rely on an IT partner with abundant experience and knowledge. Nissho Electronics has a deep understanding of Microsoft’s products and services, including the Microsoft Cloud, so they are reliable. We‘ve worked with them for a long time, and they also support Azure and Microsoft 365 for us in the Group. For our Windows 365 implementation, we received consistent support from Nissho Electronics—from proposal to preliminary consideration, deployment, and subsequent operation after they gained a deep understanding of our environment, which was very helpful.”

Mr. Hanano, who communicates as a liaison with Nissho Electronics, says, “From the introduction to the release of the service, several challenges and questions arose, but Nissho Electronics responded very well to our inquiries. Along the way, they created a dedicated thread for us in Microsoft Teams, and it worked well to consolidate communications there. After we rolled out the service, they also produced a collection of best practices on how to set up multiple monitors in Windows 365, how to update Teams, and other actions people might have questions about. Now, we’re updating the collection of best practices within the department and rolling it out internally.”

Mr. Hiroki Miyake of the Future Enterprise Business Promotion Section, IT Infrastructure Sales Department, Enterprise Business Division at Nissho Electronics Corporation, looks back at the challenges at that time. “Windows 365 has almost the same user experience as a physical computer, but one of the challenges was using Teams. Unlike with Teams on a physical computer, some steps need to be taken to make the most out of using Teams on Windows 365. We received information from Microsoft Japan and responded to meet Avant Group’s requests. As for our collection of best practices, we compiled it in about one to two months while organizing QA support content from the deployment to after the service began.”

Mr. Masanari Okada of the Future Enterprise Business Promotion Section, IT Infrastructure Sales Department, Enterprise Business Division at Nissho Electronics Corporation, also reflects, “Windows 365 launched at a good time. We’d been supporting the implementation and operation of the previous virtual desktop environment for Avant Group. Due to changes in needs, there were times when licensing costs were no longer appropriate, and we were wondering how to solve this problem when Windows 365 was announced. It was very good that we could make a proposal that met Avant Group’s needs at the right time.”

Taking advantage of Windows Autopatch and Power BI Pro for further convenience

Windows 365 has received great acclaim at Avant Group. “We’ll be able to solve our one remaining issue soon,” says Mr. Hanano. “We were exploring the best way to apply Windows updates to Windows 365 and whether we should do it using Intune. But recently, we learned that a service called Windows Autopatch is included in the Microsoft 365 E5 license, and we’re thinking of trying it.”

Windows Autopatch, available with a Microsoft 365 E3 or E5 license, automates update management for Windows, Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise, Microsoft Edge, and Teams. Avant Group had recently upgraded to an M365 E5 license, so the arrival of Windows Autopatch was “just the right timing,” says Mr. Hanano with a smile.

Finally, Mr. Kaga notes that to accelerate DX at Avant Group, he wants to deepen the use of the Microsoft 365 E5 license and maximize its cost benefits. “Our primary focus is to analyze and use data across the company, and the E5 license includes Power BI Pro, so we can deploy it to the entire Group. Business intelligence tends to be used mainly by management, but as the market changes and the speed of business increases, I believe that teams supporting each site will increasingly analyze and use data as a highly effective means of augmenting their own experience and knowledge. It’s necessary to examine what kind of data is required at each location and how much data can be used, but we’re now able to prepare the environment, which is a big benefit. The E5 license includes many other services as well, and we’d like to ask Nissho Electronics for continued support so that we can deepen our use appropriately.”