Case Study: North Pacific Bank boosts branch efficiency and customer service while cutting IT costs with Citrix XenDesktop

North Pacific Bank improves branch efficiency and customer service with XenDesktop

North Pacific Bank, a regional bank headquartered in Sapporo with 188 branches in Hokkaido, faced an aging, compartmentalized terminal environment: most PCs were over six years old, staff needed up to three different terminals to perform tasks, and migration from Windows XP/IE6 to Windows 7/IE8 threatened application compatibility. The bank also had tight cost constraints and a need to support legacy client/server applications while improving branch efficiency and customer service.

The bank implemented a Citrix XenDesktop/XenApp virtual desktop solution hosted on Hyper‑V to deliver centrally managed Windows 7 desktop images and multiple browser versions, enabling gradual migration and support for legacy apps. Consolidating multiple terminals into one per user, using provisioning services for automated updates and SmartAuditor for application logging, improved customer service and administration, reduced hardware and customization costs, and is expected to cut PCs by about 20% and deliver substantial annual savings (tens of millions of yen) along with significant power reductions; rollout across branches and plans for ~3,500 thin clients and 1,500 Windows terminals are under way.

North Pacific Bank

Makoto Sakurai

Senior Manager, System Department