Accessing Lilly Applications Post-tenant Migration

We’ve had a lot of questions relating to the different experiences that application users will have depending on what phase of the cutover they are in. This article is giving an update on virtualisation options being explored for users’ post-tenant migration

Users who have been cutover to the new Elanco network, and have a new Elanco device

Some users may be migrated to the new Elanco IT services, before the applications that they use are migrated. In this situation, users would need to get back to the Lilly network to use these applications. To address this, we are exploring virtualisation options for users.

The virtualisation options available from Lilly:
 

1. Application virtualisation – This resembles the legacy Citrix offerings. Users are placed in a security group to grant access. Users can navigate to virtual.lilly.com from their browser, and login with their Lilly credentials to access Citrix Receiver. Once signed in they can choose from the virtualized applications available to them. We will also install the Citrix client/receiver on our new Elanco build devices.
2. Hosted Shared Desktop – Essentially a non-persistent desktop, providing the familiarity of a desktop during use with personal customisations applied, however nothing gets saved to it. Underlying applications are installed on windows server 2016.
3. Persistent Win10 desktops – Similar in build and capability to a physical win10 laptop. Allows data to be saved between sessions.

Option 1 is the lowest cost per user.

What does this mean for application owners?

We believe that the first option above, is likely to fit the majority of use cases in Elanco. However, currently the only applications which can be accessed virtually like this are the applications that Lilly have added as standard for their users e.g. SAP, Internet Explorer.

 This means that application owners will need to consider some questions if they want their applications to be virtualised:
 

1. Can your application be accessed through a web browser?
2. If not web browser accessible, can your application be packaged for virtualisation?
3. Do your users need to upload documents to the application from their desktop?
4. Do users need a desktop which persists between sessions e.g. for storage of data etc?

Has your application already been virtualised? Please let ETS know so we can add this to our offering.

What’s happening next?
We have some representatives from the Commercial and Manufacturing IT area testing the first option above, to give feedback on the experience, speed and functionality available. We need to establish if this solution is feasible and appropriate for Elanco, and what edge cases this solution might not meet. If you would like to be involved in the testing, or you have feedback/concerns on these options, please contact Jo Joss in ETS.

Has this article raised questions for you? Is there a topic you’d like more information on?  Give us a shout on the ETS – Ask Us Anything Teams channel.  We want to hear from you!