Secure access anytime: How Siemens meets zero trust requirements with Windows 365

The challenge: Maintenance-intensive, outdated infrastructure meets modern workplace

As a leading technology group, Siemens has been shaping the transition to the digital age right from the start—for itself and its customers. The company works with sensitive data that needs to be protected accordingly and therefore relies on a zero trust model in which access to company resources by people, devices, and services is not automatically classified as trustworthy. To ensure secure access, Siemens IT would have to provide many users, including external consultants, trainers, and auditors, with their own devices. The same applies to new employees who join the workforce at short notice due to, say, a company merger, and require temporary access until they are fully integrated, or developers who use special digital tools for their work. “In all these cases, we need a trustworthy device and a verified identity in our IT landscape—even if the access is only intended to be temporary,” says Hendrik Harder, Global Service Owner Virtual Client at Siemens. Setting up and providing hardware each time, perhaps sending it across national borders if necessary, is expensive, time-consuming, and also decidedly inconvenient for the user.

“These processes at Siemens should be as fast, lean, simple, and flexible as possible. That’s why the departments can book virtual digital workstations with us. These are working environments that are no longer tied to physical devices but can be accessed virtually from anywhere and guarantee authorized access to company resources,” Harder says. However, the old on‑premises landscape for the virtual workplace, supplied by an external provider, was unable to scale flexibly. Capacity couldn’t be adapted in an agile manner if, for example, demand for workstations increased or decreased significantly or if workstations required other functions. And there was another aspect that was decisive for Harder: “The previous solution didn’t fully support our zero trust strategy. To ensure a uniform standard, all the devices we use have to be monitored via Microsoft Intune. Several requirements for a modern workplace were no longer being met.” At the same time, operating and managing the infrastructure tied up resources in the Siemens IT team.

“We wanted a solution that scales flexibly and meets all our requirements in terms of security and stability,” Harder says. “A software-as-a-service, or SaaS, solution was the obvious choice. Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365 as a fully-fledged cloud PC were the technologies of choice for us, as we could continue to use our existing expertise from our Microsoft environment.”

The solution: Fast deployment, lower operating costs, and zero trust at all times, thanks to Windows 365

The new solution was set up within six months. After another three months, all workstations had been fully migrated and the old solution could be switched off as planned. “We estimated in advance how usage would be distributed across the two services,” Harder says. “In the end, however, it didn’t matter from a technical perspective because we were now able to scale flexibly. Users could order freely from us without our having to make any major adjustments. We got a lot of positive feedback.” Siemens IT now provides a simple, fast, and high-performance solution: Azure Virtual Desktop is the perfect application for anyone who needs to access only certain resources, while Windows 365 offers all the functions of a physical device as a cloud PC.

The fact that the applications are close together in the cloud reduces latency times—that is, the time it takes for a data packet to get to the server and back again—from the user’s perspective. Large files load faster because no capacity is required on the computer; everything runs via the virtual cloud PC. “With Windows 365, a virtual workstation is set up and available after a maximum of two hours. It used to take up to two days,” Harder reports. “This is real progress for when hardware breaks down or a workstation is needed at short notice.” With quick configuration options, profiles can be made available as required. The division into different authorization groups also makes it possible to make changes to several profiles simultaneously. 

In general, Siemens IT benefits from the SaaS solution in many ways: the team no longer has to set up its own infrastructure for virtual workstations, implement updates, or integrate new services. This all happens automatically and simplifies administration and billing, as the licenses are easy to manage and assign. “Windows 365 gives us the opportunity to achieve more as a well-coordinated team. This also keeps costs stable,” Harder explains. “The combination of the various Microsoft components helps us set up and configure services in a modern way and integrate them into existing systems—which frees up time for other value-adding activities.”

However, Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365 score the most points in the area of security. “With Windows 365, we fully meet our zero trust requirements. Regardless of which device is used to access the services, we can clearly separate professional and private data,” Harder says. In addition, in the event of problems, employees’ systems can be easily restored or reset with a single click. Traditional hardware damage, such as falls or water damage, is ruled out from the outset with the cloud PC and, compared to a physical PC, employees are back up and running more quickly as there’s no longer any need to send in or replace hardware.

The analysis tools integrated into the new solution allow Harder and his team to take a detailed look at usage: “If we see that users are constantly exhausting the performance of their account, we can actively recommend a different performance class—and do so before frustration arises and a ticket is created,” he says. The same applies in reverse: if too little performance is being used, IT recommends a lower performance class. This keeps costs and employee satisfaction in balance.

Harder sums it up: “In companies that already use Microsoft solutions and have virtual workstations in place, Windows 365 can cover various application scenarios with optimum flexibility. We’re already seeing individual users using the virtual workplace exclusively via their smartphone. Cloud PCs, therefore, have the potential to permanently replace physical PCs in the future.” This model will also be considered at Siemens, so employees can continue to complete their tasks in the best possible and most secure way—while making efficient use of company resources.