Success Story: Revolutionizing Engineering Workflows for Allison Transmission with Horizon Cloud on Azure

Client: Allison Transmission

Project: High-Performance Engineering VDI on Horizon Cloud on Azure

Team: Virtuserv Architects & Senior Engineers

The Challenge: Unleashing Engineering Potential Beyond the Physical Workstation

Allison Transmission, a global leader in commercial-duty propulsion solutions, faced a strategic imperative to modernize its engineering environment. Their world-class engineering teams, the engine of their innovation, were constrained by a traditional physical workstation model. This presented significant operational friction, including challenges with secure remote access for high-end graphical applications, inconsistent performance across distributed teams, and long lead times for provisioning the high-performance computing resources required for complex design and simulation workflows.

The core challenge was to architect a solution that could centralize and secure their intellectual property while providing their engineers with on-demand, uncompromised access to GPU-accelerated computing power, from any location.

The Solution: A Bespoke, High-Performance VDI Architecture on Azure

Our team of senior architects spearheaded the end-to-end design and deployment of a sophisticated Virtual Desktop Infrastructure platform, leveraging Horizon Cloud on Azure to meet these demanding requirements. This was not a standard VDI rollout; it was a bespoke solution engineered specifically for high-performance computing.

Our technical execution involved several key pillars:

1. Robust and Secure Network Orchestration: We architected a highly available network framework to ensure secure, scalable, and reliable access to the Horizon Cloud environment. This design provided low-latency connectivity for users both on-premise and outside the corporate network, ensuring a consistent and performant user experience.
2. Zero-Trust Security Framework: To protect Allison Transmission’s invaluable intellectual property, we integrated Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) into the core access framework. This foundational step bolstered data protection by ensuring rigorous user identity verification before granting access to any engineering resources or data.
3. Tailored Engineering Use Cases: We moved beyond a one-size-fits-all approach by developing and implementing four specialized Windows use cases. These were meticulously crafted to support the full spectrum of engineering workflows, from critical software development tools to intensive project management platforms, enhancing both productivity and cross-team collaboration.
4. GPU-Accelerated Performance: Recognizing the graphical intensity of modern engineering applications, we integrated two distinct GPU-enabled images within the Horizon Cloud environment. This provided the necessary graphical processing power for high-demand applications like CAD and advanced simulation software, delivering performance on par with, or exceeding, that of dedicated physical workstations.
5. Optimized Resource Allocation Strategy: To balance user experience with cost-efficiency, we deployed a strategic mix of persistent and non-persistent desktop images. Persistent desktops were allocated to engineers requiring customized environments, while non-persistent pools served use cases where a pristine, standardized desktop was sufficient, allowing for highly efficient resource management and cost control.

Finally, our team authored comprehensive design documentation, capturing the intricacies of the Horizon Cloud on Azure architecture, network design, security measures, and application deployment strategies. This created a valuable, living blueprint for Allison Transmission’s team to manage, scale, and govern the environment effectively.

The Result: A Paradigm Shift in Engineering Agility and Security

The successful implementation of Horizon Cloud on Azure has fundamentally transformed Allison Transmission’s engineering capabilities, delivering measurable, high-impact results.

• Accelerated Innovation Cycles: Engineers now have immediate, on-demand access to GPU-accelerated desktops, eliminating provisioning delays and enabling them to run complex simulations and render designs faster than ever before.
• Fortified Intellectual Property: By centralizing data and applications within Azure and enforcing MFA, we have drastically reduced the attack surface and mitigated the risk of data leakage from distributed physical endpoints.
• Enhanced Global Collaboration: The platform provides a unified, high-performance environment accessible from anywhere, empowering Allison Transmission’s global engineering teams to collaborate seamlessly on complex projects in real-time.
• Increased Operational and Cost Efficiency: The strategic blend of desktop types and the elastic nature of the Azure cloud provides a highly cost-effective model, ensuring resources are consumed efficiently while providing the power needed for peak demand.

This project has successfully provided Allison Transmission with a secure, scalable, and future-proof platform, establishing a new benchmark for engineering excellence and providing them with a distinct competitive advantage.