// END-USER INSIGHT //

6. Potentially £ 35,000 saved not hiring an additional employee to support VDI by leveraging the ControlUp DEX platform.

7. Problem solving time has drastically reduced using ControlUp information as real-time data about what is happening within the IT environment is provided, thereby pinpointing issues faster. VDI can now be fully optimised to cater for the peaks and troughs of project workflow, without the‘ over spec-ing’ of IT hardware required which reduces ICT costs.

Project next steps

SIMPSONHAUGH IS CURRENTLY WORKING TO EXPAND ITS VDI ENVIRONMENT TO COVER THE WHOLE BUSINESS.

SimpsonHaugh is currently working to expand its VDI environment to cover the whole business. This will take three to five years to complete. The strategy is to replace workstations as they approach end of life rather than waste perfectly good IT equipment.

In addition, SimpsonHaugh is upgrading its corporate network to a 25 Gigabit Ethernet backbone to further support the end-user experience. The practice is also purchasing higher resolution 2k and 4k screens for staff and introducing Nutanix data storage to manage the virtual server environment.

SimpsonHaugh is also working on other ICT innovation projects such as introducing privately hosted AI using private data across the practice( where powerful networking and compute is paramount) – a key priority given the impact AI is making on the architecture profession.

Private AI is the only option because of client project confidentiality issues – where strict NDAs are signed – with SimpsonHaugh using three types of AI engine:

• Word AI. This is an expanding area and involves the automation of tasks such as minutes of meetings, site reports and schedules.

• Image AI. This is a new area and will involve using AI to create detailed images of early-stage design proposals based on sketches and LLM text inputted into an AI system. This will take into account a range of parameters like site orientation, type of cladding material( brick, render, glass etc), with the AI tools generating options in a SimpsonHaugh‘ style’ to facilitate communication of ideas. The practice is reviewing using ComfyUI and Microsoft Copilot as possible solutions.

• Generative AI. This branch of AI is well established and used to support work such as the production of parametric designs. The planning of space layouts in a building is an excellent example. Using Generative AI, you can stretch a grid in any given direction to change the number and types of spaces within a given architectural form.

“ The project to introduce VDI and our DEX platform has boosted operational performance at SimpsonHaugh and put in place infrastructure to support the practice’ s needs in the future,” said Simon Townsend, Senior VP of Marketing at ControlUp.“ Endusers cannot tell whether they are using a physical workstation or desktop served by VDI – the implementation has been that well managed – and the speed of rollout was fast and disruption minimal because of extensive pre-implementation design and planning work carried out by ebb3.” �

46 Intelligent SME. tech