Angel Trains’ mobility strategy rolls smoothly ahead.

The Organisation

Angel Trains is one of Britain’s leading train leasing companies and has been an owner and lessor of rolling stock since 1994. The company leases to all 19 franchised operators and two open access operators in the UK. Angel Trains is passionate about financing and delivering high quality modern assets to its customers and is committed to working with the Government, the Rail Delivery Group (“RDG”), the Rail Supply Group (“RSG”) and other stakeholders to provide innovative funding solutions to modernise and improve the UK’s train fleet. Angel Trains has invested £4.7 billion in new rolling stock and refurbishment programmes since 1994 and is one of the largest private investors in the industry

The Challenge

Angel Trains is a highly mobile business. With the majority of users  regularly work remotely, the company has carefully managed the transition from an all-BlackBerry® estate to a mixed device environment, while gradually introducing additional mobile capabilities.

The launch of BES12 allowed Angel Trains to standardise on a single device management platform, accommodating Android™ and iOS^® devices alongside the BlackBerry smartphones. BlackBerry Secure Connect Plus enables users working remotely to access intranet-based services from their mobile devices, while BlackBerry Secure Gateway allows native email clients to access the Exchange email server without exposing it to the internet.

“The evolution of BlackBerry as a total EMM solution has allowed us to evolve our own mobility management in line with our users’ needs. The latest migration proceeded far more smoothly than I expected, thanks to the expertise of Appurity’s engineers in dealing with the more complex aspects of the multi-platform integration.” says Anthony Albon, IT Support Manager, Angel Trains.

The Solution

Angel Trains is an early adopter. At least, earlier than most. It was quick to embrace BlackBerry^®and was using email on the move almost as soon as it was possible.

But, as you might expect from a multi-billion-pound financial services business, it tempers that taste for the leading edge with an admirable degree of caution. IT Support Manager Anthony Albon is at pains to make it clear that his philosophy is about innovation with purpose.

“Our users have always liked their BlackBerry devices,” says Anthony Albon, “but the arrival of the iPhone, and then Android, brought demand for alternatives.

“The launch of BES^®10 allowed us to bring iOS devices into a single mobility management solution. Then BES®12 simplified things further, and we’re able to manage everything through a single dashboard.”

As screens have got bigger, with tablets and the new generation of smartphones, the business case became clear for making more LAN services available across the mobile network.

“We’ve introduced the BlackBerry Secure Connect Plus per-app VPN, which has allowed us to give users access to services that were previously behind the firewall,” says Anthony Albon.

“We have an Oracle E-Business Suite deployment, for example, and we’ve rolled out the Fusion Expenses package for mobile users. We’re also using Cisco Jabber for chat, videoconferencing and general collaboration.

“For us, business mobility has to be about productivity and efficiency, and bigger screens make these solutions practical for mobile devices.”

The Result

Angel Trains has also adopted BlackBerry Secure Gateway, which allows native email clients to connect directly to the on-premise Microsoft Exchange 2013 email server. This means that users get the full benefit of the mobile-optimised email experience, without exposing the server to the risk of connection outside the firewall.

Appurity worked with the Angel Trains team to help manage the move from BES10 to BES12.

“The migration proceeded far more smoothly than I expected,” says Anthony Albon. “The BlackBerry devices obviously presented no problems, but the iOS devices had to be re-enrolled, and Appurity’s experience in this area saved us a lot of time and avoided wasted effort.”

BES12 has also simplified routine management, with moves, adds and changes made less complex. Once the BES12 client has been installed on a new or replacement device, users can complete activation themselves, simply by entering their email address and an activation password.

The next step for Angel Trains will be the introduction of single sign-on authentication, using password or fingerprint verification.

“The evolution of BlackBerry as a total EMM solution has allowed us to evolve our own mobility management in line with our users’ needs,” says Anthony Albon. “Appurity have been valuable partners, with a genuine understanding of our business that has allowed us to plan and implement our mobility strategy efficiently and cost-effectively.”