VDI & Secure Remote Access Deployment for Sri Lanka Customs Department

Date: September 2020
Location: Colombo, Sri Lanka

Overview
In response to increasing demands for flexible work and stringent data security, MillenniumPaths Foundation’s MillenniumIT ESP team delivered a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and secure remote access platform to the Sri Lanka Customs Department. Our turnkey solution enabled hundreds of officers to access critical applications from anywhere, without compromising on compliance or performance.

The Challenge
The department’s legacy remote-desktop gateway supported fewer than 50 simultaneous connections, lacked load balancing, and provided weak encryption. Remote work was nearly impossible, and business continuity plans failed to protect against natural-disaster or pandemic-related disruptions.

Our Approach

  1. Assessment & Capacity Planning

    • Profiled usage patterns for core customs applications

    • Determined compute, memory and storage requirements

  2. VDI Architecture & Security

    • Designed a VMware Horizon cluster with multiple Connection Servers for high availability

    • Integrated multi-factor authentication (MFA) via Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS)

  3. Secure Network Tunneling

    • Deployed an SSL VPN with geofencing and IP whitelisting

    • Encrypted all traffic using AES-256 to meet regulatory standards

Implementation Highlights

  • Provisioned 200 virtual desktops pre-loaded with customs-specific applications

  • Configured dynamic resource pools to optimize hardware utilization

  • Conducted comprehensive security audits and penetration tests

Results

  • Scaled to support 1,500 concurrent remote sessions at peak

  • Achieved 99.9% platform uptime in the first year

  • Reduced remote-access helpdesk tickets by 50%, freeing IT to focus on strategic initiatives

“With MillenniumPaths Foundation’s VDI rollout, we achieved true operational resilience. Our officers can now serve citizens seamlessly from any location.”
— IT Director, Sri Lanka Customs Department