April 22, 2021

It is hereby announced that All Nippon Airways (hereinafter referred to as “ANA”; Representative Director & President: Hiroshi Hirako; Minato-ku, Tokyo) has adopted the ZENMU Virtual Desktop (hereinafter referred to as “ZVD”). This system, provided by ZenmuTech, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as “ZenmuTech”; Representative Director & CEO: Zenichi Taguchi; Chuo-ku, Tokyo), will serve as the company’s next-generation internal client standard. Against the backdrop of the proactive use of cloud computing in recent years by ANA and with the cooperation of Nomura Research Institute, Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “NRI”; Representative Director, Chairman & President: Shingo Konomoto; Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo), ANA began a full rollout of secure ZVD-based FAT terminals to supplement the conventional client environment, which consists of VDI, and is slated to carry out a full-scale company-wide deployment in the latter half of 2021. It will be one of the largest examples of ZVD deployments in Japan when all is said and done.

Fig. 1. Figure depicting the adoption of next-generation infrastructure

ANA had been using VDI as an IT environment for the realization of flexible working styles while it maintained information security. However, as the use of VDI spread across more than 10,000 users in Japan and overseas, addressing needs in terms of reducing usage costs and improving response times became an urgent matter. At the same time, the use of applications that were not very compatible with VDI, such as those used for videoconferencing in the context of a teleworking arrangements, likewise came to be identified as a challenge to be resolved.

To this end, the technology was evaluated upon identifying four points as functions for next-generation terminals:

  (1) Can be safely removed from the office
  (2) Can use applications in a highly responsive manner
  (3) Can be used in ways that align well with new-normal ways of working
  (4) Costs less

Consequently, the company decided to try to both reduce terminal-operating costs and establish a secure and comfortable work environment by adopting a secure FAT terminal system that works by using secret-sharing technology to distribute and store data in the cloud even as applications run on terminals.

The design and development of these terminal functions will be carried out by NRI working jointly with ANA Systems Co., Ltd., which provides IT services for the ANA Group, and services ranging from terminal distribution to user support will be fully provided.

Reasons for adopting ZENMU Virtual Desktop (ZVD)

1) Reduces adoption and operating costs while making sure that the prevention of the risk of information leaks is maintained at the usual level

Adoption and operating costs per unit can be kept low while making sure that the prevention of the risk of information leaks is maintained with conventional VDI.

2) Improves user operability and productivity without having to expand the infrastructure environment

As the percentage of workers working from home rises, the network infrastructure or other devices must be expanded in order to maintain the operability of network-dependent VDI. A solution that enables a return to FAT terminals in order to avoid network expansion while user operability and productivity are maintained is ideal.

3) Optimizes for zero trust

VDI is fundamentally intended to facilitate the use of internal systems. As cloud computing continues to grow, the concentration of the accessing of services will result in wasted traffic. The return of FAT clients to accommodate the decentralized structure of the workplace in the future will also lead to optimization for zero trust.

■ Outline of ZENMU Virtual Desktop (ZVD)

ZVD uses proprietary secret-sharing technology to create a virtual drive on the PC and distribute and manage data on the virtual drive between the PC and the cloud. In order to make maximum use of PC resources, ZVD is unaffected by the network environment and can also be used offline. In addition, when a theft or loss is noticed, the user or an administrator can prevent access to data fragments in the cloud to make it impossible to physically recover user data, thereby reducing the risk of information leaks from a PC.