Samsung Engineering Streams Complex Apps Using Amazon AppStream 2.0

Global engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) company Samsung Engineering was founded in 1970. Since then, the company has grown from a modest Korean engineering firm to an international leader. Employing more than 5,500 people in 40 countries, it generates $5 billion in revenue annually. It designs, builds, and manages large, high-value facilities in the oil and gas processing, refinery, petrochemicals, industrial, and environmental sectors.

Samsung Engineering recently chose Amazon AppStream 2.0 from Amazon Web Services (AWS) as its platform for streaming EPC design and information management apps. This has enabled the company to reduce costs, improve collaboration, and accelerate expansion. Amazon AppStream 2.0 is a fully managed application streaming service that allows organizations to centrally manage desktop applications and securely deliver them to any computer.

“Samsung Engineering’s success relies on having the most advanced design and information management solutions available,” says Jeong Hoon Lee, senior engineer at Samsung Engineering. “We rely on applications provided by Hexagon PPM, the world’s leading provider of enterprise engineering software and project control solutions.” For 2D and 3D design, Samsung Engineering uses Hexagon’s plant design solutions, including Smart 3D, SmartPlant Instrumentation, SmartPlant P&ID, and Smart Electrical. For client collaboration, the company takes advantage of Hexagon SmartPlant Foundation.

“Our construction sites and partners are located all over the world, including North and Central America, Asia, the Middle East, and Europe,” says Lee. “Once a project order is obtained from a local client, it is necessary for us to promptly establish the design server infrastructure locally in order to provide a consistent work environment for partners in the interest of efficient collaboration.”

However, these applications are highly compute-intensive. “Deploying them in each region where we operated required us to source, deploy, and manage complex and costly on-premises infrastructure for each project,” says Lee. In addition, access issues and latency made it difficult to bring partners and customers into the project workflow.

For these reasons, Samsung Engineering decided to move its Hexagon design suite to Amazon AppStream 2.0. Lee says, “Using AppStream 2.0, we have been able to virtualize Hexagon solutions while providing a fluid, low-latency experience, accessible via a web browser.”

Samsung Engineering no longer needs to deploy on-premises infrastructure to support its Hexagon applications in the regions where it operates. “We save about 20 percent of the cost of purchasing and maintaining on-premises design infrastructure,” says Lee. “Additionally, we have reduced the personnel required to manage it from four people to one.”

It’s also dramatically faster to get started with a new project. “Previously, establishing infrastructure required about two months for quotation, purchase, and installation, but we can now complete that in just a few days,” Lee notes.

Each user has a fluid and responsive experience with Hexagon applications because of highly optimized virtual machines and the fact that each streaming session automatically adjusts to network conditions. “By using AppStream 2.0, we empower our customers and designers to collaborate on a wide range of devices from virtually any location,” says Lee. “We don’t have to be concerned about performance because it always delivers what we need.”

Simplifying infrastructure management allows field staff to focus on value-added tasks. Samsung Engineering can now expand into new markets without the delays caused by the previous procurement process. “Plant operators continue to expect faster time-to-market and greater participation in the design process,” says Lee. “Samsung Engineering relies on the advanced virtualization capabilities of Amazon AppStream 2.0 to maintain a competitive edge.”

To learn more, visit aws.amazon.com/appstream2.