In the event of calamities such as storms, fires, water leaks, or large-scale events like the NATO summit in The Hague in June, which may render some offices inaccessible, COIN Availability Services provides a solution. As a specialist in business continuity, COIN ensures that organizations have fully operational disaster recovery workspaces, allowing them to continue working without interruption when their regular locations become unavailable.

The Challenge: Immediate Operational Readiness Without Compromise

COIN manages a total of 850 disaster recovery workspaces spread across the Netherlands (200), Luxembourg (600), and Belgium (50). Their clients must adhere to strict Service Level Agreements (SLAs), even during incidents such as fires, water leaks, or other unforeseen events that render their primary work location inaccessible.

When employees can no longer work from their office, they must be able to continue their tasks without interruption. COIN’s added value lies in facilitating this transition as seamlessly as possible, without lengthy configurations or manual installations. For clients, the stakes are high: failing to meet SLAs can result in reputational damage, financial losses, and even contract breaches.

In disaster recovery situations, flexibility and scalability are paramount. COIN must be able to meet the dynamic needs of clients who might face various unforeseen disruptions at any given time. The requirement is not just to deliver an immediate solution but also to scale efficiently and cost-effectively, depending on the specific circumstances.

The Solution: IGEL’s Thin Client Technology

In 2016, COIN made a strategic decision to adopt IGEL solutions. After a successful test, the company immediately bought 1,500 licenses—a success story they presented at IGEL Disrupt, IGEL’s annual event. COIN now uses IGEL OS on thin clients, managed via the IGEL Universal Management Suite (UMS).

The key benefit of IGEL to COIN

– Centralized Management: With UMS, all thin clients can be configured and managed remotely, eliminating the need for IT staff to be physically present at each workspace.

– Rapid Deployment: When a client needs a disaster recovery workspace, COIN provides a fully operational workspace immediately, with no installation time required.

– Pay-As-You-Go Model: IGEL offers COIN a flexible licensing model, enabling cost-efficient scaling during emergencies without large upfront investments. This allows COIN to guarantee availability for clients while keeping operational costs under control.

– Enhanced Security: Thin clients do not store data locally and are centrally secured, significantly reducing the risk of data breaches.

– User-Friendly Experience: Employees can log in to any thin client and immediately resume work, whether at their regular office or at a COIN disaster recovery site.

– Reduced IT Workloads: Traditional IT setups often require manual installations and frequent updates, adding to the workload. IGEL’s thin clients and centralized management not only minimize downtime but also reduce IT workloads by automating updates and configuration, enabling staff to focus on critical recovery efforts.

Results

“With IGEL, we can quickly and securely provide workspaces for our clients. Thanks to centralized management and the pay-as-you-go model, we are more flexible than ever,” confirms Keuzenkamp.

The implementation of IGEL has delivered significant benefits for COIN. Workspaces are operational immediately, minimizing client downtime. Additionally, centralized management reduces costs. From a security perspective, the solution eliminates local data storage, lowering security risks. IT workloads are also reduced, as updates are managed centrally via cloud platforms rather than on individual devices.

Outlook

COIN is now focusing on migrating to IGEL OS 12 to leverage the latest security and management capabilities. Additionally, the company looks forward to meeting similar organizations at Disrupt to exchange experiences and further strengthen the business continuity sector.

With increasing requirements for companies to have a Business Continuity Management plan, Keuzenkamp sees significant growth potential for COIN. The combination of their expertise and IGEL technology positions the company perfectly to meet this growing demand.

In a world where business disruptions can occur unexpectedly, COIN provides a reliable disaster recovery solution powered by IGEL technology. Just as fire insurance is essential for business properties, COIN acts as an insurance policy for business continuity, with IGEL thin clients serving as the technological backbone of this service.