Teaming with IGEL allowed the healthcare provider to manage the security and deployment of its Windows OS-based endpoints more efficiently and gain better visibility.

Business Challenge

Connecticut Orthopaedics, a premier team of orthopaedic doctors, surgeons and health care professionals, has over 700 daily users. They include medical practitioners, call center staff, billing, and finance teams, and its IT team supports all of them. As each user has different needs and requirements, the healthcare provider has struggled to gain visibility and increase efficiencies when managing the security and deployment of its Windows OS-based endpoints, which are required to run its core applications.

According to Mark Filiault, Connecticut Orthopaedics’ CIO, while Windows has been a great platform to scale its operations, the healthcare provider found it difficult to create a secure environment for its Windows-based workstations and mobile devices.”This is primarily because these devices frequently connect and disconnect from the network or need to operate outside our secure network zones,” Filiault said. “Achieving visibility into the security posture of these devices and ensuring Zero Trust access in such circumstances is quite challenging.”

Additionally, the growing demand for remote desktop services led Filiault and his team to explore Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI).“We were committed to supporting a percentage of our business using Windows Remote Desktop (RDP) services, but the events of 2020 and before accelerated the need to deliver a broader range of services to their user community, which Windows RDP could not provide,” Filiault added.

The IGEL Solution

After extensive research and engagement with Gotham Technology, an IGEL Elite partner and the healthcare provider’s technology consultant, IGEL was selected for its security, flexibility, vendor-agnostic approach, and strong management capabilities.

“IGEL’s solution stood out for its ability to deliver a secure, manageable, and scalable endpoint management platform that could accommodate the diverse needs of our user base,” said Filiault.

The healthcare provider began its journey with IGEL in April 2023, beginning with a proof of concept that quickly led to a full deployment by August 2023.“Our initial deployment included over 650 endpoints, marking a significant milestone with a little over half of our devices now running IGEL OS,” noted Filiault. “Gotham Technology played a critical role in this project, and we leveraged their professional services team to build our endpoint infrastructure and create a robust management stack.”

The Outcome

The move to IGEL has transformed Connecticut Orthopaedics’ delivery of desktops and applications to its end users, enabling the healthcare provider to achieve a stronger Zero Trust framework through the IGEL Preventative Security Model and significantly streamline endpoint management. Filiault reports that the healthcare provider can now access real-time analytics across its fleet of endpoints with IGEL OS. “The investment in IGEL has paid off with more than half the fleet consistently reporting timely and accurate data, which was not feasible with our previous solution,” said Filiault.

Filiault added, “One of the most surprising outcomes was the minimal feedback from end users, indicating a seamless transition despite significant changes in the backend. The ease of transition can directly be attributed to the diligent work of our IT team and the comprehensive support provided by IGEL, from pre-sales to post-sales and technical support.”

IGEL technical support minimized delays

And while the project was not without its share of challenges, Filiault said he and his team went in with eyes open, having navigated attempts at change management before this, “While we did face a few obstacles related to the hardware devices we were using, we were very impressed by the level of support we received from IGEL during this time. In each case, their engineering quickly identified ways to address and fix the challenges we faced. Their diligence minimized any delays we encountered as a result. For us, this was a huge indicator of the project’s success and demonstrated a partnership that included the reseller and manufacturer working closely with the customer to solve the challenge,” he said.

Connecticut Orthopaedics continues to explore IGEL’s capabilities within its environment, integrating with other technologies and vendors, including Okta Identity Access and Management; Electronic Medical Records (EMR)/Electronic Health Records (EHR), including Epic’s cloud-based solutions; and Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) including VMware Horizon Workspace.

“IGEL allowed us to deploy Epic to our users without burning VMware Horizon VDI resources, as Epic is delivered via Citrix VDI through our relationship with Hartford Healthcare,” noted Filiault. “This has saved data center compute resources, reduced licensing costs, enhanced endpoint security, and improved efficiencies across our organization.”

Relationship opens up new opportunities with technology partners

“Our relationship with IGEL has also opened up opportunities for us to leverage solutions offered by their technology partners,” said Filiault. “For example, we recently started using LG’s thin clients in our facilities, starting with 15 of the LG All-in-One thin clients now deployed within our ambulatory surgical center.”

Connecticut Orthopaedics plans to leverage IGEL’s platform and its technology partners’ solutions to enhance our IT infrastructure and support its mission of providing exceptional medical care. “The partnership between Connecticut Orthopaedics and IGEL represents a successful transition to a more secure, manageable, and scalable IT environment and is demonstrative of how IGEL addresses complex business challenges while helping our customers achieve their technology goals,” said Jason Mafera, Field CTO, North America, IGEL.

The Environment

• VMware Horizon Workspace
• Citrix VDI
• Okta Identity Access and Management
• Epic (EMR/EHR)
• LG All-in-One thin clients

The Customer

Connecticut Orthopaedics is a premier team of orthopaedic doctors, surgeons and health care professionals who provide compassionate and innovative care at over 20 locations across central and southern Connecticut – including Urgent Care, Walk-In centers, Sports Therapy, Rehab locations, and three state-of-the-art surgical centers. Founded in 1963, Connecticut Orthopaedics is New England’s largest privately-owned orthopaedic practice.