UNC Health Care is a not-for-profit integrated health care system owned by the state of North Carolina and based in Chapel Hill. The healthcare system is currently comprised of UNC Hospitals and its provider network, the clinical programs of the UNC School of Medicine, and nine affiliate hospitals and hospital systems.

Imminent VDI Roll-Out Drives Need for Consistent End-User Computing Experience

In early 2015, UNC Health Care began preparing for a system-wide Citrix VDI roll-out and needed to identify a endpoint solution that would support the VDI deployment and provide a consistent end-user experience across the health care system’s hospital campuses and facilities located throughout the State of North Carolina.

“Some of our hospitals already had endpoint solutions in place, so we began our search by attending Citrix Synergy where we were able to learn more about the various options available to us through Citrix’s ecosystem partners,” said James Cole, Technical Architect, UNC Health Care.

The Citrix Synergy 2015 event in Orlando, Fla. was where Cole’s team first learned about IGEL. “There was a lot of good buzz surrounding IGEL at that event, and everyone we met had nothing but good things to say about the company,“ continued Cole. “We left the event feeling quite impressed with IGEL and its endpoint and software solutions offerings.”

“Bake-Off” Demonstrates IGEL’s Value Proposition

Several UNC Health Care locations already had endpoints from another manufacturer in place so before selecting a new solution to support the VDI roll-out, Cole’s team decided to host a “bake-off” between endpoints to determine which solution would provide the health care system with the best end-user computing experience.

“IGEL won hands down due to the exceptional performance of its Universal Desktop Converter software,” said Cole. “The other solution offered a desktop conversion software, but we found it to be inconsistent in terms of performance and reliability.”

Simplicity and Cost-Savings Seal the Deal

As part of the “bake-off,” UNC Health Care also evaluated IGEL’s Universal Management Suite (UMS), a software solution that enables organizations to efficiently manage their workspace environments while reducing the cost, time and effort associated with remote endpoint security and optimization.

“The simplicity and superiority of IGEL’s management capabilities were a key selling point for us,” said Cole. “And, because the IGEL UDC software is designed to quickly and efficiently convert existing endpoints, desktops, and endpoints into IGEL Linux OS-powered endpoints, we knew that in selecting the IGEL solution we would also realize a significant reduction in our capital expenditures.”

Benefits of IGEL Deployment Include Time Savings and Enhanced Security

Since initiating the deployment of the IGEL UDC and UMS software, UNC Health Care has experienced significant time savings. “Prior to deploying the IGEL UDC and UMS software, it took our team 25-30 minutes to create a virtual image on each system, not counting the personalization of the system for each use case, now that process takes less than 10 minutes, and even less time when converting the system to VDI roaming,” said Cole.

Additionally, the ease of integration between the IGEL UDC and IGEL UMS with Citrix XenDesktop and other solutions offered by Citrix Ecosystem partners, including Imprivata, has enabled secure access to the health care network’s EPIC EMR system.

“The customization capabilities available through both IGEL and Imprivata have enabled us to create two secure configurations – Roaming mode which allows our physicians and health care staff to simply tap their badge to securely login to their desktop from any Roaming endpoint or Kiosk mode which stays logged in, but runs programs under the user’s context. Users are required to type in their password only twice a day, the rest of the time they simply tap the employee badge on the card reader to login automatically” continued Cole.

Big Plans in Store for Citrix VDI and IGEL

When UNC Health Care has completed its Citrix VDI roll-out, Cole expects that the number of VDI desktops will top 15,000 across the health care system’s entire operations.

“We are thrilled to be working with IGEL look forward to adding more IGEL desktops as we scale our VDI deployment further,” concluded Cole. “They have been great to work with thus far, are always quick to respond to any questions or concerns, and their technical support has been exceptional.”