It’s clear from the headlines that today’s approach to endpoint security isn’t working: take your OS, install antivirus, the latest XDR and DLP, make a lot of settings, harden that with custom scripts, install your applications, keep updating those applications and the OS and the AV and DLP….. and hope that all these steps keep the wolf from the door and the ransomware out of your systems.  Does your business financial data, personal health information or any other data feel secure?

With many of today’s workloads moving from the endpoint to SaaS, DaaS, VDI or being accessed through secure browsers, and many organizations looking at how to apply Zero Trust, isn’t it time to re-evaluate the endpoint?

What if you could put an endpoint OS into your workforce’s hands that was designed for the cloud-first world that doesn’t need high levels of care and feeding to remain healthy? Something that is more robust by its nature, that had built-in preventative components or measures, as in “Prevention is better than cure.”?

IGEL OS applies a number of core principles that make it a secure choice as an endpoint OS – the Preventative Security Model.

A Safe Place for Your Data

The best place for your business data is definitely not on the endpoint device that could be lost, stolen, left on a plane,   Put your applications and data on servers in a data center – whether you call this approach server-based computing, VDI, cloud, DaaS or SaaS. Windows and its applications run great there, SaaS applications have proven to be more secure than the endpoint – patched by professionals, constantly updated, protected by network security, physical security, fire protection, uninterruptible power supplies, backup, failover…

With this approach, your endpoint can run a minimal system that excels in securely enabling access to your hosted workloads. The endpoint now holds nothing of interest for an attacker – ticking the device box for your Zero Trust review.

Encrypted

The configuration information which is the only item of potential value is stored by IGEL OS on a separate disk partition encrypted with industry-standard AES256 in XTS-plain64 mode with 512 bits of key material. If your hardware supports TPM 2.0, IGEL OS will use it to protect the encryption keys.

Read-Only Is Robust

The rest of IGEL OS, its Linux operating system and the programs, are mounted read-only. This means that a user  – or malware – can’t change them by mistake or by ill intent. And it also means that malware can’t find a foothold there and persist. Its solid Linux foundation kept NHS hospitals using IGEL OS functioning when many others were brought down by the WannaCry malware wave that affected Windows in 2017.

Additionally, all the disk partitions on IGEL OS are cryptographically hashed and signed. This guarantees they come from IGEL and have not been tampered with. The signatures are checked on every boot, during runtime, and before you install a system update or an IGEL OS app. Also, IGEL uses UEFI Secure Boot with a signed bootloader and Linux Kernel to make sure the booted system is trustworthy.

Endpoint Control

Besides this core OS robustness, IGEL’s Universal Management Suite (UMS) lets you lock down every IGEL’s endpoint to control everything from a system’s network configuration to when the screensaver and screenlock kick in. With the IGEL App Portal, you install only what your staff need to do their work, and nothing more. IGEL native apps are available from Citrix, VMware, Imprivata, Cisco, Okta and more.  IGEL OS logs can be forwarded to your SIEM of choice integrating with your monitoring and alerting frameworks for familiar and coherent visibility.

Restore and Update Fast

It is also easy to replace an IGEL OS endpoint that has failed: IGEL ships from the factory on HEP, Lenovo and LG devices, or you can IGEL an existing device that you may have to hand within a matter of minutes. A complete factory reset on the existing hardware will pull down its latest configuration and apps from UMS and is ready to be used.

Due to the much smaller IGEL OS footprint, a full system update finishes within a few minutes and can be scheduled outside office hours using UMS. IGEL’s failsafe update keeps the previous system as a fallback should the update fail, maybe because of a power cut. This means that an IGEL OS device will always be able to boot, get on the network and keep employees productive.

Tested and Trusted

To make and keep IGEL OS secure IGEL has a dedicated Security Team and employs a Secure Software Development Lifecycle (SSDLC) that covers all steps from the idea and design of a new feature up to its release in a new product version. It contains in-house tasks as diverse as threat modeling, design review, code review, static and dynamic application security testing and documentation. Additionally, we have all our software undergo independent penetration testing by external providers every year.

Save Time, Money and Nerves

This is, in very short terms, the Preventative Security Model of IGEL OS. It is supported by a company with more than 20 years of experience in end user computing and Linux – a company with the experience and knowledge to support you. IGEL will help you save time, money, and nerves, despite the ever-increasing crescendo of security issues clamoring for your attention.

The post Preventative Security for your Endpoints – Prevention Is Better Than Cure appeared first on IGEL.

1. Enterprise IT continues its march away from running workloads at the endpoint, and embraces SaaS, DaaS, VDI and secure browsing
2. A move to Windows 11 will be top of mind for organizations in 2024. Not only are Microsoft recommending moving to running Windows in the cloud, they are also calling out Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365 in their earnings announcements as surpassing $1B in revenue
3. Cyber-security remains atop the headlines in terms of policy, ransomware attacks, and the impact of AI
4. 2024 sees the start of mandatory sustainability disclosures in the EU. While wholesale greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting is not mandatory in the US, many organizations are actively reporting on sustainability and California’s Climate Accountability Package enforces mandatory scope 3 reporting on any organizations with revenues of more than $1B that does business in California.

Building on our rich history of engineering excellence and industry partnerships, as we enter 2024 IGEL is uniquely positioned to help organizations meet the challenges outlined above while also reducing IT spend.

Here’s how:

Redefine Endpoint Security.

IGEL’s Preventative Security Model eliminates the endpoint vulnerabilities targeted by bad actors. IGEL Endpoint OS supports Zero Trust and SASE initiatives through:

1. Read-Only OS. Users cannot unwittingly (or wittingly) download and install malware to the endpoint.
2. No local storage of data. No customer, patient, financial or other information can be downloaded to the endpoint or exfiltrated through attached USB devices. This ensures lost or stolen devices do not create a breach investigation, or that malicious internal users are not able to surreptitiously steal data.
3. Trusted Application Platform. A secure boot process ensures no code has been tampered with. A reboot returns the device to a known good state enabling organizations to confidently restore services in minutes rather than weeks or months from a cyber-attack
4. Authentication, SSO Integration and SASE. IGEL partners with the leading authentication vendors including Microsoft, Imprivata, Okta, Ping Identity, VMware and Citrix to integrate with broader standards. We also partner with SASE and Secure Service Edge partners to optimize Zero Trust implementations
5. Modular Design. At just 2GB, IGEL OS is a much smaller attack surface than a traditional endpoint OS. IGEL OS 12 only contains what the user needs to accomplish their tasks. Additional functionality such as partner integrations with Citrix and VMware, the above security vendors and more, can be downloaded from the IGEL App Portal.

Focus on Vertical Solutions

IGEL recognizes that the challenges, workflows, governance requirements and necessary integrations can be unique across industries. We have formalized partnerships and deep integration with the major software and hardware partners in each industry vertical. IGEL is utilized by many of the largest organizations around the world including:

• Healthcare & LifeSciences: 5 of the top 5 hospital groups in Europe. 5 of the top 10 biggest Healthcare providers in the US. Many of the world’s largest Healthcare Payers/insurers and 5 out of 10 leading pharmaceutical manufacturers
• Manufacturing – 10 of top 10 in Europe. 4 of the top 10 in North America
• Retailers: 5 of the top 10 North America
• Finance: 3 of the top 10 Banks in Europe.
• Government: Used across Federal such as Defence as well as State & Local government around the world.

Minimizing TCO and Maximizing Sustainability

An analysis of real-world customer deployments from IGEL’s TCO tool reveals that before IGEL, the total cost per endpoint device including the tangibles such as device purchase, software, deployment, management etc. is approximately $1000 per device per year over a 4-year period (assumes a device refresh every 4 years). With IGEL, we are able to reduce those costs between 50% and 75% (sometimes more) through:

• Removal of the various security and management agents that need to be selected, purchased, tested, deployed, managed etc.
• Enabling the purchase of devices with less powerful processors as the applications and workloads have been moved to SaaS, DaaS or VDI
• Extending the lifecycle of the endpoint from 3 to 5 years to 6 to 8 years.

With organizations assessing whether Windows 11 in the cloud is the best option, implementing IGEL can help optimize budget spend away from the constant endpoint budget drain, to a more sustainable cloud first approach. Please contact IGEL for your customer TCO analysis

The Power of Partnership

IGEL is a partner centric company. From leading software and hardware companies, including Citrix, Microsoft, VMware, Lenovo, LG, and HP, to vertical specific partnerships including Imprivata. Through these collaborations, we can provide tailored solutions that meet requirements unique to each of our targeted industries.

IGEL is also a 100% channel-focused company. Our channel partners are a cornerstone of our business, and we are fully committed to cultivating and maintaining strong partnerships with them.

Shaping the Future of Endpoint Security and Management

In 2024, IGEL will once again host the End User Computing event of the year, DISRUPT. IGEL DISRUPT 24 will be held in Miami from April 29 to May 1. We fully expect this to be the largest event ever and will be joined by the biggest names in the EUC and Security universe. We will also host a second event in September, IGEL DISRUPT EMEA in Munich.

Looking Forward to 2024

The end-user computing market is, arguably, ripe for its biggest shake up in almost 30 years. IGEL, with our technology and channel partners, is leading the change, helping our customers meet their security, cost and sustainability goals. Reflecting this, and as a symbol of our excitement in, and commitment to this market, you may have noticed that the IGEL.com website now reflects our new branding, messaging and excitement for the year ahead.

We look forward to working with you on shaping your endpoint security strategy both for now, and next.

The post Revolutionizing the Enterprise Endpoint OS: IGEL’s Game-Changing Approach to the Secure Endpoint OS Now and Next appeared first on IGEL.

The IGEL App Portal opens possibilities for third-party software vendors to package and make apps available for the IGEL OS. Technologies like ControlUP Edge DX and Remote DX, deviceTRUST, and Liquidware Stratusphere UX have been added as the IGEL App SDK has been made available for Application vendors. Many more to come!

IGEL released the IGEL Windows 365 App, enabling easy access to Microsoft Windows 365 resources, and continues to evolve Windows 365 access together with IGEL Azure Virtual Desktop App.

IGEL has built and released the new IGEL Imprivata Agent, which makes IGEL OS the only endpoint OS enabling Imprivata Tap-and-Go for Windows 365 and Azure Virtual Desktop.
The IGEL Imprivata app also Tap-in to VMWare Horizon, and full support for Citrix Cloud and on-prem is around the corner.

With the new structure of IGEL OS, more use-cases are fulfilled. IGEL OS is now the ideal operating system for cloud-delivered workspaces, on-premises delivered Desktops and Apps and extends with “browser only” and local apps workflows.

During 2023, what everyone in the past referred to as Citrix was joined and split up into separate business units under the name of Cloud Software Group, where Citrix is one business unit, NetScaler is one, XenServer is one, etc. IGEL has a strong business relationship with Citrix and sees that the tech release avalanche that Citrix released is mind-blowing. So many new innovations have been released over the past year and integrated into Citrix Workspace App for Linux and IGEL OS. Citrix has also switched the focus from “Cloud only” to Cloud and On-Prem = Equals, working on feature parity and giving the customer the choice of where to run the workloads. Hybrid approach! From what I see with Citrix, there is no “One fits all” anymore. Good evolution!

On that note, Broadcom has acquired VMWare, and there is a market vacuum about what will happen with VMWare EUC. Hopefully, the VMWare Horizon (EUC) value will be valued by another organization and continue its long-term success as a VDI platform.

What’s intriguing to think of when it comes to Cloud vs. On-Prem is that Citrix CVAD/Daas and VMWare Horizon/Horizon Cloud have been making efforts to give the customer the Hybrid choice, Microsoft also has an answer: Azure Stack HCI, and with the ongoing development on Azure Virtual Desktop on Azure Stack HCI Microsoft is also acknowledging the hybrid choice. You might ask yourself why does anyone need on-prem when you have the hyper-scalers to run your workloads? The simple answer is twofold – Latency and legal requirements of the organizations.
Let’s quickly break this down: Latency – Depending on the type of workload you are delivering, low latency is key for good End User Experience. It can be about accessing local peripherals but also about delivering Rich media session streams. Think about the complexity of delivering multi-screen 4K resolutions at 60 frames per second; latency will be devastating. The legal side of things? Can governments put workloads and data in a cloud originating from another country?

With all the changes in the market that have been going on during 2023, this has also affected #Community. Looking at IGEL Community, it’s a growing resort for people discussing ideas and challenges. It is such a valuable platform, as when digging deeper into IGEL, what you see on the surface when test-driving the OS and management, there is so much more on the capabilities. When you start looking at scripting and customization, the IGEL Community is a resource to count on! The IGEL community grew 10% YtD in 2023.
Some of the Citrix User Groups announced changes from the CUGC brand to more of an EUC forum. I’ve seen that in the Nordics and the UK, at least. Citrix also announced changes to CUGC.

On a personal level, when it comes to community activities, I have been recognized by Citrix to become a CTP (Citrix Technology Professional) for my work in sharing knowledge with the community. IGEL also recognized me for my contributions and awarded me to become an IGEL Community Insider. I added my renewal of Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) for my third year and my NVIDIA NGCA (NVIDIA vGPU Community Advisor) for my fifth year.

The #AI revolution has started! Microsoft made an enormous footprint in making AI available for anyone, anywhere. Just look at Bing Chat. It gives anyone access to AI datasets and the possibility to leverage the new technology. Then, Co-Pilot rolled out to virtually all apps in the Microsoft portfolio. You are right; Microsoft wasn’t the main driver in the early stages of AI, though, by tight collaboration with OpenAI, they rapidly extended the AI use cases. All were announced at Microsoft Ignite mid-November -23. I’d say it has started!

IGEL has been going through organizational changes over the last year, including adding Klaus Oesterman as CEO and making significant changes to the leadership team. Exciting to see the changes in market focus. Keep your eyes out for all the changes that are in the pipeline!

So, what about 2024? My view of what’s coming!

IGEL will undoubtedly continue expanding the IGEL APP Portal portfolio. More apps from 3^rd party software vendors will be made available. I’m thinking of Enterprise Browsers as they will play a more prominent role going forward. I know that we will see a remake of IGEL OS desktop GUI (Graphical User Interface) that takes the User Experience to a new level. We have already started to see usability improvements in IGEL OS supporting the mobile use case, and that journey will accelerate. Of course, IGEL will continue to update the Apps we package for OS 12.

I have seen numbers of 700 Million Windows 10 machines still alive. Those 700M (?) devices are facing the EOL of Windows 10 in 2025. It’s mind-blowing to think about the IT waste that will be created for all the machines that need to be replaced, as the hardware requirements for Windows 11 are different and more demanding. IGEL has the solution for you, together with Virtualization technologies and the delivery of virtual apps and desktops. What if you re-image your Windows 10 devices that will go out of support and instead put your Windows desktop in a data center, be it in the cloud or on-premises? You will be able to extend the lifetime of your existing machines and save lots of money, as you won’t need to buy new hardware. Your budget changes from CAPEX to OPEX and will be much more predictable. Did you know that somewhere around 85% of the carbon footprint results from the manufacturing and shipping of the unit? By not “rip and replace” your hardware, you will contribute to a greener world. Yes, some of the devices might need to be refreshed, and over time, devices need to be refreshed. That’s why IGEL is teaming up with manufacturers like Lenovo, LG, and HP. When the time comes, you will replace your hardware units with slimmer devices, again contributing to less emissions.
The race for Windows 11 upgrade will have to increase rapidly in 2024 for corporations to have a chance of avoiding running unsupported operating systems at mass in late 2025, which is a jeopardizing game. Hybrid work will continue to evolve, and I’m sure you want to ensure your users have a trouble-free endpoint in their hands. IGEL OS gives you good protection from Ransomware and other rouge code.

I believe we will see an extension of offloading technologies as optimizing the User Experience is still becoming more requested. New Microsoft Teams has just been released, indicating that new technology is coming to the virtualization EUC space.

The evolution of AI will probably introduce more players in the market on the GPU side. NVIDIA is leading this space, though I believe AMD and Intel can potentially deliver alternatives. At Microsoft Ignite, Satya Nadella announced Azure Maia AI chip. It will be interesting to follow this evolution!

IGEL will extend its MSP (Managed Service Provider) offering to expand its footprint in this segment. Broadening the usability and the licensing possibilities will be key to success.

I look forward to seeing more niche players in the IGEL App Portal as diversity adds value. I’m looking at Parallels RAS, HP Anywhere, Amazon Workspaces, and others. Would be really interesting to see more alternative VDI offerings. Citrix has a nice integration with Linux Desktops and Apps for VDI. ThinLinc is already part of the IGEL App Portal, which gives you Linux VDI. I’m also looking forward to seeing more local apps offered, where we today have Zoom, for instance. Why not give every customer the possibility to package their own apps?

With that said, I wish you happy holidays, a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year! See you in 2024!

/Fred

The post O’Boy, what a year! 2023 is almost in the books; let’s look in the rearview mirror. appeared first on IGEL.

Recently, we demonstrated IGEL OS for healthcare environments in our offices in Augsburg, Germany, in partnership with deviceTRUST, HP, Lenovo, and LG. The purpose of the event was to showcase the importance of future-proofing IT environments to provide the best possible patient care. Our team presented various concepts, technologies, and solutions that can meet the strictest requirements for safety, availability, and cost-effectiveness, which are vital in the healthcare sector.

During the event, we asked attendees about the most critical challenges facing healthcare organizations today. Their responses highlighted the importance of remote work, security, and cost pressure. Attendees emphasized the need for secure end devices and stable systems to support remote work. They also noted that on-site presence is still required for medical care. Furthermore, they stressed the importance of transparent login to ensure user acceptance of security measures, with data security being a top priority. Other important points raised included managing endpoints outside the network, the importance of manageability, and the need for two-factor authentication and biometric tokens for client security.

Ransomware is an ongoing threat

When asked about the specific challenges and opportunities for their organizations in 2024, attendees’ responses included the need for ISO certification and process customization to mitigate risks. Ransomware was identified as an ongoing threat, which in one case is being addressed by implementing LAN segmentation, zero trust mechanisms, and attack detection software. To prevent unauthorized executable files, one organization is restricting users from launching these types of files. The company is also implementing software solutions, such as XDR, training employees/raising awareness on cybersecurity, and deploying thin clients to improve protection.

When explaining the ransomware threat, one attendee who uses Citrix in combination with IGEL OS and Windows 10/11-powered endpoints said: “Our systems are largely protected from attacks and unauthorized access by technical measures such as firewall, proxy, 3-stage filtering of emails with a sandbox for email attachments, MFA, conditional access and administrative measures such as a role-based authorization concept and much more.”

The user is still the weakest link

They continued, “We regularly have penetration tests carried out to uncover security gaps and vulnerabilities, which we can then specifically close. In addition, all user data is secured via a system that technically prevents the backups from being compromised. There is no such thing as 100% security if people have access to the systems – the user is always the weakest link in the security chain. Ultimately, it is a matter of time when it hits us. However, we feel quite well prepared with our security measures.”

Overall, attendees enjoyed the event, with one organization saying, “The lectures were very interesting, and the customer presentations were very good. It was a relaxed environment for the exchange of ideas with manufacturers and customers.”

For more information on how IGEL is helping healthcare organizations achieve better patient outcomes with a simpler and more secure end-user computing approach visit:  https://www.igel.com/customer-stories/healthcare/.

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For nearly 5 years, ControlUp has offered enhanced monitoring capabilities to customers that use IGEL-powered devices in their VDI or DaaS environments. And each time we improved upon our integration over the years, we have been focused on making it easier for IT teams to get relevant performance information from their IGEL devices and bringing greater end-to-end visibility into IT infrastructure than ever before.

And today IGEL and ControlUp are making it even easier with the availability of ControlUp’s Remote DX extension and the Edge DX agent through the IGEL COSMOS App Portal.

The ControlUp Edge DX and ControlUp Remote DX apps have been validated for use on IGEL OS-powered devices as part of the IGEL Ready partner program and are now available in the IGEL App Portal as part of IGEL COSMOS Cloud Services.

“Together, IGEL and ControlUp are delivering the productive and high-performance DEX experience IGEL OS users need to help our mutual customers improve productivity and lower costs for their end-user computing environments. By making the ControlUp Edge DX and Remote DX apps available via the IGEL App Portal for IGEL COSMOS, we are enabling our customers to benefit from the full power of these valuable DEX solutions with rapid access to and implementation of their latest versions with cloud-direct download efficiency.” Jim Airdo, Senior Vice President, Strategic Alliances, IGEL

IGEL COSMOS, launched in the spring of 2023, brings many benefits to IGEL customers. The most significant new advancement with IGEL COSMOS is that, for the first time, IGEL is completely separating the base IGEL OS from its validated and integrated applications and interfaces, while adding an additional separate component in the form of value-added cloud services. Together, these three vital components comprise IGEL COSMOS. This modular architecture of “separate but equal” elements of endpoint operating system, management and control, and cloud services enables maximum IT flexibility in introducing or enhancing apps, desktops, services, and any other form of cloud-delivered digital workspaces as the cloud continues to evolve.

The above-mentioned separation of the IGEL OS and the applications that run on the devices, and of course the introduction of the IGEL App Portal, make it much easier for IT teams to configure and deploy the ControlUp Edge DX agent and Remote DX extensions without the need for creating custom partitions like was previously required with IGEL OS 11.

ControlUp Remote DX

Designed for employees that use virtual or cloud desktops and applications, ControlUp Remote DX collects relevant user-side telemetry that affects their Digital Employee Experience, such as the quality and speed of the Wi-Fi connection, as well as the performance of their internet connection. With support for IGEL-powered devices connecting to Citrix and VMware Horizon, IT teams can quickly determine the root cause of connectivity issues reported by users.

ControlUp Edge DX

For even greater visibility into the performance of an IGEL-powered device and the ability for troubleshooting, remediation and remote support independent of connectivity to a virtual or cloud desktop, IT admins can deploy the Edge DX agent from the IGEL App Portal. ControlUp Edge DX reduces IT support costs for physical desktop devices by identifying, resolving, and preventing problems that traditional device management software can’t. As a result, enterprises see fewer help desk tickets, close tickets faster and ultimately deliver a better desktop experience.

Figure 2 – ControlUp Apps in the IGEL COSMOS App Portal

Getting started

Deploying the Edge DX agent and Remote DX extension to your IGEL-powered devices is simple and can be done in a matter of minutes:

1. Import the apps from the IGEL App Portal into your UMS
2. Add the apps to the relevant profiles
3. Configure the ControlUp app settings for Edge DX and Remote DX
4. Deploy to your devices
5. See device and connection performance data in ControlUp’s DEX platform

Figure 3 – ControlUp Edge DX Device Details Page for IGEL-Powered device

To learn more about ControlUp and IGEL’s combined offerings, your local ControlUp account team is happy to set up a meeting with you to show the value we can bring and how we can help you improve your employee’s digital experience. Getting in touch is easy, just fill out the form, select a date and time to set up an appointment.

The post Take monitoring IGEL-powered devices to new heights with IGEL COSMOS and ControlUp DEX appeared first on IGEL.

Our experts, including CTO Matthias Haas, Vice President of Sales Brian Cornell, Vice President of Vertical Solutions James Millington, and Claudio Nessi, Regional Vice President, were on hand to share insights with organizations attending the event on how to manage endpoint security and cloud applications while saving money.

Some of the key takeaways our team took from the event include:

1. The elephant in the room. We all know changes are coming at VMware and that, unfortunately, people will be affected. But what was encouraging from an EUC perspective was a signaling of the continued innovation and investment in the Workspace ONE and Horizon platforms.
2. Optimizing the journey to the cloud. The multi-cloud story applies to end-user compute as well as the data center. Whether through a journey directly from on-premises deployments to DaaS, or split strategies of bursting to the cloud for additional scale or disaster recovery (DR), organizations are looking for flexibility to move between environments easily. Having an endpoint designed for simplicity that can be easily reconfigured to connect to a new desktop environment is critical to the success of these projects.

   Download our solution brief, “11 Reasons to Choose IGEL Enterprise Endpoint OS 12 for VMware Workspace ONE and Horizon 8.”

3. Endpoint security. Security has long been a benefit of virtual desktops. The ability to reboot to a clean image is instrumental in getting organizations up and running in the event of a successful attack. But the benefits of this can be lost if the endpoint doesn’t share the same reboot to clean approach. IGEL’s Preventive Security Model eliminates endpoint vulnerabilities and enables centralized management of IGEL endpoints from the IGEL Universal Management Suite (UMS), regardless of physical location. IGEL and VMware Horizon are among the most resilient IT infrastructures to combat ransomware and other malware.
4. Partnerships. Seeing such a great turnout of partners – and friends was great. The integrations between Workspace ONE and Horizon platform and the rich partner ecosystem help our end customers deliver meaningful solutions for specific use cases, such as healthcare. IGEL’s newly announced integration with Workspace ONE Identity Services is one example of a customer-driven partnership where we delivered the right user experience to solve specific workflow issues.
5. User Experience and Cost Optimization. Digital employee experience is a hot topic for many organizations – and we agree. In fact, we’d be very appreciative if you’d take two minutes to fill out the survey we are running with our partner, LG. Ensuring simple, consistent access without delays, distractions, or security issues is core to our Secure Enterprise Endpoint OS. As budgets tighten and organizations look for ways to support innovations like DaaS, Cloud, and SaaS (and working out how to incorporate AI!), optimizing your endpoint for the cloud is a critical part of this strategy.

Download our solution brief here to learn how IGEL and VMware make the “perfect pair” for easy, safe, and cost-effective end-user computing for today’s modern enterprises.

The post IGEL and VMware: A “Perfect Pair” for Cost-Effectively Securing the Enterprise appeared first on IGEL.

Celebrities wearing cool trainers might not come as much of a surprise.  What’s more interesting is Adidas’ public position on sustainability and how its products are now made. Through a partnership with environmental organisation, Parley for the Oceans – which dates back to 2015 – the business uses plastic collected from the sea to make some footwear, clothing and accessories. In 2022, close to 27 million shoes were made from the stuff, with Adidas also announcing it will only use recycled polyester across the board from 2024.

This idea of being creative, recycling and reusing – rather than making brand new – should set an example and be copied by the IT industry.

Take end user computing (EUC). It has become a major contributor to environmental pollution and climate change, directly and indirectly causing around 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions. 1% of this is due to the yearly manufacture of 460 million devices and the associated energy consumption by 4.2 billion users. This emits a whopping 556 million tons of CO2 and would require a forest the size of Argentina to remove from Earth’s atmosphere annually. A further 1% is attributed to the pollution associated with people commuting to access IT in the workplace.[1]

Other stats support this bleak picture. According to the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management, the UK produced the second largest amount of e-waste as a country in 2022 at 23.9 kg per capita. The study also showed that IT and telecoms e-waste almost doubled between 2008 (19,053 tonnes) to 2022 (37,631 tonnes estimated).

Displacement saves resources, money and the environment

We’re drowning in a tsunami of e-waste. One of the reasons for this is the technology refresh hamster wheel of upgrades which has become commonplace in the public and private sector. Most PCs or laptops are updated every 3 to 4 years as they break or OS vendors introduce major new releases requiring updated hardware to run.

Repurposing device hardware – a so-called displacement strategy – is a tried and tested way of avoiding this and has been at the heart of IGEL’s EUC strategy since 2011.

This approach extends the existing device’s useful lifespan and consequently causes the emissions of replacement devices – both from a manufacturing and shipping perspective – not to be required.  This is key given 83% of a device’s carbon footprint is created during manufacture.

This gains added impetus given the UK’s Climate Change Act 2008 includes an amendment to the Companies Act 2006 requiring all London Stock Exchange listed companies, large unquoted firms and limited liability partnerships to report their greenhouse gas emissions. Public sector organisations are also required to adopt sustainable IT practices in relation to Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions.

Sadly, inertia exists.  Many IT departments simply do not know enough about sustainable ICT  purchasing or think that it requires more money to achieve, such research reveals that over a third simply take no action[2].  This is not only a dreadful for the environment but presents a significant missed opportunity for organisations to play a more effective role to address the climate emergency.

Mini case study: greenhouse gas abatement at a major UK financial institution 

Some firms, however, have grappled with the whole issue of how to consume IT in an environmentally optimum way. IT carbon footprint consultancy, PX³, has independently analyzed in detail an IGEL project at a well-known UK financial institution, the details and benefits of which are summarized below.

To enable work from home during the Covid crisis in 2020, the company faced the problem of how to provide secure remote working for 3,150 staff or 86% of employees. It had the choice of whether to buy new HP T640 thin client hardware and recycle old Dell OptiPlex 7010 desktops or repurpose the PCs replacing Windows 7 Pro with IGEL OS, thereby turning them into thin client devices.

The customer chose to repurpose each PC, and combined with an existing 24” monitor, mouse and keyboard, created an ‘office in a box’ which was delivered to staff at home. They then connected to a Citrix VDI environment to access their applications.

The costs and impact of buying new

If HP T640 thin clients had been used, the PX³ analysis shows that new hardware over a 5-year period would have generated 425,983 kg of CO2e. This comprises Scope 2 emissions for the duration, Scope 3 emissions for year 1 – the delivery of new devices – and then the recycling of these units at the end.  In more simple terms, the emissions are equivalent to 1,543,640 car miles and would have required 511 of mature forest to sequester the pollution.

From a cost perspective, given each HP device is circa £300, the cost to replace the estate of 3,150, would have totalled £945,000. Electricity charges over the period for all devices – based on an average price of £0.172 per kWh – are £47,462.  In summary, a total cost of ownership (TCO) of £992,462.

Repurposing the old – a better way

As the Dell OptiPlex 7010 PCs already existed, the reported Scope 3 emissions of 218 kgCO2e per device were already accounted for, such that retaining them added zero emissions.

Running the existing PCs with new IGEL OS installed and measuring energy consumption showed a 22% decrease in power compared to Windows 7 Pro.  Therefore, over the 5-year lifecycle extension period, the total carbon consumed by the Dell PCs totalled 169,945 kg of CO2e (Scope 2) and 0 kg of CO2e related to Scope 3. Again, in more simple terms, the emissions equate to 615,832 car miles or 204 of mature forest to sequester the pollution.

Turning to money, no purchase value is applied to existing Dell OptiPlex 7010 computers as they were accounted for in year one of purchase. However, buying 3,150 IGEL OS perpetual licenses cost £315,000.

Additionally, the utility charges for the same period were £137,644 for the Dell PCs based upon the same per kWh pricing of £0.172. This means a TCO attributed to the displacement strategy of £452,644.

 The financial and environmental payoff

 There’s a lot of data in this blog post. But to boil it down, a displacement strategy is clearly better, delivering:

 60% reduction in carbon footprint across a 5-year period by repurposing devices;

• Potential combined Scope 2 and 3 emissions dropping from 425,983 kgCO2e to 169,945 kgCO2e – equivalent to avoiding 927,808 car miles or the sequestering capacity of 307 forest acres.
• 55% drop in project costs from £992,462 to £452,644 over the 5-year period meaning the company saved an impressive £539,818.

Even with IGEL OS demanding less power than Windows, the analysis shows that energy consumption of the existing old Dell devices was 65% higher than the replacement HP thin clients.

However, the impact of the manufacturing emissions far outweighs the energy emissions gain from buying new; it would take an additional 17 years for this cross over to happen, by which time the Dell PCs would be practically prehistoric and definitely need recycling.

The knee jerk position in many IT departments is to throw away and buy new – just like a pair of trainers. It’s not necessary. We can reuse, reimagine and recycle hardware – easily doubling lifespan – by running applications, storage and compute in the cloud and not on the endpoint. That means the requirement to have the latest and greatest desktop is removed with only a lightweight OS which we provide needed to connect to modern VDI or DaaS workspaces from the likes of Microsoft, Amazon, Citrix and VMware.

And on top of this, the IGEL UMS management platform means one person can simply manage circa 20,000 devices from a single location resulting in fewer support engineers driving to site to do break/fix and therefore polluting less.  Which leads me back to the beginning theme of this blog and Run DMC loving Adidas.  IT staff should Run UMS. They’ll love IGEL, too.

To read the full report PX³ click here.

[1]Source: Dr. Justin Sutton-Parker, CEO of PX³ and a Research Fellow at the University of Warwick

[2]Source: Sutton-Parker

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The U.S. Chamber of Commerce lists digital literacy and data literacy as among the top 10 in-demand job skills over the next 10 years, with IT growth estimated at 0.6% growth. What that tells you is hiring will be flat and enterprises will be making exceedingly careful, strategic hires. They will be looking to continue cost efficiencies, further automate more routine processes and dedicate IT time to AI functionality, improving CX experience and moving ahead on their cloud journey. In this environment, looking ahead to 2024, enterprises will want endpoint management to require minimal IT time, as IT focuses on cloud computing, AI, application development and other value-added tasks.

In EMEA 2024 looks to be similar with enterprises wanting to find efficiencies in IT budgets and further liberate IT from day-to-day processes like endpoint management. None of this is surprising to IGEL. We live and breathe virtualization and endpoint management every day and deliver an endpoint platform that enables IT to quickly and easily control, manage and secure remote endpoints. At the heart of our platform is IGEL OS which has been and will continue to be the solution to a streamlined, secure, efficient way to deliver data to our hybrid workforce generation.

“Mobilizing” the Desktop

In the hybrid work environment, 2024 will be a great time to evolve the concept of the desktop to thinking of it as more like a mobile device – regardless of what you’re using and where you are, you can have access to the data and applications you need, much of which is delivered from the cloud.  When you’re in an airport lounge using your mobile device to do some work, you’re not normally engaging IT.  This flexible, independent way to work – the ideal digital experience – is how we should be thinking in 2024 and beyond, and especially for our desktops.

How do we ‘mobilize’ our desktops? Well, it’s not just about buying laptops. First and foremost is separating the device and OS from the applications and placing as many applications as possible in the cloud, either via DaaS or moving them to SaaS. This move enables a secure environment, where applications and data are no longer on the device – meaning the enterprise is less prone to risk. Whether you use an iOS or Android, you can easily retrieve your applications – no handholding from IT necessary. Desktops must mirror this, acting as mobile endpoints and requiring little IT support due to having an endpoint management platform that enables approved users to get what they need, when they need it. Part of this environment is a stellar threat defense with user access control through policy enforcement, multi-factor authentication, and single sign-on, all requiring minimal IT time.

Another aspect of endpoint freedom is, that by separating OS from applications, security patching, backend updates, and other updates can be done automatically in the cloud, saving considerable IT time and costs.

Freeing IT from the Endpoint

Besides automated updates and patching, IT staff needs an endpoint management system that is organized, unified, and does not add needless complexity. In IGEL’s case we have been providing our management platform – the latest release being UMS 12 – upgraded and user friendly, enabling IT to deliver secure workspaces and access to applications, wherever they are, on any endpoint device.

As 2024 fast approaches, we at IGEL are committed to helping enterprises make the best use of their valued IT teams, moving the focus from the traditional desktop, to a more mobile like, cloud driven endpoint and providing the tools to spend less time on endpoint management and more on CX and business value.

Contact us and let’s see how we can help you benefit from the best endpoint solutions-in 2024.

The post Digital Thinking: 2024 – IT Focuses on High-Value Work with Streamlined Endpoint Management appeared first on IGEL.

The principle of ‘waste not, want not’ was first declared 300 years ago. It is a reasonable idea, to avoid wasteful use of resources and provide for a more secure future. However, the principle has lost ground; the IT environment being one example. A spending study by Flexera reports underutilization or wasted IT spending of 36 percent for desktop software, 33 percent for data center software, 32 percent for SaaS and 32 percent for IaaS/PaaS.

The study confirms that enterprises continue to spend needless dollars and use precious IT time, loading up their hardware endpoint devices with up to a dozen pieces of software – and required agents – before the end user can even work productively with the device. It also confirms some of this software spend never even makes it to the desktop.

Waste Not Your Software Spend

A good place to start leaning up IT’s approach to software investment is the OS. IGEL is passionate about telling enterprises that the best strategy is using an OS – preferably Linux – that can deliver only the apps a user needs – from the cloud. Rather than front load a bunch of software that may never be used, an OS designed for an economic need-only model, is the smarter choice.

To support this model IT needs to house data and applications in the cloud, separating them from endpoint devices. Leaning up the endpoint with IGEL OS can deliver a 90% reduction in footprint size compared to Windows since the data has been moved off the desktop to the cloud. That is a key pillar of IGEL strategy: using a secure OS that not only supports cost savings but reduces risk by taking critical data off the endpoint and further minimizing an attack surface.

Leaning up with Hardware Conservation

A leaner approach also applies to the hardware itself which has several key benefits:

• Taking applications off a hardware device and moving them to the cloud enables IT to use existing hardware as a much leaner, efficient endpoint platform. Application updates then occur in the cloud, with a faster, more accurate, and less energy-consuming process.
• Combined with a hardware-agnostic OS like IGEL, enterprises can execute Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD) on Azure, saving money by extending the life of existing hardware and minimizing CAPEX.
• With a hardware-agnostic IGEL OS, enterprises can convert any x86, 64-bit device into a secure, standardized endpoint, supporting a seamless transition to any virtual workspace platform.

Flagging Underutilization

Through asset management platforms IT can audit, and track software license use to flag software and SaaS investments contributing to wasted spend. IGEL adds to these budget controls via its COSMOS IGEL License Portal (ILP), a cloud-based solution to manage IGEL licensing. Assigning, removing, moving, monitoring, and subscription administration are accessed via an intuitive interface and set as automatic or manual handling.

A Leaner Blueprint

As more workloads move to the cloud, and a hybrid/distributed workforce is the standard, the necessity of investing in costly hardware is diminishing even further. Rather than purchase hardware with little ROI, the lean smart approach is using a secure OS with the capability to deliver apps via the cloud and VDI platforms and to get tighter control of software and SaaS spend via asset management and better license usage administration. This combination will help reduce wasted spend and free up budget for tasks that can provide clear ROI.

Ready to see it for yourself? Get started today with a free trial and see how easy it is with IGEL OS. Or, for more information, listen in to our webinar “Reduce your Endpoint costs – save budget and the planet” by registering here. 

The post Digital Thinking: Work Leaner and Smarter at the Endpoint appeared first on IGEL.

From pension funds to healthcare providers, ransomware is still finding plenty of victims. After a post-pandemic drop, the rate of ransomware is accelerating. Two groups getting attention are CIOp and BlackCat (ALPHV). Cl0p’s MOVEit Transfer hack to date has affected 15 million people and 121 organizations, including two large pension funds, CalPERS and CalSTRS. BlackCat (ALPHV), skilled at exfiltration, threatened to leak photos and sensitive data of a plastic surgeon’s patients and, according to a Check Point report, previously leaked patients’ photos and medical records after an attack against American healthcare provider LVHN earlier this year.

The Endpoint as First Line of Threat Defense

BlackCat is a good example of why all of us need to shift our thinking about security from a focus on servers and infrastructure, to focusing on the user edge, at the endpoint. A TrendMicro analysis of BlackCat notes that blocking malicious emails and employing the latest security solutions to email, endpoint, web and network are essential defense practices.

At IGEL our mission is to provide the best security at the endpoint, to prevent businesses becoming the next ransomware victim. We believe the best defense is to separate business data and applications from the hardware device and store the data in the cloud to reduce the attack surface. This separation enables a user to access data via a secure OS and have the flexibility of location and device.

Cloud-based workloads, coupled with role-based access controls and mandatory multi-factor authentication (MFA), can further strengthen threat defense. Limiting access to work-essential files and applications, being aware of employees’ changing responsibilities, and being diligent about shutting down access when offboarding, will lessen opportunities to penetrate the network.

Separating data and applications from endpoint devices is the first line of defense in disaster recovery. It must be combined with a secure operating system (OS) which supports a hybrid cloud environment and is compatible with VDI platforms like VMware, AVD or Citrix – serving up SaaS, DaaS, and other virtual services. Linux OS, for example, operates fully separate from apps and services, shrinking the attack surface on each endpoint to its absolute minimum and enabling efficiency in how end-user apps and cloud services are procured, downloaded, and updated. It enables fast tracking Windows updates and patching across the enterprise for improved security.

Disaster Recovery: How the Endpoint Fits

When a ransomware or other cyberattack is successful, business continuity depends on safe data recovery and the ability of people to return to work quickly. The solution is a secure OS, like Linux, which is rapidly recoverable and can reboot back to its known good state. This requires a read-only nature and the ability to partition data to aid in priority recovery of critical applications. Since these applications are separated from any piece of hardware, they can be securely accessed from the cloud and support business continuity.

Remember the Endpoint

CIOp’s MOVEit Transfer and BlackCat are just two examples of sophisticated hackers threatening businesses. Creating a specific endpoint security strategy, including moving critical applications to the cloud, is imperative as hybrid workers toggle between locations and often insecure devices.

It makes sense that a disaster recovery strategy must start looking more closely at the endpoint and an OS that supports secure cloud compute as an integral factor in business continuity.

To learn more about endpoint security and IGEL OS go to https://www.igel.com/endpoint-security-software.

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