IGEL Technology today announced year-on-year growth of 78% in its sales of thin clients for the first three-quarters of the calendar year, with strong demand coming from the healthcare sector.
IGEL Range of Devices
IGEL Range of Devices
“Many organisations are increasingly recognising the benefits of thin clients on the desktop, none more so than the healthcare sector,” said IGEL UK & Ireland Managing Director Simon Richards. “Our IGEL thin and zero clients work so well in a healthcare environment because they are easy to centrally manage, long-lasting, secure and incredibly cost effective.”
Cwm Taf University Health Board in Wales says it has radically cut its management time and energy costs with the deployment of 2,500 IGEL thin clients across its hospitals, clinics, GP surgeries and administration offices.
The health board has IGEL UD3 and UD5 Linux devices running a Windows 2008 desktop connected by Citrix XenApp 6 (soon to be upgraded to Citrix XenApp 6.5). There are 120 virtualised Citrix servers, using Citrix XenServer as the hypervisor.
As well as the desktops, the hospital is also using wireless connected IGEL thin clients on its medical carts on the wards. They connect to the network using a dongle via the USB port and are used by medical staff for viewing results and checking records.
“Initially there was some scepticism from staff about switching to the thin client devices but they quickly came around because of the small size, the fact that they boot very quickly and don’t need constant virus upgrades and anti-malware updates,” said John Probert, senior server manager at Cwm Taf University Health Board.
“Another benefit is that we do not suffer from thefts, as the devices are useless when taken off the network. We also do not have any patient data issues, as information cannot be stored locally on the device.”
Today, the health board has 2,500 IGEL thin clients in use out of a total of 4,500 desktops and is slowly moving across to the thin clients as old PCs are replaced.
