Lenovo, powered by IGEL provides the ultimate cloud-connected device. IGEL is an Endpoint Operating System designed for VDI, Daas, and Digital Workspaces. Together, we can tackle the unique challenges facing your customers today.
Simple and Scalable Endpoint Management
- Enhanced Endpoint Security Protection
- Richer Employee Experience
- Support Sustainability Strategies.
In this page, we will be focusing on Management.
Organizations worldwide have experienced a shift in how and where people work. Those already utilizing VDI or DaaS with IGEL OS had an advantage and transitioned to working from home more quickly and smoothly than those who did not fully leverage the cloud in this way.
A single management and control solution for just a few to up to 300,000 distributed IGEL OS-powered endpoint devices. Purpose-built to simplify complex enterprise environments, UMS supports diverse operating systems, databases, and directories. The UMS server can be located on the corporate network or in the cloud.
IGEL CLOUD GATEWAY (ICG)
The IGEL Cloud Gateway, or ICG, facilitates management of remote devices without requiring a VPN connection. This is a must-have for organizations with remote employees!
ASSET INVENTORY TRACKER (AIT)
Gaining insight into the status of peripheral devices attached to endpoints can be a pain. With EMP's Asset Inventory Tracker feature, administrators can track peripheral devices such as keyboards, printers, and bluetooth devices when they are attached to IGEL-managed endpoints.
SHARED WORKPLACE
The Shared Workplace feature allows endpoints to be configured by user role. This feature is great for organizations with machines shared by multiple individuals: think hospitals, universities, or call centers.
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SIMPLICITY AND EASE OF USE:
A single IT administrator can easily manage and configure all your endpoints, from a single console, with profile-based dragand-drop configuration and management, along with automated and scheduled administrator functions.
COST-EFFECTIVE
IT and Support teams save time and money as tasks become vastly simplified and automated. Time and resources can be freed up to focus on strategic IT initiatives aimed at advancing corporate objectives that contribute directly to profit margins.
HIGHLY SCALABLE
The UMS offers support for up to 100,000 endpoint devices in a single cluster. The UMS architecture includes an array of design elements for massive scalability, e. g. the caching algorithm and a highly capable memory management system.
The UMS enables full management and control of devices located across a city, a country or around the globe.
REMOTE WORKING
- The IGEL Cloud Gateway feature enables full management and control of mobile and remote devices that are “off network”, without requiring a VPN connection. This allows IT organizations to manage and control work-from-home, highly mobile, and remote users within their IGEL-powered endpoint estate.
- With the secure shadowing functionality of ICG, it is possible to manage devices outside the corporate LAN. This enables the helpdesk staff to see and take over users’ screens, even for remote home office and mobile workers.
CUSTOMIZATION
IGEL offers comprehensive support for customization like custom partitions, partial updates, and corporate branding according to your business requirements.
RIGHTS MANAGEMENT
Easily set and apply policies by role, function, department, etc., for granular control of all your managed endpoints with the UMS. Policies and profiles from Active Directory can be easily applied.
- If you use virtual desktops, how do you stay current with the latest client software from Citrix, VMware, and Microsoft?
- Is remote device patching time-consuming and error-prone?
- How are you ensuring compliance with industry regulations like PCI DSS and regional requirements like GDPR?
- Do you want to streamline the provisioning process with granular, centralized management and remote management via a no-touch cloud gateway model?
Consumer Goods Retailer Teams with IGEL to Operationalize and Secure their Call Center
PCI-DSS capabilities drove Conn’s HomePlus’ decision to adopt IGEL and Amazon WorkSpaces to ensure business continuity as call center agents pivoted to a work-from-anywhere environment to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
Due to the sensitive nature of the data our team handles, we had to ensure the devices in use had the correct security protocols in place. The IGEL solution is plug-and-play for the user, easy to manage remotely, and provides fast access to their virtual desktop and applications. It is impossible for data to be left behind. This makes the IGEL solution very secure and enables us to maintain compliance with PCI-DSS regulations, regardless of the end user’s location.
SUMMARY
The Challenge
- Call center agents were sent home to work as businesses around the globe shuttered in-office operations to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
- WFH users demand an intuitive and easy-to-use solution.
- The transfer of personal and financial information between customers and call center agents requires a secure solution that would help meet PCI-DSS compliance.
- Contact center agents require the use of softphones and need a high-performing, low latency solution.
The Solution
- Security and PCI-DSS compliance
- Easy to use and manage remotely
- Quick deployment enables immediate productivity of agents
- Improved productivity and business continuity
- Saved money immediately
In March 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Conn’s HomePlus® found itself working to comply with local health ordinances for more than 140 locations across 14 states. Storefront operations had to change, and large numbers of call center agents were sent home to service Conn’s customers.
“This was very challenging for us,” said Craig Gehrke, VP of IT, Conn’s HomePlus, “a high performing work from home solution would normally take months to design.”
IGEL WORKS, SO CONN’S HOMEPLUS AGENTS CAN TOO
To help solve its remote work challenges, Conn’s HomePlus turned to IGEL. After looking at the challenges faced by Conn’s, IGEL’s technology experts recommended the IGEL OS with the IGEL Cloud Gateway (ICG) running Amazon WorkSpaces. The ICG is a feature of the Enterprise Management Pack which allows Conn’s to manage the IGEL OS over the public internet without a VPN.
“With IGEL and Amazon Workspaces it took less than seven days to build, test and deploy. We were blown away. The icing on the cake was creating a WFH solution quickly while maintaining PCI-DSS compliance.” said Gehrke.
He added, “IGEL was great to work with and enabled our team to create Work-from-Home Kits which include the device, a monitor, keyboard, mouse and headset – everything our agents needed to set up their office at their homes. The roll-out went smoothly and within a matter of days, not weeks, our call center agents were up and running; working productively from their homes leveraging the IGEL OS.”
WINNING COMBINATION: EASE OF MANAGEMENT, COST-EFFECTIVENESS AND PCI-DSS COMPLIANCE
While the IGEL’s ease of use was a huge factor in Conn’s HomePlus’ decision to go with the solution, the support for Amazon WorkSpaces via the IGEL OS, management visibility at the endpoint, and cost-effectiveness were key factors in selecting IGEL for call center agents.
“The integration that IGEL offers with leading cloud workspace solutions, including Amazon WorkSpaces, saved us a tremendous amount of time immediately,” explained Gehrke. “Further, because the solution was easy to use, we didn’t need to retrain our users.”
For Conn’s HomePlus, it was also critical that the endpoint computing solution used by its call center agents would help to achieve PCI-DSS compliance. “Due the sensitive nature of the data our team handles, we had to ensure the devices in use had the correct security protocols in place,” said Gehrke. The IGEL OS allows call center agents to access their virtual desktop without leaving any data or application information used during their session on the endpoint. This makes the solution secure and enables Conn’s to maintain compliance with PCI-DSS regulations, even when the users work from home.
Gehrke continued, “together, the ease of management, cost-effectiveness, and security of the IGEL solution made it a winner in the eyes of our management team.”
FUTURE PLANS EXTEND TO STOREFRONT OPERATIONS
Conn’s HomePlus is so pleased with how well IGEL has worked in ensuring that its call center has remained secure and operational during the global health crisis, that they now have plans to investigate using IGEL for users and devices beyond their contact centers.
“We are currently evaluating where it will make the most sense to deploy IGEL,” said Gehrke. “We have a lot of the same requirements at our brick-and-mortar locations for security, performance, and ease of use.”
“I've been in the industry for twenty years, and technology has evolved. As technology evolves from the security aspect, you as a target now become much larger from a security standpoint. As a bank, different application programs and peripherals are needed to connect to our Citrix environment.And every time we would add something new and try to do something that's "cutting edge," we would run into a challenge with the DELL zero client. The zero clients couldn't support it. There is no driver built for the zero clients. And, of course, we would then have to run back to our friends at Dell and say, Hey, Dell, can you guys figure this out? And it will take months, and sometimes we have to find another solution. When it came to a particular problem related to identity management, security, making life easier for our users when they login to work every day. That's where we hit a stopping point. It was a problem that we must solve. We were introduced to IGEL; we were able to demo it we were able to do a proof of concept. And we broke through the barrier, as you call it, and took the plunge, and we've purchased 1000 seats. And here we are today. IGEL takes away the burdens for my team, allowing us to provide flexibility for our end users, especially with COVID right now, to work from anywhere. It's a big plus but also gives us that centralized manageability. Managing IGEL efficiently from our end without losing that capability is, on its own, a big selling point. So you know, being able to make our lives or employees easier. Without burdening my team too much on the technology, this is definitely a plus for IGEL.”
Title: Manage and secure your cloud-connected Devices with Lenovo and IGEL
Hi NAME
Has COMPANY reviewed IGEL as part of your endpoint strategy recently? IGEL and Lenovo have been working together to provide the world with the ultimate endpoint for connecting to the cloud.
Together, we provide:
- Simple and Scalable Endpoint Management from anywhere
- Enhanced Endpoint Security Protection
- Richer Employee Experience
- Support Sustainability Strategies
Can we carve out an hour to see if it would fit into your plans?
Right now, email Spencer White to get the ball rolling.
The pandemic has accelerated the trend of a broadly distributed workforce, which is now here to stay. As organizations return to "normal," people have discovered that they can work from home and be more productive while maintaining a better work-life balance. This new way of working emphasizes freedom and control: end-users have the freedom to work from virtually anywhere using their endpoint device(s) of choice, while company IT staff maintain control to ensure secure, managed access to appropriate apps and workloads according to company policies and permissions.