We recently sat down with IGEL Community member Daniel Ugarte to discuss his experiences working with IGEL's products and solutions.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself, your role in IT, etc. and maybe something fun about you?
I work in a bank called Laboral Kutxa in the north of Spain as an IT manager/administrator. I have been working in IT for about 15 years in different technologies, virtualization, EUC, storage, and Unix. I have been a techie for all my life. I'm a drone fan, and I enjoy building them and flying it once it is built. The first one I made it didn't take off, just flipped and crashed.
First, how long have you been working with IGEL's products and solutions?
I discovered IGEL at VMworld in Barcelona in 2016. It was a funny thing because I went to the booth only because IGEL was raffling a drone, and I'm a drone fan. After that, I have been working with IGEL in almost every product.
Was IGEL your first experience with 'thin clients'?
No, I was working with Wyse/Dell, Fujitsu, HP, if you are talking just about hardware.
How do you see IGEL solutions compare and contrast to your other experiences?
I have been testing many thin clients and other vendors like StratoDesk, but you can feel the difference just from the beginning. It is like a car. All of them take you from point A to B, but what happens when you sit in an Audi or a Sandero, you KNOW the difference.
As you are also working with ControlUp, can you share the benefits ControlUp brings to IGEL customers?
Today, you can do several things, from Monitoring to Managing, from some basic tasks like reboot a device to even knowing what USB devices you have attached. If you wonder what is happening with your IGEL Devices and if there is enough memory or CPU to manage your loads, we finally have something to answer that question.
You have a unique way of deploying IGEL to your end-users, can you share that with us?
We use the IGEL deployment appliance to install the IGEL OS to our branch offices via booting from the network or by USB. When we have to upgrade, we do it directly from the IGEL UMS or utilize the IGEL Buddy-Update feature.
How has Covid-19 affected how your company supports its end-users?
In this case, we have had much success as we are 100% IGEL & Citrix. It has not been a challenge for our support team to help everybody connect from their homes. Our management has congratulated us for making it so easy to work from home, and in our branch and central offices. So our company is aware we have deployed the correct technology for supporting our business.
Was IGEL able to help? If so, how?
Of course, IGEL helped us, we had many old laptops, and we deploy IGEL OS 11 directly to all of them. We give laptops to all our people who did not have a computer at home. Also, we use the IGEL Cloud Gateway to manage our devices out of our network, which makes it secure and straightforward. No VPN required.
How do you see IT moving forward with and beyond Covid-19?
I think companies are seeing the true potential IT can deliver using solutions such as IGEL and Citrix. Therefore they will invest more in IT because they must be ready for the next wave or the future unknowns. Companies need to be always thinking about business continuity, and I think Covid-19 brought that home to the executives.
What do you feel the most significant challenges relating to working with IGEL have been and where you can work around these issues?
Our biggest challenge has been around devices. We are a bank, and we have many peripherals, like signpads, financial printers, USB phones, cash recycling, etc. To get everything working has been hard, sometimes frustrating because some of these devices are RS232, and putting all together has been a massive adventure. Another challenge for us is having all our laptops with IGEL. We had to create scripts and customizations to achieve the best user experience. Though, we made it happen.
Can you share your experience as a member of the IGEL Community?
My experience has been great. We support each other; we share our knowledge and try to help. Sometimes we have solved the Community's issues other times you receive advice that might help solve your problem. I like the Community, and I think it is a great tool to stay updated about IGEL. Other vendors should take this as an example of how to give excellent customer service.
Has the IGEL Community changed your way of using/teaching IGEL products, if so, how?
Yes! When I have some problems/questions about something related to IGEL, I go to the Community and search for it. If I don't find anything, I ask, and I know someone will give me an answer or give me advice on what to do next. It's been very helpful.
If you had one wish for IGEL, what would it be?
I would like to see improvement with the reports. Our managers are always asking for reports, and we have to suffer to get one good report for our IGEL solution.
Special thanks to Daniel Ugarte for taking the time for this interview. Truly appreciated!
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