Case Study: University Consortium of Pordenone achieves 60% reduction in maintenance by virtualizing computer labs with Citrix XenDesktop

The University Consortium of Pordenone virtualizes the computer lab with Citrix

The University Consortium of Pordenone coordinates graduate and master’s programs across multiple universities and faced a growing IT burden: more than 150 lab workstations supporting diverse, often conflicting software for about 1,300 students, frequent reconfigurations each academic year, and high maintenance and downtime from shared, non‑personal use. These challenges made labs expensive and hard to manage while limiting students’ ability to work remotely or finish assignments outside scheduled sessions.

The consortium piloted a Citrix-based solution (XenDesktop, XenServer and NetScaler) to deliver virtual desktops and applications accessible from thin clients or students’ own devices. The rollout improved student satisfaction and remote access, proved highly scalable, cut maintenance hours by about 60% and reduced costs roughly 15%, and set the stage for further consolidation and app virtualization with XenApp.

University Consortium of Pordenone

Andrea Zanni

Head of Information Technology