Case Study: Kanton of Basel-Stadt cuts desktop TCO and extends PC lifespan with IGEL thin client solution

canton of Basel-Stadt - Customer Case Study

The Kanton of Basel-Stadt faced the end of support for Windows XP across 1,180 IT workplaces at more than 100 locations and needed to lower client management and maintenance costs while protecting its investment in existing PCs. To avoid a full hardware refresh, the Kanton selected IGEL — deploying the IGEL Universal Desktop Converter (UDC2) and IGEL Universal Management Suite (UMS) and planning a gradual move to IGEL thin client hardware (IZ2, IZ3, UD5 LX) alongside a Citrix XenApp / VMware vSphere Windows 7 migration.

IGEL converted older PCs into centrally managed software thin clients and provided unified, profile‑based remote management and automated roll‑out. As a result the Kanton now runs roughly 820 UDC software thin clients plus 100+ IGEL hardware devices (about an 84% thin‑client share), achieved substantially lower workstation TCO, sharply reduced support tickets, enabled 15‑minute equipment exchanges, and given ~15% of users remote access to their desktop — all while maintaining performance for demanding Citrix‑published applications.

Kanton of Basel-Stadt

Thomas Anliker

Head of IT