IGEL deepens relationship with HP

Thin client OS specialist IGEL has deepened its relationship with HP just weeks after it embarked on a software-only strategy.

The firm announced a month ago that it would be sunsetting its hardware in March 2023 and the future of the business would be based around its software, with a number of partnerships in place to cover demand for hardware.

One of those key relationships was with HP, along with Lenovo and LG, providing the channel with a range of hardware options from the three vendors.

On the HP front, the IGEL OS has now been certified for the HP Elite t655 thin clients and will be pre-installed on the devices, which will start shipping on 16 December.

The IGEL OS will also be continuously tested, with the latest versions being made available to HP’s Elite devices.

“The validation as IGEL Ready Advanced and installation of IGEL OS on the HP Elite t655 thin clients by HP is an important milestone in our global collaboration with HP,” said Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL.

“In adding the new cloud-first endpoints to our growing portfolio of IGEL Ready HP endpoint hardware solutions, we are providing our mutual partners and customers with greater flexibility of choice and increased access to the best-of-breed offerings they need to power the modern hybrid workplace,” he added.

From an HP point of view, Alex Thatcher, senior director of HP Cloud Clients, said customers were looking for different desktop options.

“Now, more than ever, businesses are relying on virtualisation to improve the efficiency and productivity of their users as the shift from physical desktops to cloud-enabled workspaces accelerates,” he said.

“Together with IGEL, we are proud to address the needs of hybrid work environments by empowering organisations with solutions that maximise the security, scalability and simplicity of their end user computing deployments,” he added.

Hermann Ramacher, CEO of IGEL partner ADN, provided a partner insight, revealing that these sorts of developments were what it had hoped for when IGEL moved to a hardware alliance strategy.

“As a long-time partner of IGEL, ADN is pleased to see the continued growth of IGEL’s alliance with HP through the certification of the HP Elite t655 thin client,” he said. “For our customers, this means even greater flexibility of choice when selecting HP thin client hardware for the delivery of IGEL OS-powered cloud workspaces within their Microsoft, Citrix and VMware environments.”

Speaking to MicroScope last month, Simon Townsend, IGEL’s field chief technology officer for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), said it had kept partners in the loop as it had been winding down its hardware operation so the development would not come as a surprise to its channel.

He added that the change in direction would provide the channel with access to more hardware options, as IGEL had only been offering three flavours to users, and would be a strong pitch for customers looking for secure solutions in a hybrid working world.