IGEL, provider of a managed endpoint operating system for secure access to any digital workspace, has launched an agile new operating system and app portal as part of an ongoing campaign to dismantle the barriers to broader adoption of end-user computing and to promote the environmental, financial and security benefits of virtualised desktops and cloud workspaces.
Launched at DISRUPT23 – The Ultimate Global EUC Event in Munich, IGEL COSMOS, featuring a new lean version of the read-only Linux-based IGEL operating system (IGEL OS 12) and a new Jed Ayres management and control system (UMS 12), follows two years of rapid change at IGEL since it was acquired by TA Associates in March 2021.
In this time, the company has stopped manufacturing thin client devices; seen leading vendors including Lenovo, HP and LG offer models factory pre-loaded with the IGEL OS to simplify procurement and implementation; introduced subscriptions so that customers can buy IGEL under the same consumption model they use to buy Citrix or VMWare; and implemented a new ERP system and ServiceNow.
With the launch of IGEL COSMOS, its new endpoint operating system, management and cloud services platform, IGEL is once again offering greater choice and flexibility to organisations that have embraced cloud-delivered digital workspaces as part of a hybrid working strategy.
IGEL COSMOS brings together three ‘separate but equal’ elements in a unified, agile platform for securely managing and automating the delivery of digital workspaces, from any cloud. These are the base IGEL OS 12; management and control powered by the next generation of the IGEL Universal Management Suite (UMS 12); and value-add cloud services, including an app portal offering IGEL OS- certified applications and interfaces.
One key aspect of this new modularised platform is the complete separation of the base IGEL OS from validated and applications/interfaces that, combined with the new app portal, will enable users to access new versions of the integrated applications they use instantly without having to wait for the next IGEL OS release from IGEL – something that IGEL CEO Jed Ayres describes as ‘revolutionary’ “It’s a very big deal,” he said. “For the last two decades, you have essentially had all the leaders in this space building a monolithic piece of firmware.
And we got really good at it. But I would get an email once a week from product management advising me of a new Citrix thing, a new Zoom thing, a new Dragon Dictate thing, this long list of things going out with the next release. We got into a very agile cycle of getting out all those things our 11,000 customers needed so that they wouldn’t get too far out of sync.
And then with the core guys like Citrix and VMware, we got to day zero where customers would get their new things immediately. There would be no delay because there would be security things in there and we have such a fixation on that. The world we were living in was like a nonstop treadmill and, with a Zoom, Teams, WebEx arms race, also really challenging.
“The other problem with building the ecosystem into the OS is that it was heading towards 3GB in size. There was a lot of waste in there, like three versions of Citrix, but I use VMware so why am I getting that? Even though IGEL OS was still small compared to the 16GB of Windows IoT,
the idea of getting back to a base OS and being able to thread in the two or three or four things that you as a customer need was appealing.”
This new modularised approach, combined with the launch of an app portal, has enabled IGEL to reduce the size of its base OS to just 600MB, while meeting the customer requirement for more frequent update cycles and more freedom in their choice of apps.
“This is revolutionary,” said Ayres. “Imagine if you wanted to update your phone and the entire thing and every app on there has to get updated. There’s just so many amazing benefits around how quickly devices are going to get updated with these tiny micro packages. We think it’s going to unleash a whole bunch of new use cases.”
App portal
The launch of the app portal addresses another key ambition of IGEL’s which is to accelerate the adoption of EUC, which in the past has arguably been too inward- looking, by providing a more consumer- focused, flexible and intuitive experience.
“The COSMOS platform has been designed for this new era of hybrid work. With a new modularised version of IGEL OS, a new version of our UMS management platform coupled with new cloud services that extend capabilities and enhance user experiences, COSMOS enables unmatched speed and flexibility to our customers across traditional and modern application delivery models, while still retaining security, management and control across the entire endpoint estate.”
Matthias Haas, Chief Technology Officer, IGEL
“The goal is to have the sort of self- service experience that you have on your phone,” explained Ayres. “Take the Uber app. If my company allows that, I could get it and put it on my device. There’s a more consumer-like experience. It doesn’t feel like you have to open up a ticket, that you’re in this really radically confined space.”
Ayres expects the number of IGEL- validated apps on the portal, available for download at no extra cost, to increase quite rapidly into the hundreds as vendors see who is in there.
“The IGEL Ready technology partner programme is probably the best way to gauge likely numbers. We launched that programme in earnest in 2020 and there’s 130 people in that programme today. I would say that the same fast scale-out that we saw on IGEL Ready, also fuelled by a lot of vendors in the ecosystem seeing that IGEL OS is growing rapidly and is available through leading hardware companies, will encourage them to get their app in there. That’s going to be the ultimate advertisement.”
He adds that another great benefit of the app portal, which is based on a certification process, is that it removes some of the stratification of vendors that has built up over the years, opening things up to a wider community.
“Some of IGEL Ready is a little bit architecture-based and some of the companies involved have long histories with IGEL, like Citrix and VMware and Microsoft. The app portal is great. It’s a whole new dimension for us and is going to attract more vendors. It’s our iTunes moment. Remember how many apps were in it when Steve Jobs announced it; I think there were like 15 or maybe 10.”
Software providers can validate their solutions for COSMOS and the app portal using an IGEL OS API (application programming interface). Apps already or shortly to be available on the portal include the Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop client, VMware Horizon client, Citrix Workspace app, Chromium Browser, Zoom Media Plugins for VDI, Citrix Workspace app, ControlUp, CUPS printing system, SafeSign identity client, SafeNet Authentication client, Cryptovision Scienterface, Windows 365 Cloud PC and RDP client, Cisco Webex and Cisco Jabber, 7signal, Cameyo, Cendio, deviceTRUST, Imprivata, Nutanix Frame, Tricerat and Vasion PrinterLogic.
The app portal is just one of the new cloud services being launched by IGEL. Others, which received much applause from delegates at DISRUPT23, include the IGEL Onboarding Service, which enables users to onboard, manage and update endpoints faster and more efficiently than before, and the IGEL Insight Service, offering deeper insights into endpoint usage, security, status and the compliance of IGEL UMS-managed endpoints.
UMS 12
Underpinning IGEL COSMOS is another major new launch from IGEL, the IGEL Unified Management System 12 (UMS 12) management and control console. This provides a unified view across endpoints running either IGEL OS 11 or the new IGEL OS 12, giving customers the ability to migrate to COSMOS at their own speed without needing to upgrade the OS on all their existing devices. Ayres is confident that with these building blocks in places, IGEL can
devote more of its energies to developing innovative solutions that meet the needs of specific vertical sectors.
“With that app portal and the onboarding and everything working together, and bear in mind it’s version 1 and only going to get better over time, perhaps with the addition of features that are vertical-specific, we can start to do what development should be doing, which is thinking about the next generation of innovation, rather than trying to crochet a bunch of drivers into a piece of firmware.”
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