BAWAG P.S.K. Leasing stands for confidential consultation on the financing of private or commercial investments. The company represents the competence centre for property, movable property and car leasing of the BAWAG P.S.K., one of the largest Austrian high-street banks. BAWAG P.S.K. commits itself to a high quality level with binding contract standards. Thus the private car leasing contracts, for example, were awarded the quality seal “Leasing OK!” from the Association of Austrian Leasing Companies (Verband österreichischer Leasinggesellschaftes – VÖL). But internally, the leasing experts also have a good sense of quality and profitability, as the latest IT migration project proves.

Economical modernisation of the IT infrastructure
BAWAG P.S.K. Leasing had already introduced a server-based computing infrastructure in 1998 in order to keep total IT costs low and minimise maintenance expenditure. The first Thin Client generation was comprised of IBM-NetVista 2200 terminals, with which around 120 users could access the central terminal servers and the applications running on them, such as Office, Lotus Notes or branch-specific proprietary developments? “Initially the terminal servers were operated with Citrix MetaFrame under Windows NT, later under Windows 2000,” remembers Thomas Steibl, responsible system technician at BAWAG P.S.K. Leasing. The client/server network operated before that comprised a central domain, a file server, a database and a dedicated server in each branch office. “With only two system technicians, it got to the point where we could no longer cope with the decentralised software maintenance and servicing of the servers and PCs at the seven Austrian locations and three further dependencies in Budapest, Prague and Warsaw. Therefore I recommended conversion to a centralised infrastructure to the board of directors.” Migration to server-based computing made the servers in the branch offices redundant and most of the maintenance-prone workstation PCs were replaced by lower-maintenance IBM-NetVista terminals. Only the connection lines to the terminal servers located in Vienna had to be extended for the most part to a standard bandwidth of 256 kbit/s.

However, after around six years, the IBM-NetVista devices were technically obsolete. This was due on one hand to the hardware requirements which had risen in the meantime, and on the other hand to the solutions for configuring and administrating the devices which were no longer up-to-date. Besides that, IBM had in the meantime ceased production and maintenance of the NetVistas. “For the purposes of a soft migration we therefore looked for a solution where we could improve the management and range of uses of the old devices and at the same time be able to introduce the next Thin Client generation whilst using a uniform administrative solution.”

Soft migration thanks to uniform management
Through the IT service provider X-tech, which acted as a consultant to BAWAG P.S.K. Leasing and also supported them during the subsequent installation, Thomas Steibl became aware of the German Thin Client suppliers IGEL Technology, who offer special upgrade kits for IBM-NetVista terminals in addition to their own Thin Clients. After a precise analysis of a reference project at the K&B paper processing works, Thomas Steibl decided on a soft migration with the aid of IGEL 2210 Winestra upgrade kits. “The IGEL Compact flash card is fully-compatible with the IBM hardware, costs only a fraction of a new Thin Client and, besides numerous additional functions, interfaces and protocols, allows a graphic resolution of up to 1600 x 1200 pixels. However, the most important novelty for us was the IGEL Remote Management Suite administration software included in the scope of delivery, with which we could simply and efficiently administrate not only the upgraded old machines but also all successively newly-procured IGEL Thin Clients.”

BAWAG P.S.K. Leasing now possesses a simple to administrate Thin Client network for 160 to 180 employees. The standard workstation at the company today comprises an IGEL-5128 LX Premium and a 17” TFT monitor. Windows Desktop is currently made available via 6 terminal servers running Windows 2003 Server and Citrix Presentation Server. For graphic-intensive applications there are still a few PC clients with local installations.

Roll-out took only seven working days
Thanks to the IGEL-2210 Winestra upgrade kits for IBM-NetVista 2200, BAWAG P.S.K. Leasing was able to migrate gently to a new Thin Client generation without any management deficits.“ The old IBM terminals, some of which were eight years old, worked with the internal IGEL upgrade without problems right up to the end," Thomas Steibl comments.“ The management solution allowed us to rapidly roll out individual Thin Client lots within the company. Thanks to the possibility of preconfiguring the IGEL Thin Clients, we needed only seven working days in total to exchange the last 64 upgraded IBM terminals. We only had to assign the IP addresses and the group configurations via the management console and then dispatch the devices to the locations. Once they arrived, the employees connected the devices themselves.” Thomas Steibl has five preconfigured Thin Clients in reserve, which can be ready for use in 10 minutes, for the event of acute failures. A further advantage of the solution is exhibited by the plethora of integrated digital services provided by both the firmware of the IBM-NetVista upgrade kits and the new IGEL Thin Clients. “For example, the integrated ThinPrint-Client for bandwidth-optimised printing offers an efficient alternative to the expansion of network cabling.” A further future-oriented option is offered by the Smartcard reader, with which the IGEL Thin Clients are equipped as standard. “The decisive argument of investment security will continue even after migration to the new Thin Client generation,” says Thomas Steibl in summary. “The efficiency and user-friendliness of the management solution and, last but not least, the constant further development of firmware and digital services strengthened our decision in favour of IGEL.”