// CASE STUDY //

new practice management software, rolled out dual monitors across all desks and deployed 10ZiG modernised thin clients in its offices. The entire programme was delivered by a four-person IT team.

The firm chose Microsoft AVD as its desktop virtualisation platform – a natural fit given that legal software vendors develop almost universally within the Microsoft ecosystem. The AVD session hosts are provisioned from a single gold image applied consistently to every endpoint, providing centralised patch management, strong security and an infrastructure that can be rebuilt from scratch if required. Nerdio manages the scaling of session hosts throughout the day, ensuring TWM Solicitors pays only for compute it actually needs.

Choosing 10ZiG: 24-inch dual monitors, digital dictation and centralised management

To support the AVD rollout, all endpoints needed upgrading. Alan Barrett, TWM Solicitors’ Head of IT, said:“ Our requirements were clear: new desktop hardware needed to drive dual 24-inch monitors at full resolution, support Windows drivers for our SpeechWrite digital dictation software and provide a robust, centralised remote management platform to keep devices updated without requiring physical site visits.”

TWM Solicitors found 10ZiG through Softcat, a trusted reseller the firm has worked with for over a decade. After a successful trial, it procured approximately 240 10ZiG devices running Windows IoT Long-Term Servicing Channel – a locked-down, highly secure version of Windows 10 with security support through to February 2032. The 10ZiG devices therefore serve a single purpose and function as highly managed secure terminals that simply open an AVD session and nothing else. Furthermore, the endpoints are set up to optimise Teams and Zoom calls running in AVD, leveraging the power of the local 10ZiG thin client hardware.

“ When we moved to AVD, the endpoint became both less important and more critical at the same time,” said Barrett.“ Less important because all the compute is now happening in the cloud; more critical because it’ s the device that everyone uses to do their work. 10ZiG has been the right answer on both counts. They’ re so low maintenance that they’ ve essentially become invisible which is exactly what you want from an endpoint.”

Seamless rollout across multiple sites and solid return on investment

Before despatch, TWM Solicitors’ IT team worked with 10ZiG to build a primary device image incorporating all required software, drivers and settings. Every device arrived pre-configured and ready to connect to the network. Barrett said:“ This saved us a lot of time during the rollout – which was welcome, given the physical effort involved: unpacking computers and monitors, assembling thin client bases and monitor arms, fitting everything to desks, then removing old equipment and recycling packaging. At our largest office in Guildford, we replaced over 100 machines and monitors in a single day.”

The preparation work carried out with 10ZiG beforehand made all the difference.“ I remember saying to our managing partner afterwards: where else have you worked where so many computers have been changed over a weekend and everything worked on Monday?” said Barrett.

Using 10ZiG Manager, TWM Solicitors can now also remotely power devices on and off, automate patch deployment and maintain consistent configurations across all offices, further reducing operational overhead and improving endpoint consistency.

TWM has run the numbers. Centralised remote management has saved the IT team from visiting multiple office. The cumulative saving runs to hundreds of hours of IT engineer time and significant travel costs. Equally, device replacement has been simplified: because every 10ZiG modernised thin client holds no local user data, a faulty unit is swapped in minutes with no data recovery and no software to reinstall.

At approximately £ 450 per device and an eight or nine-year lifespan, the annualised cost works

THEY’ RE SO LOW MAINTENANCE THAT THEY’ VE ESSENTIALLY BECOME INVISIBLE WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT FROM AN ENDPOINT.

Intelligent SME. tech

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