3222: IGEL CEO Klaus Oestermann on Rewriting the Rules of Endpoint Computing

[00:00:04] What does it take to reimagine the future of Endpoint Computing and Cybersecurity? Well, in today's special episode, recorded live at IGEL's Now and Next 2025 Summit in Miami, I'm joined by Klaus Ostermann, the CEO of IGEL and longtime cybersecurity leader who's been helping organizations

[00:00:28] rethink what secure, sustainable and user-centric digital workspaces should really look like. And with cyber threats growing more sophisticated, along with the pressure mounting on IT leaders to reduce cost, complexity and risk, Endpoint Computing is no longer just about managing devices. It's about securing the very edge of the enterprise in a way that empowers hybrid workers.

[00:00:58] And making bold decisions on cloud strategies, zero-trust architecture and operational resilience, all these things are crucial. And it's also the exact vision that Klaus is bringing to this year's event, which he describes as not a conference, but a movement. So in our conversation today, Klaus is going to be sharing how IGEL's preventative security model offers a fresh take on zero trust.

[00:01:25] And how the IGEL OS enables modern work through VDI, desktop as a service, software as a service and secure browsing. And we'll also explore how the company is doubling down on sustainability, user experience, ecosystem partnerships. Because today I've seen keynote insights from Microsoft Gartner, AWS. This event is undoubtedly packed with signals about where endpoint innovation is heading.

[00:01:53] And Klaus, my guest today, he's right at the heart of this transformation. So how does IGEL plan to lead the next chapter in endpoint computing? And what should every business be watching and preparing for? Well, it's time to find out by inviting the CEO of IGEL onto the podcast now. So thank you for joining me on the podcast today. Can you tell everyone listening a little about who you are and what you do?

[00:02:21] I'm Klaus Osterman. I'm the CEO of IGEL. And I work on all aspects of the company's business and work closely with our strategic partners, big customers. And yeah, just all around involved in things. And of course, we're recording this in Miami at IGEL's now and next 2025 conference, which I've said the word conference.

[00:02:49] It's actually described as a movement rather than just another conference. But what makes this event so pivotal for endpoint computing and cybersecurity from your side? Yeah. So I think it's really the only forum where you have end user compute and the transformation that's going on there. At the same time, you're looking at endpoint security. You're looking at zero trust architecture. And you're diving deep into critical industries.

[00:03:18] So kind of the 16 sectors that's running a country, right? Any of these gets taken out, then, you know, your country is in a bad shape. So so so it has multiple themes that's been blended together. So that basically attracts a very interesting audience of people that are looking broadly at multiple technology components.

[00:03:40] And with cyber threats filling up our news feeds on an almost daily basis, how does your preventative security model take a more unique approach to zero trust security? There's a lot of myths and misconceptions. But what's your unique approach? So I think I think the key thing is really no one vendor can solve this by themselves. It's really about having a an alliance of partners that work hand in hand to solve the different issues. Right.

[00:04:07] And today's security model for most companies is based on what I call a pretty antiquated model of, you know, the bad guys are going to get in at some point. So what do we do? So you monitor, you detect, you mitigate and you remediate. So you have a plan for when it goes south. What do you do? Right. And we just have a very 180 degree view on this say, well, let's prevent it from happening in the first place. Right.

[00:04:35] And that's really about if you take the endpoint, which is the most vulnerable thing in your whole stack, it's what's being the most attacked. And you say, well, you can't write to it. You can't do anything. You know, it's all locked down. That's the IGL OS. And that's very different from Windows. Right. So which is wide open and why you see a lot of these attacks. So really having a preventative mindset about this and saying what can go wrong.

[00:05:03] And then you just build it in and say, well, then let's shut it down. Let's limit, you know, what can get there. The software stack that we deploy is very small compared to, you know, if you take Windows with all the different products on top for security, for monitoring, for this and that. But there's 15 things that you can't do in an ideal environment. So you don't need a product to protect against that. So basically, it's a more simplistic model in one way. And at the same time, it's also a more holistic model.

[00:05:32] It's looking at what are you deploying? Which apps? How are you securing it? And then what endpoints are you deploying? And today, most companies work with these three, I call it three rings as separate organization making different decisions. And what ideal does with the preventative security model is bring those three rings together.

[00:05:55] So that you can look holistically at this and say, well, from a threat standpoint, if this comes in here, what do we do? And is that the secure service that solution that's taking care of that or is it the identity access management solution? So you've got to think about all these different components. Just the simple thing of establishing trust between the hardware and the identity management. And how do you do that?

[00:06:22] And when do you allow things and not allow things is, you know, a fundamental element in like zero trust architecture. And endpoint security is such an important topic at the moment and a growing concern for enterprises across just about every industry we could possibly name here. So I'm curious from all the conversations that you're having, what are the most pressing challenges that organizations are currently facing? And how are you helping them address these challenges?

[00:06:47] I think the number one is the fear of, of ransomware attacks, right? So we've seen in the U S the entire healthcare sector beyond a very severe tax. Now we're seeing state and local. So, uh, cities, you know, municipalities are being attacked, uh, and have to pay ransomware to get out of this. Right.

[00:07:10] So I think one of the biggest worries of threats out there is really just being hit with ransomware attack. And then there's, you know, you can say even bigger, which is nation state attacks, which is, they don't want money. They just want to bring you down. Right. And then, and then, uh, so, so, so I think, uh, looking at that and saying, how do you prevent these things? And, and again, it all starts with the endpoints and starts with secure endpoints in my mind.

[00:07:37] And if we look at the iGel OS, it is designed for everything from VDI desktop as a service, software as a service, and secure browsing. So how do all these technologies fit into the future of digital workspaces? Would you say? Yeah. So I think our, our vision is really that you, you, you say what industry are you in? What user groups are you serving? What is a great curated app experience for them? Right.

[00:08:06] And a lot of things are greatly served via VDI. Uh, other things like some modern apps are just coming as a browser. So that would be in a natural element. And then you have this whole movement around progressive web apps. So the Google apps, every Microsoft app is out there, will be out there. So that's a great way of executing applications and getting great performance.

[00:08:32] So for instance, like collaboration apps, oftentimes they don't do great in VDI, but for many years they've been living under. So that's one app you might want to lift out and put directly on the iGel desktop. So you have your VDI icon where you have 90 apps you get access to. You have your browser could be Island, and then you get access to, you know, 10 apps.

[00:08:53] And then you have eight progressive web apps that you run locally that's important for the engineer or for, you know, the office worker or whatever it is. And then we have certain apps, um, like, like developer apps that, that we will create a native app for and publish that as well. So the user don't need to know if this is VDI browser progressive web app or a native app. Um, they just click the icon and iGel brings all of this together.

[00:09:21] So that's when we're talking about having a very simplified management that's based on exactly what are the users need and what do they have access to. And you can then tie that in the, um, in the preventive security model with some of our vendors like C scale, where you say, well, uh, now you are not in the office. You're out in the field. So yesterday you had 12 icons on your desktop. Now you only have eight because for them, you can only use when you're in the office, right?

[00:09:50] So, so you can start not only curate what the user gets, but also put security around wrappers around it and say in these scenarios, you don't get access to these things. You might travel to certain countries where you want to totally limit, give you just one app while you're there. Uh, so this is, this is really, how do you put all these components together, make it relevant, make it flexible. So, so for me, the, you asked about digital workplace. That is the digital workplace.

[00:10:16] It adapts to who you are, what your function is, where you are, what do we allow you to do? And less than it's a VDI or browser discussion. It's like, no, we bring the best technology to you for each scenario, each app, where are you? How can you access things? And then finally, uh, as you saw today, we launched, uh, ideal managed hypervisor, right? Which is you go to hospitals.

[00:10:43] They have a lot of, uh, old version of windows machines standing around. Well, you could just put that if the machine next to it is running ideal, instead of having an extra machine where you're trying to keep some 10 year old hardware live, you could simply move that as a VM on the ideal desktop. And then you can manage it from there. So, so there's a lot of, it's kind of five different things you can put on there, right?

[00:11:11] With a consistent security wrapper with consistent integration to secure service edge vendors, identity access management, uh, unified input management. How do we control all of this? And I think also at the moment in every organization, I think every tech project now, whatever it is, is under close scrutiny for the kind of problems that it's solving, what the ROI is on that.

[00:11:36] And especially at a time where most businesses are looking at replacing all those laptops, et cetera, to prepare for windows 11 and sustainability on the flip side of this and cost efficiency are all top priorities for it leaders. Now, so how does Igel OS contribute to both of these things while also enhancing security and user experience? Because that feels like the magical moment to me. Yes. So I think we just talked about some very unique things we do on the user experience side.

[00:12:05] And, and at the same time, how do you make it easy to get that to the users from a management standpoint? Then when you, when you start looking at the cost of running these things, right? So most of the IT organization have smaller budgets, you know, or they got a save here and there. So, so what we do, what we lead with is basically a TCO story where we say, well, if you Igel it, you save 75% on average on your endpoint budget. So imagine you're spending $10 million.

[00:12:34] Well, tomorrow you'll be spending two and a half million on the same stack. Now you can free it up money to then go invest in apps, go invest in other things that you want to modernize. Um, so that's key while we do that part of those savings come from sweating your hardware longer. Yeah.

[00:12:53] So on average, uh, 27% of PCs do not have the TPM two chips that needed to run windows 11, which means on average, you've got to replace 27% of your PCs. What we see in, in us healthcare and UK healthcare for that sake is about 50% of the PCs needs to be replaced to move to windows 11. Well, if you have 10,000 PCs that 5,000 PCs times, you know, you do the math.

[00:13:19] Um, that's a lot of money and you could simply Igel those run them for three years longer and then save all that expense on hardware. Now at the same time you avoid e-waste because you don't have to produce 5,000 new PCs. You don't have to get rid of 5,000 old PCs. So significant sustainability, uh, uh, on that and, and savings at the same time.

[00:13:48] The other thing is when you then say, okay, I'm going to replace my devices. You can run lower powered devices. You don't necessarily need an I nine. You can run an I five, you know, so that's cheaper. So you save money on acquiring that asset and it uses less power. So, so basically e-waste less power, uh, is good for sustainability, right?

[00:14:14] So, so a lot of our, especially in Europe, a lot of our European customers say Igel submit best medicine for our, uh, sustainability reporting. Cause every company has to report on sustainability. Now, what are they doing? What initiatives do they have? And so forth. So, so we've gotten a lot of praises from customers that say, can you please help us calculate these things?

[00:14:36] I can hear light bulb moments going off around the world as people listening there and looking at, uh, some of the keynotes today, there was insight from Microsoft Gartner AWS, and so many other industry leaders. So from your standpoint here, what are the key trends in endpoint computing that businesses should be paying attention to this year? And, and of course, beyond. I think so security is, is one that's really, you know, front and center, right?

[00:15:03] How do you secure things better than you did yesterday? Uh, another key thing that's coming on is AI, right? So you have a lot of people playing around with AI. You'll start seeing people make hardware choices best on what's the AI, uh, endpoint. Uh, and part of that is because a lot of the air processing will not take place in the cloud. It'll take place locally.

[00:15:28] So I think you're going to see a whole evolution of hardware focused on, you know, AI is one of the main workhorses. So, so that then full circle back to security. Well, if you now map everything out, so AI can analyze it. Well, if they get hacked, they have everything on the silver platter, right? So that endpoint needs to be protected. So that then brings around how do you best protect AI endpoints?

[00:15:55] And, and we believe that I gel simply I gel is the way to go for that. Uh, so those are probably two of the key trends I'm seeing. Um, there, there, there's, um, what do you use the endpoints for is, is changing as well, uh, as a third one. And having spent some time here at now in next 2025, one of the things that immediately jumps out to me is community collaboration.

[00:16:20] You're walking around the, the show floor that all the partners there and as I gel continues to grow this successful partner ecosystem. What role do you see collaborations playing in, in shaping the next generation of endpoint security? So, yeah, so, so I think we have something very unique in, in, in, so we have more than 12,000 members in the ideal community. Uh, and you see there's a community stage right outside the, the expo area. Right.

[00:16:47] So, so, so community is very important for us. People contributing with, uh, scripts, with applications, with ideas, but also collaboration between us and other companies that, uh, technology vendors that we collaborate with. And then our broader system of, of reselling partners, uh, value added resellers that go to market with the ideal solutions. Uh, we don't sell direct, so we always sell through partners.

[00:17:16] And so, so we are very close with our partners, you know, it's like, it's kind of, you know, good friends getting together. Right. And, and, uh, there's, of course, there's a commercial aspect to this, but, but all of this, the way we do business is, is we protect our partners business as well. Uh, so, so that's, I think this is not, you know, what are you flashing pan? What do you do this year? This is relationships build over many years.

[00:17:43] And, and again, this whole end user compute endpoint security space. It's a lot of the same people that are in and around this space. So people, many times they might move from one vendor to another, but they know one another. And that creates like a very special feel when you come to the ideal conferences of, of, you know, people having a good time together, um, you know, having some fun as well, but also really discussing what are hot topics and so forth.

[00:18:11] And if we were to look a little further ahead, look at my virtual crystal ball, how do you envision the future of endpoint computing further evolving? If we look next year and beyond, and how do you see yourself at IGEL leading the charge here in this new way? Yeah. So, so I, so I think, I think, uh, security is going to become front and center, right? Uh, and, and, and, and it's really going to be a model of how do you shore up the elements that deliver that secure solution.

[00:18:40] Uh, so that's, you know, we've doubled down on that for sure. We firmly believe that that's the way forward. Um, we believe that things like Serotrust architecture, which is, you know, an architecture for us government on how to implement things, but it's really designed for not just us government, but also for the 16 critical sectors running the country. Mm-hmm .

[00:19:00] So, so if you look at this, this is being implemented right now in government, it'll be implemented in healthcare, financial services, utilities, all those different sectors that run the country, uh, over time. So I think there'll be a common architecture that people will use that will clearly influence what endpoints will do, what will they look like, how they'll act.

[00:19:24] And, um, it'll go beyond endpoints for end users to OT and IoT as well. Because if you look at it and you say, what's the difference? Well, the difference is there's not somebody complaining potentially at the end of the endpoint, but it's gotta be protected. Right. And that's one of the biggest attack vectors we have now is actually OT and IoT. So you gotta show that up in the same manner as you do on the IT front.

[00:19:51] And I'm curious from a personal point of view, if you take all the conversations you've had here at the conference and everything that you've seen on stage and on the show floor, what are you going to be reflecting on that, that plane ride home? What are you going to be thinking about? So it's always interesting when, when, uh, when we do these shows that, you know, we announced 20 new things, right? And then it's really what resonates with people. And sometimes we launch stuff that people have a hard time grasping and other times they're like, well, this is so logical.

[00:20:21] Why have nobody done this before? So I think what you see is IGEL is becoming very good at being first at doing stuff, right? So the stuff we're doing with the IGEL managed hypervisor, nobody else do it the way that we do it and deliver the way we do it. I think the way that we've tied everything together in preventative security model has really turned security on its head and brought us a lot of new partners that, that really see what we do and how we do it is the right way forward.

[00:20:50] So, um, I get a lot, I love, I love this because you, you, you basically spent four days, uh, you meet, you know, a thousand people and, and you get a lot of impressions and, and, and, and it's not just what happens here, but it's also after when people send you an email and say, I've been thinking about this. I'm reflecting. So, so it's really, you know, what happens after the conference as well. What do people take away and kind of, how do we inspire people to think differently and do things differently?

[00:21:19] And then we get the occasional, have you thought about this? And have you thought about that? And some of our best ideas come from customers or partners that say, if you took this one and tied it with that one, you could create something very unique. And that's, we listen a lot. So, yeah. And I would urge anybody listening to try and get hands on, have a play with it, because the first thing that you realize is, as you said a moment ago, this is so logical. Why have we not done this before? So I would urge anyone listening to do that.

[00:21:47] I'll post links to everything so people can find out more about the announcements, how they can get involved. But more than anything, just thank you for sharing the story behind the event and everything today. Really appreciate you. Thank you so much. And thank you for being here. And, and hopefully you can encourage others to come next year as well. So we get even more people at the conference next year. Thank you. Wow. That was a powerful look at what's now and what's next from Klaus there.

[00:22:11] And he strikes me as someone that continues to challenge the status quo, especially around endpoint strategy and cybersecurity. And one thing seems to be clear for me here. IGEL isn't just building products. It's shaping a movement around secure, efficient and sustainable digital workspaces. And as Klaus pointed out today, we're entering a time when endpoint decisions aren't just about device management.

[00:22:38] They are strategic levers from everything from AI readiness to zero trust implementation and long term cost control. And IGEL's focus on preventative security, strong ecosystem partnerships and a frictionless user experience. This is what puts IGEL in a strong position to drive meaningful change for businesses that are trying to navigate the complex world of hybrid working.

[00:23:05] So what role will endpoint computing play in your 2025 roadmap? And are you prepared to treat the edge of your enterprise as the new front line in cybersecurity? Love to hear your thoughts. Join the conversation. Reach out with your own experience and email me techblogwriteroutlook.com, LinkedIn, X, Instagram, just at Neil C. Hughes. Hope you enjoyed this enlightening conversation as much as I did.

[00:23:34] And if you did, please come back tomorrow. We'll do it all again with a different guest and a different topic. So it's time for me to leave now. I will hopefully speak with you tomorrow. Bye for now. Bye for now.