Customer Stories
Customer story
Nerdio Manager for Enterprise
~9M NOK
Saved in 3 years in
licensing costs alone.
Migrated
To Windows 11, cutting CAL costs and boosting performance.
One admin
Manages full environment,
reducing costs tied to client
access licenses.
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Start nowChallenge
- Rising costs from a platinum license covering 2,400 users, despite only needing ~1,300 concurrent sessions.
- Complexity in management, requiring heavy admin work for a single IT administrator.
- Lack of flexibility, limiting alignment with the organization’s Microsoft 365 and Azure strategies.
Solution
- Full production deployment completed in 3–4 months.
- Reused existing Citrix deployment tools, leveraged Microsoft Deployment Toolkit, and relied on Nerdio’s automation and GUI for simplification.
- Supported by Nerdio, Devoteam, and Microsoft funding, with proactive consulting and ongoing business success support.
Overview
Felleskjøpet Agri SA, a leading agricultural cooperative in Norway with over 4,200 employees, faced growing challenges managing remote applications through Citrix. Rising licensing fees and limited scalability led Bjørn-Ingar Trønnes, Senior Consultant in the IT Delivery Services team, to seek a more cost-effective and manageable alternative.
After evaluating options, the team transitioned to Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) with Nerdio Manager, drastically cutting licensing costs while simplifying IT operations. The results? Significant savings, faster provisioning, and smoother user experience, all managed by a single administrator.
The challenge: High licensing costs and complex management
As a public cooperative, Felleskjøpet’s IT priorities include stability, efficiency, and security. For years, the organization used Citrix to publish remote applications, but the lack of flexibility, rising costs under a platinum license, and the need for easier management made it unsustainable.
“We only used Citrix for published applications—not desktops—and Citrix pushed us into a three-year license deal we didn’t need,” explained Bjørn-Ingar.
We were paying for 2,400 users, but we only needed around 1,300 concurrent. Nerdio gave us a way to right-size our licensing.”
Bjørn-Ingar Trønnes,
Senior Consultant
The IT department, comprising about 80 staff and 40 developers, needed a platform that would align better with their broader Microsoft 365 and Azure strategies. As the sole admin managing both Citrix and AVD, Bjørn-Ingar sought a solution that was simpler to deploy and maintain.
The solution: A seamless transition to AVD and Nerdio Manager
The migration began with a proof of concept (POC), focusing on compatibility with critical applications—including a custom-built, 50-year-old COBOL-based ERP system. Once the POC proved successful, production deployment followed in just 3–4 months.
“Transitioning to Nerdio was intuitive,” Bjørn-Ingar said. “We reused many deployment tools from Citrix and adopted Microsoft Deployment Toolkit for image management. Nerdio’s automation and GUI made the move seamless.”
Nerdio’s support team, alongside partners like Devoteam and funding from Microsoft, helped smooth the migration. From assisting with Azure credits to providing 100 hours of consulting, Nerdio’s collaborative approach helped ensure a successful launch.
Immediate impact: 9M NOK saved and streamlined management
The business case for switching from Citrix to Nerdio quickly became self-evident. Felleskjøpet saved approximately 9 million NOK over three years in licensing costs alone. On top of that, compute savings through smarter auto-scaling added even more value.
“We now only pay for licenses we actually use,” said Bjørn-Ingar. “And Nerdio’s Auto-Scaling is fantastic. We just let it run and trust the system.”
In addition to licensing flexibility, Nerdio allowed the team to shift from server-based OS to Windows 11, reducing costs tied to client access licenses. Although exact figures for compute savings weren’t available, the impact was clear: reduced infrastructure overhead, faster performance, and better cost control.
Trusted partnership and proactive support
Beyond the technology, Bjørn-Ingar highlighted Nerdio’s people as a key factor in their success. The proactive business success team, responsiveness to Norwegian language issues, and direct relationships with developers created a sense of trust and partnership.
“It’s like someone passes the ball right to your shoelaces—you just show up and score. That’s how working with Nerdio felt,” said Bjørn-Ingar. “They facilitated everything. It was too good to pass up.”
This personal relationship extended to Nerdio’s executive team, who met Bjørn-Ingar during conferences in Amsterdam and provided continued support and collaboration.
Looking ahead: Continuous innovation and community-driven
development
Felleskjøpet sees Nerdio not just as a product, but as a growing platform. With each release, the company delivers meaningful updates influenced by the community and customer feedback.
“Nerdio is constantly evolving,” Bjørn-Ingar said. “They listen to the community and innovate based on real feedback.”
For a lean IT team managing a complex environment, Nerdio has proven to be more than a cost-saving tool—it’s a strategic enabler. By simplifying AVD management, delivering enterprise-grade scalability, and supporting a trusted partnership model, Nerdio has helped Felleskjøpet Agri SA modernize its operations and future-proof its infrastructure.
“With Nerdio, we’ve achieved both cost savings and operational excellence. It’s been a transformative journey.”
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