Customer Stories
Customer story
Nerdio Manager for MSP
1000 $
Average monthly cost to maintain AVD with Nerdio—significantly less than legacy alternatives.
4 x
Reduction in time spent resolving login and application configuration issues.
100 %
Improved flexibility with month-to-month licensing—no long-term vendor lock-in
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Start nowChallenge
- Legacy Citrix environment was expensive, inflexible, and required pre-paid, annual licensing.
- Managing Citrix introduced complexity and slow response times, often requiring costly external experts.
- Users experienced frequent issues with application login and initial setup due to Cirix’s configuration delays.
- Needed flexible, cloud-based infrastructure that could scale and adapt to project timeless without long-term commitments.
Solution
- Replaced Citrix with Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) powered by Nerdio Manager for Enterprise for simplified, scalable virtual desktop delivery.
- Reduced support calls and increased user satisfaction by eliminating first-time login configuration issues.
- Leveraged Nerdio’s automation features—like autoscaling and server management—to run an efficient, low-touch IT environment.
- Benefited from a flexible, pay-as-you-go model with Nerdio billing integrated directly into monthly Azure consumption.
Overview
Living Choice Australia is a premier provider of retirement communities, offering end-to-end services from land development and construction to resident care and facility management. Serving retirees aged 55 and older, the organization operates across multiple states including New South Wales, Queensland, and South Australia, with multiple new projects in development.
Technology plays a key role in supporting internal operations and providing services to residents. With a small internal IT team managing both infrastructure and strategy, simplicity, efficiency, and cost control are critical priorities.
We do everything—from buying land and building villages to managing services like home care. Nerdio helps us focus on that mission by simplifying everything IT.”
Andrew Way,
Systems Architect, Living Choice Australia
Letting go of legacy: Moving beyond Citrix and complexity
Before Nerdio, Living Choice relied on Citrix to deliver virtual desktops to internal staff. While Citrix offered autoscaling and server control, it came with considerable tradeoffs: high costs, yearly licensing contracts, and a reliance on external consultants for even minor changes.
“If anything broke in Citrix, it meant paying $500/hour for someone with a propeller hat to come fix it. That wasn’t sustainable.”
When Systems Architect Andrew Way attended a local JuiceIT event hosted by Data#3, he encountered Nerdio for the first time. The appeal was immediate: Nerdio offered the same autoscaling and management capabilities—without the added complexity or cost of Citrix. Even better, Nerdio worked seamlessly with the Microsoft technologies Living Choice already trusted.
With a looming ERP migration and unpredictable project delays, the flexibility of month-to-month Nerdio licensing also offered a key advantage. If they needed more time to complete their internal digital transformation, they could continue using Nerdio without being locked into another 12-month commitment.
The Nerdio difference: Smarter, faster, more affordable IT
After deploying Nerdio Manager for Enterprise, Living Choice experienced noticeable performance and user experience gains. For example, a major frustration with Citrix—users receiving an error the first time they opened an application—was eliminated. Nerdio’s integration with native Microsoft technologies ensured that configurations were applied before the user saw the login screen.
“The issues we had with first-time logins in Citrix just disappeared. Users didn’t have to wait, retry, or call support. They just logged in and got to work.”
Nerdio’s autoscaling features helped optimize performance and cost across the board. Andrew could now monitor server behavior through intuitive dashboards, make adjustments in real-time, and ensure that resources matched user demand—without overprovisioning or manually scaling infrastructure.
Because Nerdio relies on Microsoft-native tools, the IT team could also lean on existing partners and expertise rather than relying on specialized, high-cost Citrix consultants. This significantly improved internal support workflows and empowered frontline techs to resolve issues independently.
Empowering IT to focus on strategic impact
With Nerdio managing the day-to-day backend, Andrew’s role shifted from break-fix tasks to high-value strategic work—like writing governance plans, optimizing digital processes, and supporting business innovation.
“The hours I used to spend fixing problems now go into IT strategy and governance. That’s a 10x return in value.”
Today, Living Choice is fully off Citrix and enjoying the performance, cost efficiency, and simplicity Nerdio brings to their AVD environment. Even as the company prepares to shift away from virtual desktops entirely, Nerdio remains a flexible and indispensable tool—one that’s easy to scale down when needed and powerful enough to manage their environment until then.
“We expected to turn Nerdio off by now, but the flexibility has been a huge asset. We’re still saving money, and we’re not locked in.”
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