BARCO : Episode IV – A New Hope for control room operators…

Now where did I leave you in my previous blog? Oh yes, back in 2008, with the re-introduction of our multiple mouse/keyboard combinations. The operators did not feel comfortable working like that, but all the other alternatives we had tried were worse.

Our IT department came up with the idea of using some new emulation software. IT was able to combine all the different server applications onto one PC. That took significant effort by IT to do the integration but the end result made the operators very happy. They now had a single keyboard, mouse, and most importantly complete control over their single pixel space.

This utopia was short lived though. All our application vendors did not support the emulation approach because it violated their required system configuration. When we would call the application vendors for support, we quickly learned how this custom solution made it almost impossible for the vendors to support their systems. In fact, a few times the vendor recommended going back to the required configuration. The vendors started telling us we faced losing their manufacturers warranties and support contracts if we continued using our custom solution. I can tell you we didn't see that one coming!

To make matters worse, enhanced security standards were released that require applications to run on separate secure servers. This drove the final stake into the emulation solution. So then after 4 years of trying to get the emulation solution to work - I can't believe I'm saying this - we switched back to our old way of working. And that's where we still are today. The emulation approach made one thing clear: that next time we need to make an in-depth assessment before we invest into a new solution.

And then, on March 17th 2015, the luck of the Irish came through for our operators. We happened to be having a meeting with Barco and mentioned the operator workspace problems we were having. Their eyes lit up as they proceeded to tell us about one of their new products. It really swept us off our feet. Barco's new solution created a single pixel space that all the different server applications resided in and used just one keyboard and mouse. In other words, everything was controlled from a single point without any of those nasty KVM problems or the big expense and security risks from using the emulation software. This was really what we dreamt of for years, it seemed too good to be true.

So we did a demo project with Barco and tested the new solution thoroughly. It passed beyond our wildest dreams! I'm really excited and can't wait to tell you more about it - but I'm bound by secrecy. Just keep an eye on my blog, and pretty soon I'll be able to tell you a lot more!