Customer story
How Aquinas College reset the classroom with Citrix virtual desktops.
A Gold Coast secondary college rebuilt its computer lab and CAD program. Faster rendering, easier admin, sharper teaching.
“The solution put forward to us by IT4SME gave us the opportunity to have enterprise grade IT, and it was definitely less expensive than we assumed.”
Customer snapshot
Aquinas College. The customer at a glance.
Over 100 years of project delivery.
Aquinas College has been a cornerstone of Catholic education on the Gold Coast since 1964, when the Christian Brothers founded it as a boys' school. The college is now a dynamic, co educational community of learners spanning Years 7 to 12 from across the region.
The campus at Ashmore blends a rich tradition with a contemporary curriculum. Classrooms, science laboratories, design studios and trade workshops support a broad academic and vocational program, all underpinned by an IT environment that staff and students can depend on every day.
Six decades of Catholic education, supported by a virtual desktop platform built for the way today's classrooms actually teach.
The challenge
Two distinct problems. One shared root cause.
When Aquinas College first approached IT4SME, the computer lab was holding the curriculum back. Thirty individual workstations had aged out, and rendering a single AutoCAD model could take up to ten minutes. Lessons stalled while machines caught up.
Beyond the lab, teaching staff faced their own friction. Most worked on Mac devices, yet many of the apps the school relied on were Windows only. Switching devices to run a single application cost time the school did not have.
Hands on learning, held back by the lab
Aging lab, frustrated students
Thirty individual workstations were past their useful life. AutoCAD renders that should have taken seconds were taking up to ten minutes, turning practical design lessons into long waits.
Mac staff, Windows apps
Teaching staff worked primarily on Mac devices, yet the apps central to administration and curriculum delivery were Windows only. The result was constant device juggling and lost time.
Cost and complexity concerns
The leadership team was open to a VDI solution but uncertain about the cost and operational complexity it might bring. Enterprise grade IT felt out of reach for a school IT budget.
Solution: Citrix virtual apps and desktops with GPU acceleration. Technology: Citrix, NVIDIA GRID, IGEL thin clients.
The solution
Citrix DaaS with virtualised graphics. Delivered in three phases.
IT4SME proposed a Citrix virtual desktop platform purpose built for the way the college actually teaches. GPU accelerated virtual desktops for the design lab, virtualised Windows apps for Mac based staff, and a centrally managed platform that the college's IT team could operate without specialist headcount. We took accountability for the design, supply, implementation and handover of the full stack.
One platform. Every classroom.
GPU accelerated CAD lab
IT4SME designed and deployed Citrix virtual desktops on IGEL thin clients with NVIDIA GRID graphic acceleration. The same AutoCAD renders that had taken ten minutes were now responsive in seconds, restoring practical design lessons to the timetable.
Windows apps for Mac staff
Citrix virtual apps gave teaching staff access to the Windows applications they needed without leaving their preferred Mac devices. One workspace, two operating systems, one productive experience.
Dynamic lab provisioning
Centralised management meant the college could quickly reprovision virtual machines for higher or lower rendering workloads. The lab could be reshaped to suit the class on the timetable, rather than the other way around.
Solution highlights
- Replaced thirty aging individual workstations with a centrally managed pool of Citrix virtual desktops on IGEL thin clients.
- Added NVIDIA GRID GPU acceleration to make AutoCAD and other graphics intensive teaching software responsive again.
- Delivered Windows applications to Mac based teaching staff through Citrix virtual apps, ending constant device switching.
- Provided a platform the college's IT team can manage, scale and reprovision without specialist headcount or external dependency.
Lessons run. Students do more.
Results and outcomes
The impact. Validated in production.
The new platform reset what teaching staff and students could expect from the lab. AutoCAD lessons run at the pace of the curriculum, not at the pace of the hardware. Mac based staff have the Windows tools they need on the device they prefer. And the IT team is finally back to enabling teaching, not babysitting endpoints.
Just as importantly, the school proved that enterprise grade IT does not require an enterprise grade budget. The Citrix platform that powers the lab is the same family of technology used by global organisations, deployed at the scale and cost a school can sustain.
Renders in seconds, not minutes
GPU accelerated virtual desktops cut AutoCAD render times from up to ten minutes per model to a responsive workflow that lets students stay engaged with the lesson.
Mac and Windows, one experience
Teaching staff access Windows only applications directly from their Mac devices through Citrix virtual apps, removing the constant context switch between operating systems.
A lab that adapts to the class
The IT team reprovisions virtual machines for higher or lower rendering workloads as the timetable changes, getting better utilisation from the same infrastructure.
Enterprise grade IT at school cost
The college runs the same Citrix platform used by global organisations, deployed and priced for a school IT budget and managed by the existing team.
Why it worked
Specialist depth. Full accountability. The long view.
Education aware solution design
IT4SME engineered the platform around the lessons the college needed to deliver. GPU accelerated design seats for the lab, virtual apps for Mac staff, and a management model the IT team could actually own.
Demo first approach
Rather than starting with a proposal, IT4SME led with a working demonstration of Citrix virtual desktops on IGEL with NVIDIA GRID. The college could see and feel the difference before committing to a direction.
Enterprise grade, school priced
The same family of Citrix technology used by global organisations was scoped, sized and priced to suit a school IT budget, removing the cost barrier that had previously kept VDI out of reach.
Aquinas College proves that the right strategic partner can put genuine enterprise grade IT inside a school, in service of the curriculum and the people delivering it.
What’s next
The partnership continues.
Aquinas College continues to evolve its digital workspace as the curriculum and the devices that staff and students bring to the classroom change. The Citrix foundation makes that evolution incremental rather than disruptive.
IT4SME remains an available partner for the school's ongoing virtual desktop and GPU acceleration needs, supporting the IT team as new workloads and new teaching requirements come into scope.
IT4SME continues to design and deliver the technology solutions that keep Aquinas College’s business moving forward.
In their words
Two voices. One story.
Customer perspective
“When we first considered looking at a VDI solution, we were unsure about cost and complexity. The solution put forward to us by IT4SME gave us the opportunity to have enterprise grade IT, and it was definitely less expensive than we assumed. The Citrix platform is easy to manage, and the additional benefits were a bonus.”
IT4SME perspective
“Schools need a partner that builds for the classroom, not just for the data centre. We design the platform around the way teaching actually happens, and we hand it over so the school's IT team can run it confidently every day.”