References
Automated Client Management for Greater Efficiency and Compliance
Süddeutsche Krankenversicherung a. G. (SDK)
Reference
Founded in 1926 and headquartered in Fellbach near Stuttgart, Süddeutsche Krankenversicherung a. G. (SDK) ranks among Germany’s 13 largest private health insurers, with over €1 billion in annual gross premiums. More than 800 employees in office and field roles work at three locations - Fellbach, Augsburg, and Freiburg - to serve approximately 683,000 policyholders.
SDK’s IT Platform team comprises 45 employees across four groups: Mainframe Services, IT Services, IT Security, and IT Platform Services.
From “sneakernet” administration to a centralized platform
Before baramundi, we relied solely on traditional ‘sneakernet’ administration. With about 200 clients at a single location, it was barely manageable. With growing security requirements, more workstations, and an increasingly mobile device fleet, it was clear we needed a centralized management system. We purchased new hardware in 2013 and decided it was the right time to switch. We chose baramundi because it offered everything we wanted from the start. Other alternatives we considered were neither intuitive nor did they meet our requirements. baramundi also stood out because we felt we had a partner on equal footing.
baramundi in daily use: complete lifecycle management
Today, SDK uses the baramundi Management Suite to manage the entire lifecycle of its clients, with integrated solutions for:
- OS customization and installation
- Automated software packaging and distribution
- Update and patch management for clients and
- RDSH servers
- User self-service kiosks configured for every
- department
- Intune co-management
Proactive Hub: Proactive monitoring instead of reactive tickets
Since 2025, we have also been using the baramundi Proactive Hub DEX solution for client monitoring. For first-level support and ticket processing, the DEX tool provides valuable information that helps us understand user reports. At the second level, we monitor the entire environment and address problems before the user even opens a ticket -- for example, by rolling out driver updates to fix performance issues or blue-screen crashes.
One person supports 1,000 clients - without nightly rounds
Today, a single IT employee can deploy updates to 1,000 clients in just a few hours. In the past, six to seven employees had to visit each client to perform manual updates. That not only helps us meet our compliance requirements but also documents our work.”
Next steps: integration with ticket and license management systems
The very powerful bConnect interface provides many automation options. We want to use it to connect baramundi to our IT ticketing and software license management systems. For example, we plan to directly assign pre-defined support and update jobs from within a ticket. We also want to retrieve license keys without requiring the license manager to maintain them separately. In addition, we recently replaced our previous remote maintenance tool with baramundi RemoteDesk primarily for security and cost reasons.
Our users really appreciate being able to manage updates themselves. They can retrieve jobs from the kiosk or reschedule assigned jobs as needed. This takes pressure off us while increasing user satisfaction. In addition, our IT support team uses Proactive Hub to verify user reports, assign support scripts directly, and resolve issues more quickly.
Steffen Scharer, Service Owner Workplace-Management-Team at SDK
Conclusion - A partner on equal footing
- One administrator can manage more than 1,000 clients
- 1,100 clients migrated to Windows 11 within 6 months, 3 weeks ahead of schedule, with no major incidents.
- Proactive client monitoring with Proactive Hub helps resolve issues before users can submit a ticket.
- Full traceability for compliance and software audits.
- Scalability to support the merger with the Stuttgart Insurance Group.
- Outstanding support and a helpful user community add lasting value.