IMD, The International Institute for Management Development, is a renowned business school with campuses in Switzerland and Singapore. Known for its MBA program, which is consistently ranked among the best in the world, IMD attracts over 28,000 executives from over 120+ countries. These executives come from virtually every industry. It is also known for its Executive Education, Executive MBA, and advisory work. This helps leaders and policy-makers navigate complexity and change.

DTEN partnered with IMD to help refresh their Zoom enabled study rooms. They also updated meeting spaces at their extraordinary Lausanne campus. This campus is a bustling hub for developing leaders worldwide with state-of-the-art facilities and stunning views of Lake Geneva.

The Challenge

Prior to deploying DTEN solutions, IMD used a complex set up in their study rooms. This setup consisted of multiple individual components like screens, whiteboards, computers, printers, phones, table microphones, and webcams. “The more equipment you have, the more potential for breakdown and the more potential for issues”, Louis Leclézio, Chief Digital and Customer Experience Officer at IMD Business School, explained.

Not only were the rooms complex to use and manage, but the AV team at IMD were often being asked to create temporary installations to support specific sessions. This wasn’t sustainable with a small team. Additionally, Mark Abery, Audio Visual Engineer at IMD Business School told us, “One of the biggest pain points that IMD ended up experiencing with the old version of the study rooms was that we had some comments from participants who come in, people who were using them, and they were really starting to get towards the end of life.”

The Solution

At the forefront of technology, IMD openly prides themselves on combining a deep understanding of human dynamics with a pioneering approach to technology and AI. With this in mind, IMD were searching for the perfect solution for 1-2 years before they decided on the DTEN devices. Leclézio stated, “What we really need to do at IMD is to enable discussion among people. We need to deliver our own content and for this we need technology that has pedagogy in mind, not just video conferencing.”

Their due diligence included evaluating numerous solutions from different manufacturers. They wanted to find a solution that was adaptable, easy to use, and fast. “As we were testing different products, It just seemed like the DTEN was the easiest to use, both for us and the participants walking in”, said Abery.

Another reason for choosing the DTEN D7X All-in-One was due to the BYOD capabilities. IMD hosts a multitude of different participants from all areas of the world. They have to be able to accommodate different types of software they wish to use.

IMD has already deployed 32x DTEN D7X All-in-One devices with the additional DTEN Vue Pro 4K Smart Camera System attached. They are planning to roll out further devices in their other buildings throughout the remainder of the year.

Michaël Boulianne-Gottofrey, Head of IT Support and Services at IMD Business School summarized, “We not only have something that is all-integrated and that looks sleek, but it is very simple to use with just the USB-C cable that connects the laptop. You just have to click on it, you can use from beside of the screen, it is touchable and it is fast.”

The Benefit

As well as modernizing their study rooms and allowing them to create more dynamic learning experiences, the IT Support team at IMD have said that they’ve been able to reduce the amount of time and resources required from them to install, manage, and maintain their study rooms.

The initial project of refreshing 32x rooms on their Lausanne campus took only a couple of days. This was due to the simple all-in-one form factor and the pre-configured plug-and-play software.

Abery also told us, “It’s enabled us to be able to be completely adaptable to any requests any which come in, particular types of video conferencing software that has to be used, or a particular type of software in order for them to be able to do their exercises. We do this with minimal work from our part because it’s all-in-one on the DTEN. Overall, since then, it has become incredibly easy to be able to update them, keep an eye on them from a distance, using the Orbit feature has been integral to us being able to do software updates and that side of things as well.”

The program delivery team were also amongst those that have seen the benefits of the DTEN solution. They are responsible for ensuring participants are taken care of and have everything they need during their program. They have reported being more excited to present the study rooms to participants coming in, rather than just taking them to the room.