Alstom Belgium needed a secure, self-hosted platform for remote access so hundreds of engineers could plug into live test benches and drive tests for railway signalling systems. Today, about 500 users connect through ISL Online each day to reach the PCs, servers and virtual machines in the Charleroi lab, running day-long simulations and QA cycles for metros and high-speed trains without adding a single square metre of lab space.
We spoke with Julien Duez, Site Lab Manager at Alstom Belgium, to learn how his team replaced a patchwork of RDP, VNC and ad-hoc tools with one deeply customised, self-hosted remote access solution.
Photo: Julien Duez, Site Lab Manager at Alstom Belgium
Finding the Right Remote Access Solution
Q: What pushed you to look for a new remote-access tool?
Julien: We had no official solution. Everyone used whatever they liked, mainly RDP, VNC or TeamViewer. That meant no central list of lab machines, no consistent security model and no way to grant access quickly to hundreds of users.
Q: Which non-negotiables framed your search?
Julien: Three things:
- Licensing predictability and cost. Our user base is fluid, so a per-seat model was a no-go.
- 100 % self-hosting. Nothing could touch the public internet.
- A computer list, soengineers can see their benches at a glance and connect in one click.
TeamViewer and RDP couldn’t meet all three, so ISL Online won the proof-of-concept.
Why Alstom Chose ISL Online’s Unlimited Self-Hosted Server Licence
Q: What did the licensing decision look like?
Julien: A cross-functional team, IT, cyber-security, engineering leadership, procurement and a pilot group of end-users, reviewed every option. We settled on an unlimited, self-hosted server licence because our user count can spike at any moment. A fixed, one-off cost that never rises with head-count gives us the budget predictability we need, while self-hosting satisfies the security requirements set by our IT and security teams.
Mission-Critical Customisation
Q: Which customisations mattered most?
Branded look & feel. We swapped in the Alstom logo, matched the UI colours to our corporate palette and hid the ‘Sessions’ tab, so engineers see only the Computers view we actually use. Remote support sessions are disabled.
Silent installer and custom deployment links. From our portal we create one-click links or executables that include computer name, access password and auto-upgrade. Installation of remote access runs silently and updates itself if ISL AlwaysOn (remote access agent) is already present without no human touch required.
Role-based groups. A small admin team creates accounts and assigns engineers to specific computers. Regular users cannot change settings, keeping the environment audit-friendly.
“The more ISL Online looked and felt like an Alstom app, the faster our users trusted it.”
– Julien Duez
8-Hour Remote Access Sessions
Q: How did rollout go?
Julien: ISL Online support provided a pre-installed virtual machine, helped with firewall rules, and we were live within days. We now spend roughly 40 hours a month on maintenance.
Q: What does a typical day look like?
Julien: Engineers open ISL Online from wherever they are, whether at home, on a laptop in the office, or at other sites such as Copenhagen or Bangalore. They connect via remote access to a dedicated test bench at the start of their shift and stay on that session for the entire working day, often eight hours or more. Even when 30-35 sessions are running at once, performance stays rock-solid.
Photo: Charleroi site is equipped with 31 cabins with digital signalling systems. Software engineers connect to this test benches every day via ISL Online.
Multi-User Sessions and Collaboration
Julien: A standout benefit for Alstom is that several users can connect to the same machine and work together, a capability that previous tools did not offer. Our teams rely on this feature for:
- Project teamwork on the same test bench
- On-boarding and training newcomers
- Remote-expert consultations that help solve demanding issues
- Customer demos without travel
- Hybrid hands-on work: one person in the lab, one connecting remotely
Security & Governance
Q: Security was a top priority when you chose a remote-access solution. How do you enforce it today?
Julien: Maximum security shaped every decision and is one of the top reasons why ISL Online was a natural fit. ISL Online now runs inside Alstom’s own state-of-the-art, fully redundant data-center cluster, giving us complete control over the hardware, network and software stack. The cluster is built with no single point of failure and is monitored around the clock. Multi-factor authentication is mandatory on every account, and only a small admin team can create users or add machines.
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Similar security requirements apply in other highly regulated industries, including finance and banking. Learn how ISL Online supports secure, compliant deployments in our remote access software for banking and finance article.
Key Metrics at a Glance
Since adopting ISL Online in April 2020, Alstom’s gains are clear in the numbers below.
Q: Would you recommend ISL Online?
Julien: Absolutely! ISL Online is one of the best remote access tools for operational work. Before we rolled ISL Online out company-wide, we ran a small proof of concept. The moment it ended, users asked to bring the tool back right away.
“I’ve always said you can’t force engineers to use a tool. The usage numbers tell me ISL Online is exactly what they need and like.”
– Julien Duez
About Alstom Belgium
Alstom Belgium is a leading rail-technology hub with roughly 2,200 employees spread across its Brussels headquarters and three industrial sites. Charleroi hosts two global centres of excellence, one for digital signalling (ERTMS) and another for traction and energy-efficiency systems. Bruges serves as a manufacturing and testing hub and Fleurus focuses on renovation work. This mix of hardware and software innovation, coupled with a strict “security-first” culture, made a self-hosted ISL Online deployment the ideal fit for the company’s remote-access needs.
Takeaway
By unifying remote access under an unlimited, self-hosted ISL Online licence, Alstom Belgium gave 500 engineers secure, branded and collaboration-friendly control of their test benches, boosting productivity by 20 percent while maintaining zero downtime.