Obsoleting Obsolescence: How to Step Off the Technology Treadmill

Since April 2004 marks the 40th anniversary of the introduction of mainframe computers, it's an interesting time to look at how IT has evolved from the days of the "data processing" department. Although the raw power of yesterday's big iron has long been eclipsed, some concepts, like multitasking, are still pervasive. Today's client desktops are simply an evolution of yesterday's green-screen terminals, although much more intelligent and easier to use due to user demand for point-and-click graphical interfaces and personal productivity software.

Having a PC on every desk has benefits, but time has shown significant drawbacks as well. First, client PCs have a limited life span. At the end of their usable life, even if these systems are still technically functioning, it's unlikely that they have the horsepower to run the latest operating system, application or tool. And slow response times mean diminished user productivity. For these reasons, most enterprises find they must budget for desktop technology refresh cycles every few years.

Fleets of PCs must be also supported, which presents enormous challenges to IT departments. That's because most PCs contain things that spin. And where there are moving parts — from disks and fans to removable media drives — there's eventual failure. Even the most diligent users lose data due to PC problems, whether caused by hardware or software failure.

Further, PCs are susceptible to security threats such as viruses, as well as other unauthorized software applications that can wreak havoc on network resources. Finally, it can be time-consuming and costly to redeploy PCs as employees come and go.

A Better Way This obsolescence cycle is a drain on both monetary and human resources. Today, however, there is an alternative. As enterprises of all sizes evaluate their next desktop technology refresh, they may borrow from a 40-year-old mainframe concept-the terminal-by deploying thin client solutions instead of PCs.

With support for Linux, Windows, Citrix and other OS environments, thin client devices deliver business benefits that lead IT off the technology treadmill and toward lower costs. In fact, according to IT management consultancy Newburn, the total cost of owning thin clients is 30 to 70 percent less than that of "fat" clients such as PCs. And the benefits that thin clients can bring to your organization-from users, to the IT department, to the bottom line-are many.

First, there's typically no software to install on a thin client device — the OS, applications and storage all reside on the server. Software upgrades never need to be deployed to thin clients. That means no more running around with the latest copy of Microsoft Office or homegrown application and installing it on every user's desktop PC. Migrating to the newest version of Windows? So are all of your thin clients — with no additional effort.

Since most thin clients have no local disk drives, they are inherently virus-proof. You don't have to worry about users installing unauthorized software, since without local storage there's no way to introduce these programs to the system. Perhaps even more importantly, since there's no removable media, there's no way for users to copy valuable or sensitive corporate information and take it off-site.

Without disk or media drives, the amount of power consumed by a thin client is reduced to the point where fans are unnecessary. Not surprisingly, they consume far less power than traditional PCs. This, coupled with the fact that thin clients have no moving parts to fail, drives operating costs and support costs way down. In turn, user downtime may be reduced, and productivity increased.

By utilizing the terminal services handed to each device by the server OS, thin clients offer the freedom of portability. Any user can securely log onto any thin client and see his or her own desktop-even from other departments or offices. Since user files are also stored on the server, full access is achievable from any thin client device.

As an added benefit, when thin clients need to be moved to another user or department, there's typically nothing to re-image-they can be ready for new users literally on a moment's notice.

Looking Forward Wyse Technology, the leading provider of thin clients worldwide today, offers a complete range of thin clients and server-centric solutions. In addition to hardware, these solutions include innovative software that can inventory and keep track of all your thin clients-down to the serial number and MAC address-even when they're powered off.

If you had installed Wyse thin clients when the average business PC had a 500MHz processor, 32MB of memory and 3GB hard disk, those same devices would now be running the latest Linux, Windows and Web-based applications. PCs of that vintage might not even have the capacity and horsepower to support the latest OSs and applications widely in use today. Indeed, companies currently using thin clients have already stepped off the desktop technology treadmill.

Many enterprises have deferred purchasing new PCs due to the current business climate and the continued pressure on IT budgets and IT staff challenged to do more with less. In the past, this meant deciding which brand of PC to buy next. Going forward, many are choosing to look beyond the PC to find the solution that best fits their computing and budgetary needs. They're partnering with Wyse Technology — an established market leader with more than 20 years' experience.

Copyright © 2004 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in Wyse.