Thin Client Benefits

A Newburn Consulting White Paper, March 2002

Executive Summary
More than ever, business leaders are focused on growing revenues, containing costs and providing a higher level of customer support, whilst reducing the cost of business support activities, such as IT costs.

One method of achieving these apparently contradictory goals is through the use of thin-client computing. This is certainly a view held by many industry pundits such as Gartner, who are predicting a 50% increase in thin-client device sales in 2002.

The fundamental approach behind thin-client computing is simple. Instead of running all applications locally on PCs with all of the associated challenges and costs, applications run centrally and simply deliver screen updates and inputs to clients. If the concept sounds familiar, that's because it is effectively mainframe computing and dumb terminals on steroids! All the benefits of centralised servers and support staff are realised as are most of the benefits of powerful PCs on desks, including popular Windows applications.

The financial case is clear: thin-client computing can save 30%-70% of your IT costs. Centralising servers and server support staff leads directly to higher utilisation levels. Simplified software deployment radically reduces rollout costs. Longer lifetimes of Windows terminals reduces capital expenditure. Reduced power consumption directly lowers energy costs, and indirectly lowers cooling requirements.

Conclusion
Thin-client computing is an important option to consider in any organisation's strategy. Implemented correctly, it can significantly lower your operating costs, increase the quality of your support and reduce your risk. The key is assessing and planning your deployment correctly.

Very few businesses will have the in-house skills to audit, plan, install and deploy the technology optimally, always maintaining due regard to the business needs and commercial requirements. In order to avoid actually increasing your support costs, it is vital that you obtain relevant assistance from independent partners. The costs associated with this will often be offset by the significant savings achieved.

As a quick checklist on the applicability of thin-client computing for you, consider the following:

Definitely yes to thin-client computing, if any of the following are true:

• you are using standard applications, particularly if they are Windows 2000 certified;
• you are not currently running a managed environment;
• your enterprise is very distributed, with many WAN links;
• your LAN requires upgrading;
• your client devices are nearing replacement date.