Rethinking the PC

Roberto Moctezuma, Vice President and General Manager Desktop Solutions at HP, discusses the many flexible technology alternatives to the traditional PC.

We are approaching an inflection point where organizations that had delayed IT deployments and projects are once again beginning to plan their next technology refreshes. In fact, a recent report by Deutsche Bank estimates 10 to 12 percent growth in the PC industry over the next three years as this refresh cycle accelerates and as companies look to invest in technologies that help address their most pressing business and IT challenges, which include, data security, manageability, flexibility and lowering total cost of ownership.

This makes now an opportune time for organizations to look at alternative client computing solutions and determine if distributed PCs are the most effective and efficient way to tackle these challenges. Because of the advancements and maturity of client virtualization technology, HP believes that these solutions are now primed for broad deployment to directly address these pressing issues.

How does client virtualization help solve business challenges? First, is with operational cost savings. Because the compute resources are all centrally located within the data center, the end-user only has a thin client at the desk. Desk-side break/fix visits are virtually eliminated, as thin clients have no moving parts and software or image issues can quickly and easily be addressed remotely by an IT administrator. Not only is the cost of support reduced, but because the low frequency of failures and the speed of resolving issues remotely, employees are able to maximize their productivity and minimize downtime because of PC issues.

Second, client virtualization can help businesses achieve regulatory compliance requirements and minimize data security and privacy issues. With no local data stored on the thin client device, everything from patient records to sensitive intellectual property is stored securely in the data center. Risks of end-user error and regulatory non-compliance are virtually eliminated.

Next, these technologies are also extremely flexible, easily scaling capacity as your workforce expands and contracts with the market. With easy-to-update and deploy thin clients, hundreds of users can be quickly added during times of growth with the addition of a single server in the data center. This centralized computing model also assists with business continuity and disaster recovery, keeping business running by providing employees secure, remote access to end-user applications and data from virtually any internet connection.

Finally, client virtualization also helps corporations reduce their environmental impact, as thin clients and servers dynamically regulate power usage. Thin clients offer up to 80 percent power savings over traditional desktops and their packaging is one-third the weight of equivalent desktop packaging, improving transportation fuel efficiency and further reducing an organization's overall carbon footprint.

Although the business benefits of client virtualization may be apparent, reservations still linger about the user experience and complexity of virtual environments. What may be unknown are the numerous recent and coming advances in virtualization technologies that have addressed these very issues. Server and thin client hardware has become radically more powerful. HP thin clients offer dual core processors that can support workstation-class 2D and 3D multimedia and real-time collaboration. The user experience now rivals that of traditional PC, as multimedia compression and USB device management continues to evolve with each new major VDI software release.

Another advancement is the capability of IT manageability tools to span both physical and virtual environments, eliminating a level of complexity previously added by moving to a virtual environment. IT can now use a single set of tools to manage virtual and physical devices with the same people, using the same processes, under the same governance guidelines.

These challenges are not unique to enterprise organizations. SMBs have these same issues and the advent of simpler, plug-and-play client virtualizations solutions featuring more user-friendly interfaces make client virtualization technology a feasible solution for them. Organizations such as schools, small businesses and emerging markets can now meet their computing needs with limited capital and technical skills with today's solutions.

The traditional PC is only one of many choices for organizations today. Now is the time to rethink the PC, and HP is ready with flexible technology alternatives that will help organizations be better prepared to meet their business goals, today and in the years to come.

BIO

Roberto Moctezuma is the vice president and general manager for HP's Desktop Solutions Organization. This is the global business unit that focuses on the emerging client virtualization market and related areas