Opinion: Google Chrome OS will appeal to corporate IT

Devnet is Australia's largest Google partner and believes this operating system will be a very attractive alternative to Windows for corporations and businesses in Australia.

Here Craig Deveson, managing director of Devnet talks to CRN.

'The new Google Chrome OS will quickly take hold in corporate IT environments in Australia once it is released.

We've been hearing about thin clients for years because it's a very appealing concept for corporations and business.

Businesses can save millions of dollars by lowering their support and help desk costs and by providing users with computers that just work when you turn them on.

At the same time, we're seeing so many businesses in Australia looking towards cloud computing strategies.

They're building web-based Intranet systems and applications and in many cases, all they need to do is get those applications out to the right users.

That's why thin clients' time has come. You get all the security and management advantages that are inherent with that model but users don't have to compromise anymore, because many web-based software products are now just as powerful as desktop equivalents.

Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will help users to get onto the Internet faster and more simply.

Google wants to make the operating system available in the second half of next year and has stated that the philosophy behind the product is that it "should just work".

So many of our clients, and the businesses that we're talking to, are wanting to move all of their applications and systems to run inside the browser.

Once you've achieved that, why do you need the bloat and management headaches of having to support all of those traditional desktops, which cause you so much angst in terms of security, lost or corrupted data and application maintenance?

For Devnet, we see this as a great opportunity, because businesses can stop spending their money on expensive desktop operating systems and applications and dramatically decrease the IT costs related to help desks, security, patch and version maintenance.

That will allow them to shift their IT investment to building powerful web-based applications and systems and that's where Devnet'sexperience and expertise lies.

Google's decision to take Gmail out of beta, would be a further boost to Google's offering to corporations and enterprises.

Gmail has long been a fantastic product that offers many compelling advantages of legacy software like Microsoft Exchange.

However, corporations are reluctant to trust software that is still labelled as beta, so Devnet expects this will help to increase the pace of uptake of Gmail and Google Apps.

The Devnet Cloud Ready program is a world-first initiative that steps customers through the business, cultural and technical issues related to a move to cloud-based computing.'