Reduced desktop costs boost NComputing sales

Winner of the Wall Street Journal’s Technology Innovation Award, the company has recently seen a boost in sales because of lowered desktop computing costs, improves manageability, and reduced energy consumption and ewaste.

According to Don Beck, vice president of worldwide sales at NComputing, the cost of PC computing is reduced because multiple users can share one computer, reducing energy consumption by up to 90 percent.

He explained how each user’s monitor, keyboard and peripherals connect to a small NComputing access device (virtual PC) that then connects to a shared PC.

He said: “The virtual PC is inexpensive and highly reliable because it has no CPU, memory or moving parts. NComputing's virtualisation software shares the overabundant processing power of the PC and transmits the signals between the virtual PC and the shared PC.

“The solution is easy to deploy and maintain. Its systems are compatible with Windows, Linux and standard PC applications. As a major leap forward in Green computing, NComputing virtual PCs draw from one to five watts of power for each user versus 115 watts for a typical PC – a 90 percent reduction in energy consumption.”

The virtual desktop arrangements are being adopted by larger organisations to simplify systems management by moving the processing power back into the data centre, but NComputing's approach can be readily implemented by small businesses or in classrooms.

For example, Wodonga South Primary School in Victoria recently employed NComputing to cost-effectively upgrade its computers to support its e-learning initiatives while increasing the number of students who could access this.

Gavan Brown, ICT and e-learning co-ordinator at Wodonga South, said: “The cost savings were tremendous. Even with the expense of the new LCD monitors, we’ve saved more than $35,000 just on this initial deployment.

“There’s also lots more room for the students because there are fewer PC boxes, and no more bulky CRTs that generate a lot of heat and take up a lot of space.”

The company, which opened an office in Sydney in December and plans to move into the enterprise sector by the end of 2009.

Michael Pamphilon country general manager for the Oceania region at NComputing added: “We have got to get people excited about virtualisation. Any solution that is green and is going to save energy has a significant impact on the environment.”