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Education IT, Government Procurement, Technology

Changing the way people use computers

21 September 2010

FutureGov spoke to Manish Sharma, VP Asia Pacific of NComputing about how virtual desktop computing benefits government and education in Asia.

Every new release of desktop computers highlights the increase in performance speeds. However, when a regular user analyses the way he uses computers, it is easy to realise that his actual needs and requirements have not significantly changed over a period of time. The vast majority of applications today are only using a fraction of the computer’s capacity. The technology is changing rapidly but not necessarily the needs of the user.

The typical user then ends up using a single computer that has excess power, speed and functionality that could be smartly utilized. This led NComputing to rethink the way organizations use computers.

“Instead of buying 10 computers, why can’t we get one desktop and replace 10 users with 10 access devices? So 10 computers are reduced to 1,” asked Manish Sharma, VP Asia Pacific of NComputing. The company provides virtual desktop solutions to government and academic institutions that lower desktop computing costs, improve manageability, and reduce both energy consumption and e-waste.

Total Cost of Ownership

One of the major benefits of virtual desktop computing is its low cost of ownership. That is because this computing solution eliminates the need for an organisation to purchase several computers. “We take one computer, and split the power and share it with 10, 20, or 30 users,” explained Sharma.

As the number of desktop computers to be purchased gets decimated, there is an upfront reduction in acquisition cost. Also since there are 90% less computers to maintain, there is significant reduction in cost required to maintain this infrastructure – all without any compromise in business functionality.

Virtual computing thus becomes an attractive option for education and government institutions with limited budgets. They can finally computerise their systems without spending significant amounts of money.

Easy and Secure Deployment

Security is a concern among governments, enterprises and universities since they often handle sensitive information of their citizens, clients and students. Virtual desktop computing solves this problem. Sharma explained that there is no data saved onto these solid-state access devices, “hence a high level of security is reached just by its design”

It is also easier to implement virtual desktop solutions since there are fewer computers that need to be set up. Pakistan’s Ministry of Education, for example, was able to implement NComputing solutions in only 4 months in largely rural areas. They were able to deploy 80,000 units by buying only 15,000 normal desktop computers, while the remaining 65,000 were only NComputing access devices to give access to over 2 Million students.

Green IT

Organisations looking to lower their carbon footprint will also appreciate NComputing’s virtual desktop solutions. This is primarily because there is no need to upgrade access devices regularly, unlike personal computers, which translates to less e-waste in the long term.

Since end-users only use access devices, they consume less electricity and therefore have lower electricity costs. An example would be in Maldives where it has a very high cost of electricity. This led them to use NComputing’s access devices to save up to 90% of electricity as compared to personal computers.

With all these benefits, Sharma challenged current users to rethink the way they use their computers. “Ask yourself this smart question: ‘Do I really need to purchase 10 new desktops? Or can I just buy one and still achieve my objectives?’”

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