Thin Computing in Enterprise—What’s Hype and What Isn’t

This is a guest post from David Malmborg, with Dell.

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The thin computing revolution is here, and in it, many commentators see the end of the PC era as we know it. While the traditional desktop model may never disappear completely, these commentators say, cloud architecture, data centers, and software as a service will likely replace localized computing in many organizations before the end of the decade.

Whether or not you believe that thin computing is the way of the future, it’s important to get familiar with the pros and cons of the technology. Particularly for enterprise-level businesses, thin computing offers some distinct benefits, and it is these organizations that are largely driving the adoption of this model.

Why Thin Computing Is the Next Big Thing in Enterprise-level IT

Thin computing is particularly attractive to organizations with large workforces because it offers increased security and manageability over the traditional PC model. Organizations can set their level of flexibility or control in areas such as software usage, data removal, upgrades, downloads, and mobility. Since employees are limited in how they can use the device, thin clients don’t get cluttered by junk programs and downloads in the same way that personal computers do, which in turn makes them much less vulnerable to attacks or viruses.

Thin client hardware is also less complex than that of desktop or laptop PCs, which generally makes them more affordable. In addition, some thin clients are designed to connect with smartphones and share their apps and OS. This allows employees to be truly mobile—they can work from anywhere on any device and have the same user experience with the same programs and data. For more information on Thin Client Hardware, please click here.

All of this greatly simplifies and speeds the process of device management. For instance, software deployment, which can become quite complex across hundreds of devices, can usually be accomplished fairly easily with thin computing.

What Thin Computing Can’t Do

Despite these advantages, however, there may still be some ways to go before many companies are ready to abandon their old desktop-computing model. Device compatibility is one issue—not all thin clients play equally well with all smart devices. When one of the main selling points of thin computing is mobility, this is a problem that must be addressed before real progress can be made.

On top of that, most thin clients do not have the same processing power and high-capacity performance as that of traditional PCs. This could be seen as an advantage in some organizations—employees would be less likely to view internet videos, for instance—but in the case of organizations that need to run complex business applications, this is most definitely a down side.

What do you think? Will thin computing live up to the hype?

About the Author:  David Malmborg works with Dell and enjoys writing about technology. In his spare time he enjoys reading, the outdoors, and spending time with his family. For more information on Storage Services please visit Dell.