Enterprise users are being ambushed by the labor costs of maintaining PCs, according to a systems integration company that specializes in network computing. Users will continue to be socked with these costs until they adopt a systematic approach to managing PCs and making more use of server-based (or "thin-client") computing.
The high labor costs indicate that today's patchwork of networked PCs can't respond quickly to a company's changing market conditions and new opportunities, not exactly a recipe for creating competitive advantage. "In essence, you have to manage the fat [PC] clients much more efficiently and, going forward, deliver new functionality based on a thin-client approach," says Andy Kelemen, practice leader at CNS Group in Norwalk, Conn.The user view
One company that has learned some thin-client lessons is Laerdal Medical, the Wappinger Falls, N.Y. outpost of its Norway-based parent. The company turned to CNS to upgrade a LAN of PCs and an IBM AS/400. CNS did an eight-week study of Laerdal's current network and future needs, based on the results of facilitated workshops of IT staff and end users, says Nick Luongo, Laerdal's IT manager. CNS wrote a 130-page recommendation for a new network and application architecture, which is now being implemented. The new net, based on Novell NetWare and Novell Directory Services, will give Laerdal a unified e-mail system, dedicated and protected Internet access, Y2K-compliant desktops and communications with not only remote sites but also with customers and business partners. Reflecting CNS' experience, the new net uses Novell's ZENworks desktop management software to remote configure, install and manage PC software. And Laerdal is now rolling out server-based applications that new Windows-based terminals, as well as the PCs, can access. Drawing on its integration experience, CNS has analyzed various ways of calculating the total cost of ownership (TCO) for corporate desktop computers.
One finding was that the labor costs of PC maintenance typically outstripped the initial hardware and software purchase costs by 450%. There are a number of reasons for this, says CNS' Kelemen, who oversaw the TCO analysis.
Many CNS clients are doing wholesale PC replacement, both hardware and software, to use the latest versions of applications like Microsoft Office, or to allay fears about the Y2K computer bug.
"But enterprise users [who are doing this] don't have a clear idea of what they're actually delivering to their end users," Kelemen says. Nor do they know how to manage either the software distribution or its operation, he adds. For example, a company might choose Microsoft Internet Explorer as the standard browser. But then users start downloading it and installing it themselves. "That leads to lots of 'break-fix' activity by users and IT groups," he says.
This kind of activity, which is costly in terms of time and money, shows that end users are becoming, in effect, a "shadow IT group" for their own PCs. CNS looked at the kinds of calls coming into the Laerdal IT group's PC help desks. "We saw up to 25% of the calls were due to end users trying to act as their own IT group," he says.
To get costs under control, CNS has developed the idea of a "workstation reference model." CNS analyzes in detail a few of the customer's existing desktops. "We do that to show the difference between what they think they're delivering to the end user and what in fact they are delivering," Kelemen says. With this knowledge, the IT group and the end users work together to define what they want, what IT will deliver, and how the desktop package will change over time. This results in a real-world desktop "reference model" - a complete set of specific desktop standards and products that form a common level of PC service to the end users.
"The final result of their model is something that is unique to our company," Luongo says. "They take what is standard and see if it will fit to your situation and then tune it to fit optimally."
Laerdal now has Windows NT as the standard desktop operating system for most users, with some remote sites getting Windows-based terminals accessing servers over a virtual private network. More importantly, it has a software infrastructure that lets the IT group automatically build and install complete desktop software packages for the PCs. These "builds" are then controlled via ZENworks so users can't make changes or additions.
Creating this reference model forces companies to look at where and how they're spending money today. It also forces IT groups to be much more specific about what capabilities end users require, and how IT will deliver those capabilities.
"You have to back these rules and policies with products and procedures to support your service-level commitments in the reference model," Kelemen says. "If you decide to let users have Internet Explorer 5.0, then you need a software distribution architecture to make sure they get it in the time frame you've committed to."
CNS has been using either Novell's NetWare Directory Services and ZENworks desktop management product or Microsoft's Systems Management Server 2.0 in its client projects. Both products are viable ways to create a centrally managed process for remotely installing and managing desktop software of all types, he says. And both let IT groups block users from making changes to the PC software, a leading cause of problems.
"With our reference model, we show customers there are ways to more efficiently manage the fat client, and create savings," Kelemen says. Once this framework is in place, IT groups can start to exploit the promise of thin client computing. IT managers can add new functions and applications to a group of servers, which in turn are accessed by an array of clients (desktop or laptop PCs, Windows-based terminals, wireless handheld devices). These clients can use the new software through a Web browser or some other thin-client approach.
Laerdal is using this approach to let laptop and remote users access a critical ERP suite at headquarters. The ERP client simply overpowered many of the laptops and PCs. Using a thin-client model; they can now access the server-based application, and still get good performance.
"One person has an Intel 486-based PC at home," Luongo says. "I told him he'd be able to run NT applications over the Internet without needing a big [bandwidth] pipe. He was stunned. People had a lot of trouble grasping the [thin-client] concept."
Enterprises such as an architectural approach to PC computing are ripe, Kelemen says.
"End users are ready to be enrolled in this process because they're fed up with having to replace entire PCs to get a new browser," he says. They want to know what software will be delivered and when. IT groups are realizing that today they're not creating value for their companies by fixing broken software on PCs. They're saying 'let's automate these activities and facilitate our end users.'"
Luongo is a believer. For the old LAN, Laerdal's help desk consisted of one full-time person and one part-time. The full-timer was on the move all day, visiting desktops and fixing problems. Within the past week, this staffer walked into Luongo's office looking for more work to do. "That's a telling testimony of how much less 'firefighting' we have to do today," Luongo says. "Even users who balked at the new system are now coming to me and saying 'everything is just so much easier to do now.'"
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