See what Gartner has to say about thin clients based on their recent survey. For more information, please visit their site through the link provided at the bottom of this article.

GartnerGroup's Datapro Reports Thin-Client Desktops Cut Support Costs by 80 Percent.

Delran, NJ -- Migration to a thin-client-based networking environment is on the rise at many large and small enterprises, but the obstacles to thin-client computing may be rooted more in human reservations than in technological limitations. That finding comes from a new research study report, "The Reality of Deploying Thin Clients in 1999," by Datapro, a unit of Gartner Group, Inc. (NYSE: IT). The report indicates that Windows terminals as thin clients offer many advantages to enterprises, including reduction in support staff costs by at least 80 percent compared to "fat client" PCs. Deployment of applications for fat-client PCs can take months to complete while Windows terminals take less than a day. Thin-client desktops also reduce time for upgrades. All those reasons make it critical to educate users and customers about the benefits of thin-client deployment, concludes the study. Despite such advantages, however, users in enterprises may resist a switch to thin clients, hesitating to give up their trusty PCs. Reasons for the resistance include lack of control, product features and concerns that performance will suffer. To offset those fears, the Datapro survey points out that IT and non-IT managers should secure user buy-in to ease the transition to the new environment. That can be done by involving users in early pilots and selling them on the personal advantages and capabilities of thin-client desktops. "While each enterprise must weigh the impact of implementing thin-client solutions, the benefits often outweigh the disadvantages," said Peter Lowber, research director for Datapro's Client Systems service. "However, to make the conversion a true success, management must grab the mind share of the PC user early in the process." The report covers the benefits, limitations, and lessons learned from a variety of small to large enterprises that have deployed thin-client technologies. Nearly half of the enterprises surveyed use thin clients on at least 50 percent of their desktops. The dominant form of thin-client desktop deployment in 1999, according to the Datapro report, is a Windows terminal with Microsoft NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition (TSE). The primary reason respondents deploy thin-client technology is to reduce the cost of desktop administration, standardize the desktop, reduce time to market and eliminate the need for upgrading PC hardware. The study also found that client/server applications run more effectively in a thin-client environment than in one that is PC-dominant. Thin-client technology is particularly well-suited for use in call centers, customer service environments, point of sale, patient records, insurance claim systems, or even on a factory floor, the research outlined.

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