NComputing targets SA education

Johannesburg, 14 Mar 2008

NComputing's founder, president and COO, Young Song, is in SA to discuss the company's IT model for the education market.

A thin client type solution, NComputing's products enable computer laboratories to be rolled out through virtualised desktops. Using the excess power of a standard "host" PC, the product allows up to seven students to access fat client computing services.

Says Song: "SA is a great opportunity for us to demonstrate our models for the school market. We have already made great strides in various regions with this model. In Macedonia, for example, the government is using our solution to provide computing access to 360 000 public school students. In SA, we have engaged with the Western Cape education department's Khanya Project to help them with the roll-out of computer laboratories in the area."

Sean Owen-Jones, MD of NCSolutions, NComputing's local distributor, says the pilot project with the Khanya Project is nearing its end.

"We've had great results from this project and Khanya is pleased with the solution. I believe they are preparing to place orders for some of their school projects now. We're also working with Khanya on its project to build a completely green IT laboratory. The aim is to have this lab powered solely through solar power," he explains.

Improving services

Song says he has also held discussions with NCSolutions to discuss how the vendor can help the local organisation to ramp up its operations.

"We don't have offices in Africa so we rely heavily on our distribution partners to take our solutions to market. But, then again, we believe that our business is purely driven by local market knowledge. We are happy with NCSolutions' sales, but we wanted to see how we could help them to escalate SA opportunities," explains Song.

As a result, NComputing is to secure a bonded warehouse for its products in SA.

"This will help NCSolutions to handle the logistics of our type of solution. Typically, we find that first orders are small for trial purposes. However, once the trial is completed, we find orders surging. Introducing a warehouse will enable NCSolutions to fulfil these orders within a short timeframe," says Song.