For the past decade, great strides have been made in moving away from the classic client-server model that many organisations feel have created IT management headaches and stifled agility.
While the most popular route took the move to one extreme with thin-client computing, a second route made use of conventional desktop managed PCs.
True to the convergence trend afoot in the market, these two approaches have finally amalgamated and manifested in a solution called Wyse Streaming Manager (WSM) from thin-client leader Wyse Technology.
"WSM allows IT managers to take advantage of security management and the cost benefits of thin computing while providing a rich user experience," says Arno`t van Heerden, country manager at Wyse Technology.
"It employs Windows Server-based services that independently stream the operating system and applications; offering administrators an image creation tool that is used to create and deploy OS images, as well as an application packager that allows for the creation and deployment of application images to a solid-state device.
"The main difference in this approach, however, is that there`s no hard disk and the `virtual disk image` is streamed to the RAM of the thin-client. It brings the advantages of both the thin-client and the fat-client worlds together," he says.
"Obvious benefits include the increased manageability of thin-client, and centralised OS and application management.
"Bringing a little element of thin-client to the conventional PC world, operating system patches, application bug fixes and various configuration options only need to be applied once from within Wyse`s set of management tools - gone are the days of IT personnel rolling out patches manually from workstation to workstation," he adds.
Wyse is also collaborating with VMWare to deliver enhanced virtual desktop computing solutions. As a key first phase of this collaboration, Wyse has joined the VMWare Community Source programme and plans to integrate its Wyse infrastructure deployment and management systems across its thin-client platforms.
"This kind of innovation in the thin-client space is exactly why Tarsus became the sole SA distributor of Wyse Technology last year," says Tarsus product manager for Wyse, Ismail Kippie. "WSM is just one of many new innovations from the vendor."
"To date responses to the solution have been extremely positive. Most CIOs believe that the system is unique in the functionality it offers, as it allows organisations to benefit from conventional PC-type functionality, while offering all of the benefits of thin-client computing," Van Heerden concludes.
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With 20 years` experience in the ICT industry, Tarsus is the leading value-added distributor in South Africa, specialising in the supply of the world`s foremost PC and peripheral hardware brands to the local reseller channel.
Tarsus strives to meet the channel`s needs for credit funding, stock availability and efficient logistics, ensuring that resellers are able to deliver the highest quality service to their customers, focus on support and compiling the best overall solutions for their end-user customer base at the lowest possible cost.
The company prides itself on its flexibility, adaptability, knowledge, skills and successful track record combined with an industry-leading ability to manage large rollouts. These are the reasons Tarsus has consistently been rated as the top distributor in the country by international vendors, resellers and the IT media alike.
With its strong commitment to the South African channel, Tarsus is able to not only make the reseller channel more efficient, but more importantly, it plays a vital role in dramatically reducing the costs of doing business in the local ICT market.
Brands represented by the Tarsus stable include industry leaders like Acer, Cisco, HP, IBM, Lenovo, Oki, Samsung, TallyGenicom, Targus and Wyse Technology.
More information about Tarsus is available at http://www.tarsus.co.za.
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