PITA News/Telecom
Clariti's New Solutions
What do Telecom Fiji, Fiji Fish Marketing Group Ltd, and a New York-based company, Lehman Brothers, a Fortune 100 global trading bank, have in common? Absolute solutions using Clariti's vast technological expertise and products, in the process saving a large percentage of operating costs. Clariti (South Pacific) Ltd's Jonathan Rigby explains the finer details of one of these solutions called Server Based Computing (SBC): "It's computing where the central server provides the computing power for the whole network rather than the PC providing the computing power.
"A close equation is like the older days of a large mainframe with dumb terminals, except these days it is much more advanced."
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In Server Based Computing (SBC) old PCs can be used to run the latest applications. Connection to remote offices, says Rigby, is easier and users do not have to be tied to one particular device.
The shelf life of one of these devices is around 10 years and better still, can survive harsh environments with low requirement for air-conditioning. Should the unit fail it can be replaced with little or no configuration required.
What businesses suit SBC? "Probably 95 percent of businesses would be suitable for Server Based Computing," said Rigby, whose work in the IT industry spans Airport Fiji Ltd and Colonial Fiji.
"We would not recommend it in sites that process large amounts of graphical data such as Auto Cad or Publishing sites, etc.
However, we have implemented it successfully in these organisations in the past.
"All of the Fortune 100 companies in the United States use Citrix products. Businesses use Server Based Computing because of the return on investment." IT operating costs, on an annual basis, says Rigby, could be reduced by as much as 40 percent. But Server Based Computing isn't new. In fact it has been around since the 80s and is "extremely widely used in one way or another in most large companies and distributed sites throughout the world."
Clariti (South Pacific) (www.clariti.com.fj), a Citrix Gold Partner, is an IT service provision company, providing services to corporate enterprised, and government departments in the South Pacific. Affiliated with many other organizations, Clariti provides complete solutions allowing a business/organisation to devote its time to its customers.
In Fiji, where Clariti (South Pacific) is based, Rigby notes there are "several government and quasi-government proposals under serious consideration.
"I think one of the reasons some of the existing IT companies have not offered this technology is that it reduces costs. A thin client (device used instead of a standard PC) may cost as little as F$750 and up to 40 users may run off a single server.
"If you compare this to the costs of an equivalent number of PCs, you can see why many hardware oriented IT re-sellers shy away from Server Based Computing."
The investment in such solutions, says Rigby, generally pay for themselves many times over allowing the IT to be centrally managed. It cuts the trips to remote areas where the thin client is located.
"I believe that once business drivers and shareholders see the benefits they are no longer going to entertain the cost of running their business using PCs, which need replacing every 3-4 years versus the lifespan of a thin client of 7-10 years."
