The notion of TCO can be used to assess the financial gains involved in choosing Thin Client architecture, taking the following factors into consideration:

Hardware and software

The most tangible and easily identifiable factor is the cost of hardware and software, which albeit significant, represents less than a third of the total cost of a desktop computer, not counting the additional cost of memory extensións, disk capacity and upgrades to storage and network devices.

With Itium: a Thin Client solution, based on Itium-type Windows terminals, cuts the average cost of a hardware + software workstation by about 20%. Furthermore, one of the Thin Client's major benefits is easy and fast deployment (installation and network connection), altogether on a different scale from that of integrating PCs into a Client/Server-type architecture.

Management and administration

Although the cost of managing and administering a stock of computers is less tangible, it is nevertheless a crucial factor. The installation, configuration and management of applications is often an arduous and costly business. Not only are administrators obliged to physically install applications on each client, they also have to deal with version control issues, remote administration, multiple system configurations and data duplication.

With Itium: the Thin Client architecture overcomes management and administration problems by controlling applications and data files from a single point. Thanks to a suitable administration tool (ItiumAdmin for IMPACT Technologies), administrators can deploy, configure, run and provide support for applications from a single location. Applications are installed and upgraded exclusively on the server and are instantly available to all users. For instance, one can take remote control of an Itium Thin Client, view the screen and work directly on the client workstation. As a result, the savings in support, diagnostics and training can be substantial in comparison with a PC environment (one study revealed that administration and management costs in a PC environment were 5 times higher than in a Thin Client architecture).

Technical support

Like management costs, the cost of technical support is less tangible but just as real. This includes structural costs pertaining to user support (the cost of technical staff, training, systems and software, and related services). Solutions for automating user support now exist, but they still fail to tackle the fundamental problem of administering hundreds of desktop computers spread over a large area.

With Itium: maintenance is one of the major benefits afforded by Thin Client architecture, because since it is centralized, administrators and support officers no longer need to physically go from point A to point B to perform their computer maintenance tasks; they can achieve this remotely for subsidiaries or a series of sites without needing to call on the services of local engineers.

End-user related costs

Indirect end-user costs are the most difficult to evaluate. They include the cost of inefficient end users who attempt to solve their own and their colleagues' problems rather than calling on the support service. Such costs are measured in terms of wasted time or lost productivity.
Although PC and client/server environments provide their end users with the applications they need, they nevertheless accentuate certain technical constraints. Moreover, such environments often fall short on control and security. In a traditional Client/Server architecture, applications and critical corporate data reside both on the server and on client workstations scattered over a variety of locations, thereby increasing the risk of misappropriation, unauthorized access and loss of data. All these factors represent 40% of an organization's real TCO.

With Itium: since a Thin Client architecture keeps all applications and data on the server, users can access the data and applications they require in complete safety, and administrators avoid the risks involved in downloading and uploading data and applications, and the accompanying risk of virus propagation. Server-side data backups ensure that all critical company information is correctly archived on a regular basis.

Conclusion

The real cost of acquiring, deploying, administering and supporting computer applications for a group of end users is substantially higher than the initial cost of purchasing a PC and its software. According to GartnerGroup, the total cost of a networked PC running under Windows® 95 amounts to nearly $50 000 after five years. A Thin Client architecture represents a saving of between 20% and 25% in comparison with a PC client/server architecture.

The Itium Thin Client solution offers numerous advantages, making it the ideal solution for most applications: