Agilysys Gives Solution Providers the Edge

With the blade-server push finally in full stride, vendors and distributors are looking to build momentum behind the next wave of thin, modular gear--blades for the desktop.

Manufacturers are touting PC blades as a way for end users to reduce the desktop total cost of ownership while improving manageability and bolstering security. The beauty of the PC-blade solution, according to vendors, lies in the so-called Consolidated Client Infrastructure (CCI), which dispenses with the need for end users to work and save data on individual desktops. With the CCI, thin clients connect users to all of their applications and data residing on a PC blade.

Businesses can house up to 280 PC blades in a rack, with each providing complete fail-over protection. And with data routed to NAS or a SAN, a blade failure rarely results in data loss. Users simply log on to another PC blade on the rack and continue working, thus minimizing downtime and lowering infrastructure costs.

The move toward CCI and PC blades seems timely for solution providers looking to deliver the simplified, manageable thin-client option to their customers. According to IDC, PC-blade deliveries will top 7 million units worldwide by 2009.

Leading the charge is Agilysys, which last month inked a deal with Hewlett-Packard to help its partners get in early on what the pair expects to be "phenomenal" PC-blade growth.

Through its KeyLink Systems Group (KSG) distribution arm, Agilysys is now offering the Forerunner program, which "provides partners with tools and training necessary to guide customers making the transition to PC-blade architecture," according to company executives. The benefits of Forerunner to qualifying partners include customized sales training and hands-on technical instruction, dedicated KSG-HP marketing support and industry updates via the Agilysys partner portal, The Edge.

Pete Montana, vice president and general manager of Agilysys KSG, says that Forerunner will give enterprise partners not only the tools necessary to deliver CCI-based solutions but also assistance finding "PC-blade opportunities required to grow their businesses."

HP, which is delivering the thin-client and PC-blade equipment as part and parcel of the Forerunner program, touts the lower cost, ease of maintenance and tighter security of a CCI-based environment.

Market-research firm Gartner predicts that thin-client shipments will accelerate through 2010 largely because of security concerns. Sales in the United States have remained fairly flat, but thin-client terminal sales in Asia-Pacific grew 45.3 percent last year, Gartner reported.

John Snaider, vice president of business PCs at HP's Personal Systems Group, says customers "appreciate that access devices can be locked down to eliminate security risks. User data is secured and backed up in the data center, which helps achieve regulatory and IT best-practices compliance."

Agilysys executives point to a recent Computer Security Institute survey showing that virus attacks, unauthorized network access and misappropriated laptops accounted for some three-quarters of the financial losses of U.S. companies in 2006.

Mark Martinez, CEO of Agilysys partner M2 Technology, is using Forerunner as part of his overall business plan to sell into the federal-government space. Martinez says he's targeting customers interested in continuous data protection and those that have recently suffered a security breach.

"I'm looking forward to further leveraging the Agilysys KSG Forerunner program to grow my business," Martinez says. "There's a need for this technology within my market space, and I feel fortunate to be partnering with Agilysys to better serve my customers."