Schools Learn a Lesson In Desktop Alternatives

As any parent knows, when it comes to raising kids, no matter how much money you have, it never seems to be enough.

That's a problem K-12 school systems know all too well. As a result, schools are always looking for innovative ways to do more with less. One way value-added resellers are helping to address that need is by providing alternative desktop PC options.

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For example, Insight Public Sector, a subsidiary of Tempe, Ariz.-based Insight Enterprises (VARBusiness 500 No. 25), is selling a new generation of PC-access terminal devices from nComputing into K-12 school systems.

NComputing, a company started by eMachines founder Stephen Dukker, provides a solution that enables three to four users to work off one host PC. Each user gets an individual monitor, keyboard, mouse and speakers, which connect to small nComputing access terminals sitting on a user's desk. The access devices then connect directly to a PCI card via a standard Cat 6 STP cable up to 10 meters long, although nComputing also offers a line of Ethernet-based access terminals. For schools, the system can help cut costs and simplify support, according to Lorne Shackelford, director of sales for state, local and education at Insight Public Sector.

"PCs now are as fast as servers were just a few years ago, so schools are only using a fraction of the computer's power," Shackelford says. "If they buy all brand-new computers and they don't need all that power, it's working against them more than helping them, because taking care of those PCs is a really big part of the expense that goes way beyond the cost of buying the computers. But every school board or school district—even the ones with fewer resources—has a room full of monitors, keyboards and mice, so they can use the assets they already have."

The VAR currently has many projects in the pipeline to deploy nComputing's devices.

"We're seeing a lot of excitement and interest, especially for classrooms, labs and common areas in schools," Shackelford says.

The devices cost less than $200 each, but, according to nComputing, a VAR makes about the same profit they'll make on a traditional $400 desktop PC because of higher margins.

"It's not high dollars, so it's something you get out in front of somebody, and it's fairly easy to find budget dollars for it," Shackelford says.

Solution providers are hoping that the money schools save will eventually end up in their pockets. "The more we help them, the more they invest back in us," Shackelford adds.

In addition, the solution provider has evaluated other alternative desktop-computing options. But it determined that, for educational environments, the nComputing model offers lower cost barriers and commitment levels.

"With traditional thin clients, there's a lot more involved as far as the expense and technical expertise required [for support]," Shackelford says. "And if you go down that path, you have a bigger commitment and a lot more at stake, but with less benefit."

What's more, the solution provider hasn't stopped selling traditional desktop PCs. The nComputing host-PC option, however, is just one alternative for budget-stressed school systems.

NComputing, meanwhile, has sold about 250,000 devices so far; currently, the company's largest deployment in the United States is a 50,000-unit implementation in a North Carolina school system. The bulk of the vendor's sales are outside the United States, in developing countries, but nComputing hopes to make greater inroads into both U.S. school districts and small businesses.

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