NComputing's Desktop Virtualization Technology Turns One Into Many

Company:

Headquarters: Redwood City, Calif.

Technology Sector: Virtualization

Key Products: NComputing X-Series and L-Series Virtual Desktops

Year Founded: 2006

Number of Channel Partners: 75 in North America

Ideal Channel Partner: Midmarket-focused solution providers

Why You Should Care: NComputing has a strong play in the education market and growing reach into other verticals with thin-client technology that promises solid margins for resellers on its desktop virtualization products.

The Lowdown: NComputing is no stranger to readers who have followed this virtualization vendor's rise from Demo show standout to serious competitor in the education market and beyond. With its L-series and X-series thin-client products, NComputing offers channel partners a choice of ways to go to market with its desktop virtualiztion technology -- as straight resellers of the company's combo of hardware and software, or as builders of custom PCs that NComputing's technology turns into operating system servers that populate up to 30 thin-client workstations.

NComputing advertises its thin-client desktops as starting for as low as $70 per seat, but CEO Stephen Dukker contends that margins for resellers are unusually high, despite the rock-bottom price -- from 15 percent to as high as 25 percent, he said.

"That's a lot better than the 6 percent margins that the average VAR is getting selling hardware these days," Dukker said.

NComputing has already sold two million units globally in its short existence, about half coming from high-profile engagements in the education market. In fact, the company has become somewhat of a thorn in the side of netbook-focused projects like One Laptop Per Child and Intel's Classmate initiative, particularly in the developing world. Not only has NComputing undercut netbooks on price on several occasions, but the upstart company has poached employees from both projects.

Dukker notes that OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte's famous effort to produce a $100 notebook never panned out (the project's going rate to donate a laptop is $199), but NComputing has actually knocked another $30 off that price target.

The company offers two main desktop virtualization installations. The X-series, featuring a $350-$400 central PC that powers up to seven thin-client displays, is especially popular in educational settings and for small, centrally-located workgroup clusters in business environments, Dukker said.

The L-Series offering is built around central PCs in the $1,000 range, each of which handles workloads for 30 or more users. Because users are connected to the central computer via an Ethernet LAN, NComputing's L-Series fits the needs of larger workplaces and campuses with users situated more than 30 feet from each other.

Each product line has accounted for roughly half of NComputing's shipments in achieving two million unit sales, Drukker said.