Wyse Eases Thin Client Desktop Virtualization Transition

Thin client vendor Wyse Technology is introducing three products designed to make thin client computing a more attractive option to end-user companies – bundling TCX extensions into a single, less expensive package; making end points, whether they are iPhones or repurposed PCs, look the same to the server; and introducing a mobile thin client powered by Intel’s Atom processor.

Wyse will also introduce Project Borg this quarter – a technology designed to be used as a transition strategy to thin clients for companies, enabling them to repurpose their PCs into thin clients by using software. At less than $100 per client, both Wyse and VARs say they have seen demand for this type of technology. Also on the way are clients for the Blackberry and iPhone.

The advances from Wyse, which sees 97 percent of its revenues come through its 3,000 reseller partners, could be part of a movement that is gaining momentum. Desktop virtualization VARs say that VMware’s release of View 4 late last year is the last element needed to make 2010 the year of desktop virtualization.

Certainly Wyse’s advances will help in overcoming end-user objections to deploying desktop virtualization and thin client technology, according to Donn Bullock, vice president of sales at IT solution provider Mainline Information Systems, VMware’s top desktop virtualization VAR.

Bullock notes that Wyse used to sell each TCX extension separately for $25 per client. These extensions are what make the client work with a USB device or a printer, and you’d need one for each function. But now Wyse has bundled them all together and is selling them as a suite for $35. The price change will make a big difference to end customers who just want their thin clients to function the same way their PCs have functioned.

“Customers said ‘you are nickel and diming me,’” Bullock tells Channel Insider. “They say ‘I want USB and multimedia.’  So not only does this suite make it easier, but it also makes it cheaper to make that paradigm shift to virtual desktops.”

Wyse says that Wyse TCX Suite 4.0 unifies all existing TCX solutions and adds new features. All work with Microsft, Citrix and VMware desktop virtualization environments and includes support for Windows 7, Windows server 2008, R2.

Wyse TCX Suite 4.0 is comprised of the following:

• Multimedia Acceleration
• Flash Acceleration
• Multi-display system
• Client USB Port Virtualization 
• Rich Sound

Wyse also announced its Wyse X90cw mobile thin client in partnership with Intel, based on the Intel Atom processor and an Intel chipset supporting video applications. The X90cw includes a built-in webcam, integrated wireless 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 and support for 3G cards.  The devices draw as little as 18 watts of energy, and the 6-cell Li-Ion battery provides up to 8 hours of running time.

In addition, Wyse announced availability of its provisioning software WSM 3.0 designed to work in implementations with a large number of remote small and medium sized sites, such as education, retail and banking.

The technology makes all end clients look the same to the server, easing IT management headaches by enabling administrators to work with fewer images and then manage and provision the complete operating system while also integrating Active Directory via a web-based administrative console, according to Wyse.

“All applications that were designed to work in PCs will work in this environment,” Jeff McNaught, chief marketing officer and security officer at Wyse, tells Channel Insider.