Mr.
Sanjay Peer, Director, VIA Technologies, Channel Development, SAARC
|
- Why were thin clients not highly successful when they were introduced some years ago? What is the reason behind it gaining sudden popularity and interest?
Thin clients have come a long way since the time of their introduction; Entire eco system of Hardware, Software, Network connectivity and Central storage around TC computing has evolved. Today Thin Clients can be deployed across wide ranging applications within many Biz. verticals. MIS Managers and Hardware consultants have started taking notice of immense benefits of deploying Thin Clients; they are demanding Thin Client solutions from their respective solutions providers. All these developments are translating to higher levels of interest and growing popularity.
- It is surprising that thin clients did not do well, especially in a price sensitive country like India , which is also a quick adopter of technology. Why do you think this happened and how has customer perception changed?
|
The answer lies in the basic difference between a PC and a Thin Client, PC is a stand alone device and any change in the Price / Benefit equation can translate into immediate results on the ground, Thin Clients need the whole Eco system around them to evolve before it could address the customer requirement. Faster and price efficient Servers, Reduced Central storage costs, Faster and more reliable LAN and WAN networks and powerful Clients have contributed to build the momentum around Thin Client computing.
As mentioned above, the biggest bottleneck around Thin Clients used to be their limited processing speed, this issue too has been resolved through recent product introductions of VIA C7 1 Ghz, based Thin Clients by almost all OEM vendors within India. At current processing speeds VIA based Thin Clients have enough power required to replace a PC based client.
From the customer end growing concern about Data Security, Network Reliability and Remote connectivity, efficient Infrastructure utilization and the lowest possible TCO have added to the growing momentum. All this is surely helping a lot.
- How big in unit/value terms, is the Indian market for thin clients? What is the kind of growth you are looking at in this market? What was the CAGR for the past three years?
International Research agencies and various Market Intelligence reports suggest TC market opportunity to be anything close to4 – 5% of the total PC market size, on this assumption Indian market potential is anything between 300 – 350k Units. But the real numbers are a bit lesser then this primarily because some of the demand gets cannibalized by Disk less pc nodes in this space. Our assumption is True Thin Client market in India is anything between 200 – 250k Units as on date. The growth rates are much higher the PC. Our estimate of market growth is anything 40 % on conservative terms to 50% on the optimistic levels. Most of the research agencies have projected similar kind of outlook. The market has grown at 40% levels for last 3 years.
- Which verticals/sectors are driving the growth for thin clients? Why is there an increasing demand from these segments?
The growth is primarily driven by BFSI, Govt. Sector - Utility computing Projects, BPO's, Education, Hospitality and Service sectors.
- Currently, how big is your distribution and service network? Are there plans to increase this network in order to tap the market? (If yes, give details)
We are a silicon Platform company our core focus is Market development through our OEM and SI partners, Almost all MNC and Local PC brands offer a VIA based Thin Client product under their product portfolio. For example HP, HCL, VXL, Neoware, Wyse and Gigabyte offer VIA based Thin Client solutions to SI as well as end customers within India, The rest of main players like Acer, PCS, Zenith, CMC, CMS etc also offer Thin Client solutions based on OEM arrangement they have with some of the names mentioned above
- What are some of the reasons why customers are now willing to invest in thin clients? What are the advantages and disadvantages of deploying a thin client-based network?
The main concern for the same is the mind set at the user level. It is difficult for an end user to come in terms with the fact that his machine is no longer personal. Thin Client is a total productivity tool, Its key advantages are:
- Total Data Security
- Highest Reliability and uptime
- Minimum levels of Support infrastructure
- Lowest possible TCO
- Complete peace of Mind
The only Disadvantage being limited High end Audio and Video Streaming capability due to which they are not suited for some Biz. verticals like Auto CAD, 3D Graphics and Animation etc.
- What role does your channel play in educating customers to opt for thin clients? How are you trying to enthuse your channel to push thin clients and what are the incentivising schemes offered?
The key to promoting Thin Clients is to interact and educate our end customers as well as SI partners. VIA is working extensively within end customer space and promoting the awareness and benefits while our OEM partners are providing training and incentive schemes to SI partners. There is lot of work going on at the ground level both from our side as well as our partners.
- What is your forecast for the thin client business in India ? Why?
We firmly believe India is going to be a 1m Unit market by 2011. All the ingredients for fuelling the market demand are in place, BFSI, Govt buying across E governance and e education programs would contribute the major chunk of the numbers, rest would come from other target verticals mentioned above.
- What is the cost of deploying of a 10-desktop network and a 10-thin client with one host server network, the annual maintenance cost for both these networks individually; the benefits and disadvantages of both?
Just comparing initial cost of Hardware procurement is a wrong way to look at Thin Clients, One has to understand the total TCO concept to arrive at real and overall. |
