Thin client adoptions high among UK housing associations

READING, UK: UK housing associations are adopting a thin client desktop infrastructure to improve management and security while cutting costs, industry research has revealed.

60 percent of UK housing associations are using thin clients, with 43 percent of these associations using them for more than 90 percent of their desktops. In addition, 28 percent said that were very likely to increase their thin client usage in the next 24 months by buying more devices or by converting their existing desktops to thin clients.

46 percent of IT managers believe central management is the primary benefit of a thin client infrastructure, citing ease of management and greater control. 42 percent stated cost as a key benefit including cost of support, ownership and lower costs of replacing outdated machines.

Improved security resulting from greater control of employee access to data was the third main advantage reported by 32 percent of respondents to the research, conducted by Winmark on a sample of 50 UK housing associations on behalf of IGEL Technology.

Larger housing associations, are using thin clients much more than smaller housing associations. With 76 percent of staff at larger housing associations using thin clients compared to 25 percent at the smaller housing associations.

Citrix was the primary server-based computing or virtual desktop software provider with a dominant 63 percent of the associations surveyed, VMware followed with 23 percent and Microsoft Terminal Services with 17 percent. Of those that use thin or zero clients, the dominant providers are Dell Wyse with 46 percent, followed by HP with 23 percent and IGEL Technology with a 17 percent share.

When asked about future desktop challenges, IT managers reported that on average 15 percent of their users currently have a need to regularly use multimedia services and they saw this figure rising to 24 percent of users over the next 24 months.

The top three barriers reported by IT managers were continuity (26 percent), flexibility (24 percent) and connection issues (22 percent). With continuity, respondents were concerned about a technology outage resulting in all staff being unable to work.

Flexibility issues referred to concerns about the ability to convert all software applications for a server-based or virtual desktop environment. Connection issues referred to concerns about the level of bandwidth required to successfully deploy an efficient server-based or virtual desktop solution.

Simon Richards, IGEL Technology MD for UK & Ireland, said: "This research demonstrates an IT maturity and depth of understanding of the desktop infrastructure by the IT mangers of the UK's housing associations. The research found that the experience of those that have deployed thin clients is very positive. The largest organizations, in particular, have embraced the benefits a centrally managed desktop infrastructure with thin clients can offer."