Lenovo’s SMC solution delivers the manageability benefits of a thin client model without sacrificing PC functionality. Read the white paper

Businesses are being forced to do more with less when it comes to their information technology. IT staff, ranging from the CIO to IT assistants, are faced with the need to reduce the cost of managing their business PCs. Lenovo Group has risen to the challenge. The computer maker has responded with the Secure Managed Client (SMC), a centrally managed client computing platform that provides a less-costly alternative to the business desktop.

Many desktop alternatives force businesses to compromise in one way or another, either by purchasing desktop streaming software and/or additional back-end hardware, which increases the load on the datacenter. The SMC does not require costly software or large numbers of additional back-end servers. Additionally, the platform does not force end users to give up the performance or application compatibility of Windows desktop PCs.

Lenovo’s SMC platform works to centralize and simplify the administration of desktop clients. To that end, it combines a number of cost saving opportunities to present a lower overall cost of management than stand-alone desktop PCs. The platform delivers on cost savings by centralizing management tasks, including administering individual user accounts, troubleshooting and updating software. The keys to the SMC platform’s centralization are a straightforward management console, inexpensive PC-based client hardware and centralized user image and data storage on a low-cost SMC Storage Array. The SMC’s centralized approach simplifies the management of desktop clients, therefore lowering costs, while better protecting sensitive data. It does so without sacrificing performance or compromising the user experience of a Windows-based desktop and has the added benefit of low power consumption.

As SMC does not require expensive software or significant additions to the datacenter, it allows businesses to regain control of managing their client infrastructures, while reducing monthly desktop client manageability costs to about $70 per client per month, versus the $120 or more the majority of businesses spend to manage their desktop PCs on a monthly basis.

SMC offers a combination of lower-cost hardware, centralized management and simple, easy administration which eliminates the necessity for most deskside visits by IT. The bottom line is that SMC is simple and simplicity breeds cost savings.