Cost issues lock down the desktop

As the industry undergoes a desktop replacement cycle, after gearing up for year 2000 four years ago, a new mood of conservatism is descending on the desktop and directing corporate strategy.

Users may find more space on their desks as slimmer models replace the fat boxes of yesterday, and their eyes may be less bleary staring at liquid crystal screens, which account for 60 per cent of the market. But their freedom and vision are being constrained in other ways.

Fears about security, time wasting and legal issues are helping to shape a desktop environment strictly for business, cutting out unproductive activities such as surfing the net and playing games.

"Business and consumer desktops are poised to separate," says Jeremy Davies, senior partner at research firm Context.

"In the home, there is the move towards creating integrated home entertainment devices, but on the office side the desktop is subject to different dynamics and could go one of two ways.

"PCs could become more like terminals where workers perform tasks with little scope for personalising their workspace, or they could become integrated office communication devices."

Davies is doubtful as to whether the second scenario, which relies on technologies such as voice-over IP (VoIP), will win the day. "There is not the same level of noise about moving towards this type of desktop," he points out.

He believes organisations are increasingly distrustful of "hippy ideas of giving employees freedom while they work".

"Company policies are becoming stricter about what applications can be downloaded, games played, websites accessed or emails sent, as corporate security tightens," he observes.

This trend, "where a corporate PC is no longer personal but a business tool", favours a thin-client infrastructure.

"In the 70s and early 80s workers used terminals at the end of a network, and the wheel is coming full circle," suggests Davies.

HP certainly has noticed the trend towards thin client, with compound annual growth rates of 32 per cent.

"Many companies wanting to minimise cost of ownership are looking at server-based computing," says Shaun Hobbs, senior category manager, commercial desktops at HP in the UK.

"Where workers are carrying out a simple set of tasks, such as in call centres or at reception desks, it makes sense to spend about £150 on a terminal rather than about £350 for a mid-range PC, and focus on centralised management to reduce costs."

"The issue for most IT departments is cost control," agrees Ranjit Atwal, Gartner analyst, client devices. "Companies are clamping down the desktop, and reducing the user interface is paramount.

"Three or four years ago users could download anything, but now the whole environment is about lock-down and standardising the desktop, creating a simple product with the least complexity."

This miserly mindset precludes technologies such as Bluetooth and wireless Lans from many desktops.

"The Bluetooth theory of wireless connectivity instead of wired connections between the desktop and the printer hasn't taken off," says Atwal. "Innovation is expensive."

While notebook sales grew by about 18 per cent in the first quarter of 2004, compared with five per cent growth in the desktop market, according to researcher IDC, many companies are sticking to their old-fashioned guns.

"Keeping notebooks, which can be lost or stolen, is expensive compared with desktop PCs," Atwal explains. "If a company needs mobile computing, perhaps for its salesforce, it could opt for a desktop and a PDA.

"We advise companies to segment their user base to understand usage patterns and help them deploy the right desktop infrastructure. This could result in a combination of devices. It is complex but it affects their return on investment."

Creating the right desktop environment is an opportunity to rethink operating systems. Hobbs says new desktop sales at HP are being driven by corporates upgrading to XP. But with spiralling licensing costs, analysts point out that it may be worth looking at alternatives such as Linux.

"If you are restricting workers to using PCs like typewriters, why bother paying a licence fee?" asks Davies.