Citrix wins upgrade deal

The probation service has chosen Citrix's Winframe application management package so it can continue using 386-based PCs following a year 2000 and Office97 upgrade, writes Dan Sabbagh.

The Home Office agency rejected Microsoft's rival Windows Terminal Server which was only in beta release when the probation service specified its requirements. The service felt it could not afford to take the risk of using a relatively untested product against the millennium deadline.

Both products allow Windows applications to execute on servers rather than PCs, reducing the power required on the desktop. System implementor Bull added that the cost of licensing Citrix was cheaper than that of Terminal Server.

This endorses Computing's pricing analysis (19 November) which demonstrated that in a 100-user system, Terminal Server fees can rise to more than double Citrix's.

Kevin Gee, project technical architect at Bull, said price was not the prime driver: 'Citrix happened to be cheaper than Terminal Server, but we didn't go far down that road.'

Tony Heal, Home Office information systems business manager, said: 'We had a year 2000 compliance problem and we decided to tackle our upgrade issues at the same time, which we expect to prove more cost effective.'

Without throwing away a single PC, Bull will also upgrade Notes and Office applications and install a 32-bit version of the core management system.

The deal is worth more than #12 million.