SOMERS, N.Y. – The idea is straightforward: Instead of giving employees computers packed with features they rarely use, companies could save tons of cash by distributing simple machines tied to powerful central servers.
Computing vendors have had marginal success over the years with variations of this “thin client” concept. Now IBM Corp. is betting that with some tweaks, the technology can become a big hit, challenging the traditional approach pushed by Microsoft Corp.
IBM and Sun Microsystems Inc., which also offers a server-based computing system, the Java Desktop, insist their efforts aren’t a direct stab at Microsoft’s huge – and hugely profitable – presence on corporate desktop computers.
Even so, the rivals say they hope to win over corporate technology managers who are tired of the cost and security headaches inherent in having hundreds of PCs running Microsoft’s Windows operating system.
In a server-centric computing system, software updates can be pumped to every machine at once, and individual computers can be shielded from viruses and attacks.
“That’s one of the biggest things (information technology) faces today: keeping all of the software on the PC up to date,” said Bruce Elgort, manager of information services for Sharp Corp.’s U.S. microelectronics division. “It’s a nightmare.”
IBM’s original Workplace software, launched last year, offered messaging and collaboration features. Workplace 2 is a new beast because it is managed by remote servers. Now in pilot testing by 120 IBM customers, Workplace 2 is to be officially released by the end of July.
The program gives users a dashboard-like view of several applications, notably e-mail, instant messaging and a calendar, along with documents created by the users or their colleagues. In an important step, IBM released software tools this month to let outside developers create programs that work with Workplace 2.
Workplace 2 runs on Windows or Linux computers, and its dashboard can incorporate the big three applications in Microsoft’s Office software package – Word, PowerPoint presentations and Excel spreadsheets.
But if a user doesn’t want to buy Microsoft Office software, Workplace draws on open-source alternatives that roughly simulate the big three. That means a Workplace user who doesn’t have Word but gets e-mailed a Word document could open the file, change it and send it back to the source – who would then be able to work on it in Word just the same.
Workplace is accessed over a Web browser, so users can be anywhere, even on a handheld computer or an Internet-connected cell phone.
If Workplace is a success, it could help IBM sell servers, back-end technology services and PCs that run Linux, now a relatively tiny market.
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