NComputing

The recent global economic recession has compelled companies to cut down on their operating costs. Most multi-national companies like General Motors (GM), Toyota, Volkwagen, and so on had to close some of their plants or lay-off a number of workers. Small and medium enterprises had to pull back on their expansion or modernisation plans. However, the use of computers in the daily operations of a business could not be sidelined since it has become such an integral part of business activities. Be it in communication amongst the staff, control of huge machinery in a factory, monitoring a plant using security cameras, advertising on the Internet, keeping financial records and doing research on new products in the market, computers in have become inevitable in business operations.

One way of reducing the cost of business computing ,in this hard economic times, is by the use of a recent technology known as N- Computing. Today's computers are so powerful that the vast majority of applications only use a small fraction of the computer's capacity. Modern desktop computers sit idle while we check our e-mail, surf the web, or type a document. N-Computing technology taps the unused capacity so that it can be simultaneously shared by many users. Each user connects to the shared PC through an access device. The access device has no CPU, memory, or moving parts—so it is rugged, durable, and easy to deploy and maintain.
An example of an N-Computing product is the Userful Multiplier. It takes 1 ordinary desktop computer and turns it into 10. Just install the Linux-based software, add monitors, keyboards and mice - and you can support up to 10 independent users at the same time on a single computer. Userful Multiplier is a good solution for many industries that require to cut down of operations cost. Another example is the L-series from 'Ncomputing Ltd'. This is ideal if your users need to be more than 10 meters away from the shared computer. The L-series connects across a standard Ethernet local-area network, that is, by connecting via a switch or router. Users just snap into place and can be just about as far away from the shared computer as you like. As illustrated by these two examples, there are many products in the market that would suite your business needs.
This technology also has other areas of application. For instance, in education, it can be used to lower the cost of setting up a computer laboratory. Digital Solidarity Fund (DSF) from Switzerland has been using this technology to broaden the
scope of computer access in developing countries.
“NComputing offers huge potential to expand the reach of computer access
in developing nations,” says Mehdy Davary, director of DSF. “Even refurbished
computers can become expensive, not to mention the costs of keeping them
running. NComputing access devices require almost no maintenance and
that’s a huge plus.”