For you NCDI folks, courtesy of a BDLS shareholder.....
November 3rd, 1997
Distributors Get Fat On Thin Clients
By Jeff O'Heir, Computer Reseller News
Distributors are beginning to get fat on thin clients. During the past month,
broad-line and technical distributors have beefed up their line cards, and
in some cases their own offices, with Network Computers and related
products. The move signals a growing faith in a technology that corporate
America has been reluctant to embrace.
Network Computing Devices (NCD), in Mountain View, Calif., recently
signed Tech Data, in Clearwater, Fla., as the first national distributor of its
WinCenter multiuser Windows NT software and Explora thin-client
devices. The deal bolsters Tech Data's thin-client line card, which also
includes thin-client devices from IBM, Wyse Technologies, Boundless
Technologies, SunSoft, and Citrix Systems.
"You're starting to see a lot more vendors coming to market," said Roy
Appelbaum, Tech Data's vice president of marketing. "There's a lot more
technology available to the marketplace."
The technology has created more niche opportunities for resellers. Tech
Data and other distributors report that more resellers are creating
thin-client applications for school systems and large corporations where
security and cost of ownership are top priorities.
Cecil Dyer, senior vice president of sales at NCD, chose a national
distributor because it's the only way his company can keep up with
current market demand for thin-client technology. Dyer expects
Microsoft's Windows NT Hydra technology to further boost sales. Hydra
includes clustering and Windows-enabling capabilities. It is slated to hit
the streets in mid 1998, channel players said.
"We [previously] only sold through direct reps. Now you're talking about
a much larger customer base," said Rosanna Fay, NCD's channel
marketing manager. "NCD does not want to support 100,000 VARs
through credit, 24-hour delivery, and technical support. Tech Data does
that a lot better than we ever could."
NCD set up a "quality team" to better coordinate logistics and sales
between itself, distributors, and customers. The manufacturer also
employs 12 territory managers to push sales through the channel and has
developed several training programs it will execute with Tech Data.
Tech Data established a segmented marketing division dedicated to the
sale and support of thin-client technology. Appelbaum said the division
will focus on marketing and education efforts.
Meanwhile, SED International, in Tucker, Ga., picked up Wyse
Technology's line of Windows-based thin clients. SED's Wyse offerings
also include the San Jose, Calif.-based manufacturer's line of wireless
terminals.
Some distributors also are implementing thin-client technology in-house.
When JBS Open Systems Distribution, in Stafford, Texas, moved into
new headquarters last spring, the distributor of midrange systems installed
Boundless Technologies' thin clients at the desks of all its 75 employees.
The distributor runs the NCs on Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Citrix
Systems' Winframe, a Windows NT emulation software that deploys
Windows applications to fat or thin clients.
"A year ago, I was hearing about NCs. There was a lot of interest, but
nobody was doing anything with them," said Don Young, vice president of
product marketing at JBS. "For us, it came down to economics. The NCs
cost us $750 per seat and $200 for a monitor, compared to about
$5,000 per seat for a PC. Our MIS expenses have dropped about 60
percent." |
