RCS: Useful Tool For Multi-Location Enterprises

As we slowly inch towards the dusk of the year 2009, there are many things to look forward to in the coming year. Revamped budgets, new targets, new investments and many other things are on the ‘to-do’ list of every CIO. A fact of today’s times that has often been mentioned and extensively written about is that technology is as much a business enabler as any other element in companies.

However, the challenge lies in making the technology process a way of life in organisations. “We have figured out the problem, we have also invested in the solution, but how do I institutionalise that implementation is the major question plaguing CIOs today,” says Dhiraj Sinha, CTO, Perot Systems.

Also, how can CIOs seamlessly integrate business processes with the IT infrastructure and transform IT from ‘Information Technology’ to ‘Business Technology’? How do we upgrade, or should we say, enter into the next level of enterprise IT? What are some of the latest technologies which can help automation, lowering of costs, lead to better accountability and transparency and contribute wholly to the organisation?

Server-Based Computing: Key to Optimal Resource Use

One of the upcoming ways, which has the power to virtually change the IT landscape of your organisation, is Remote Client Solutions or server-based computing. Organisations, especially large ones, which have multi-location offices, are live examples of how it translates into lower operating costs, lower downtime and ‘on-demand’ IT.

“Your physical data centre is nothing but a private cloud. When you can reap the same benefits and even much more from a virtualised environment, why do you need to invest in OPEX and new data centres?” says Rajat Mehta, Country Manager, Desktop Solutions Organisation, HP. In server-based computing, everything is consolidated and virtualised in the server and in the front end all you have is flash-drive based PCs. This way you create a resource pool for yourself and utilise it at your own perusal. It is said that even at peak performances, what you utilise is only 50 percent of what your server is actually capable of delivering. Server-based computing can increase that percentage. Imagine allocating bandwidth and system configurations at will to a specific user for a specific job and for a specific time period. And as all the resources are present in the server, there is no need to upgrade your front-end clients for at least a decade.

Security & Mobility Benefits

One of the other problems with physical front-end clients is infringement of IPR. Companies invest a king’s ransom in R&D to come up with new products, design plans, blueprints etc. A rogue employee or an executive, who suddenly stops reporting to work with critical company data can lead to a scary situation. Server-based computing can take care of that too. In server-based computing, the front-end client is a dumb device, which can’t capture any data as everything gets stored on a server using the Remote Desktop Protocol or Independent Computing Architecture.

Over a distributed and multi-location network, as is the case with large organisations, this can be a life saver. “Using a virtualised environment, you can keep track of every single activity happening on each thin client,” adds Mehta. No physical media for storage like CDs or USB drives can be plugged in and accessed unless approved by the IT head in this kind of a set-up.

Companies having a mobile workforce can access these systems on mobile thin clients. Such initiatives are slowly gaining ground especially among FMCG companies like Perfetti Van Melle (PVM). “After going live with Citrix’s solution, which enables availability of all our applications to our sales workforce on the move, we are also working to enable such applications on the mobile device,” says Basant Kumar Chaturvedi, Senior Manager-IT, PVM.

One of the running and live examples of RCS-based organisations is the Central Excise and Customs department. With a total of 1,223 offices, the organisation is using 20,000 thin clients, which are centrally managed by the Delhi office.

This in the long run also leads to cost savings as you don’t need to maintain a huge army of an IT workforce to maintain and monitor the network. Once it is centrally managed, a select group of people can form the core IT team and take strategic decisions based on the performance. The rest is taken care of by the SLA.

Use of Social Media Tools to Track Server Activities

Sanjay Singh, CTO of One 97, a VAS vendor, has been using Twitter as an automated alert system across all of the company’s servers in various offices. All these alerts are in real time and can be accessed via a desktop or a mobile device. “CIOs have to keep up with the latest tools in networking to ensure that they communicate well internally as well as externally. These platforms are a great way of creating awareness,” says Singh.

Such initiatives by CTOs/ CIOs can further help integrate technology with business. Finally, it can lead the enterprise to the next level of computing and can help institutionalise IT to realise its full potential.