Lenovo today announced Secure Managed Client (SMC), a first ever, storage-based, desktop computing solution that can dramatically help businesses reduce IT costs and security risks by turning off hard drives and storing all data in a non-server remote location – all while offering users the flexibility and performance of a traditional desktop PC.
The SMC solution consists of a client, a hard drive-less ThinkCentre desktop PC Intel® vPro™ technology, a Lenovo co-developed software stack and a centralized Lenovo Storage Array, powered by Intel.
“We believe that Secure Managed Client is that rarest of gems – a breakthrough technology in desktop computing,” said Peter Schrady, vice president, general manager, software and peripherals, Lenovo. “We’ve all seen the rapid-fire advances in mobile computing such as batteries, connectivity, and the like, but this is the desktop PC’s turn to shine. SMC is an exceptionally engineered innovation designed for better manageability, better security, better performance and a better balance sheet.”
SMC offers several significant benefits over current server-based computing options such as blade PCs, thin clients or desktop virtualization, most notably:
- Preserves PC fidelity - SMC gives the end user a full Windows experience
- Avoids IT complexity - SMC works with and enhances current IT process and tools
- Safe and flexible investment - An SMC ThinkCentre can easily be converted back to a traditional desktop PC by re-enabling the hard drives
- Energy efficient - An SMC ThinkCentre uses less energy than a traditional desktop PC
- Security - Information from all desktops in an SMC fleet is stored in a safe, single location, significantly reducing the threat of on-site theft of data
Some of Lenovo’s large enterprise customers have recorded significant results from SMC pilot deployments. For example, Nortel reports gains in the form of reduced IT costs and employee satisfaction. “We believe the evolution of desktop computing will migrate to a Secure Managed Client solution,” said Steve Bandrowczak, CIO, Nortel. “We’ve rigorously tested Lenovo’s solution on our desktops in North America, and both users and our IT organization were extremely pleased. Our goal at Nortel is to provide an equal or better desktop experience while significantly cutting our IT costs. We believe Lenovo’s SMC solution has that potential.”
Lenovo estimates that large enterprise customers in North America typically spend about $120 a month to fully manage a PC. This expense takes into account such things as deskside IT visits, call center support, and management costs. Lenovo further estimates that using the SMC solution can potentially reduce this expense to as low as $70 per PC.
The SMC solution is currently being offered on the ThinkCentre M57p1 desktop PC, and can also be offered on the ThinkCentre M58p2 in early 2009. The recently launched M58p is the greenest, most secure and most manageable ThinkCentre desktop yet.
Customers can take advantage of a full suite of Lenovo Professional Services to help them get up and running quickly and begin to realize the savings that the SMC solution will produce. Lenovo can seamlessly integrate the SMC solution into the customer environment from initial migration planning and design to end-to-end SMC implementation. These services include:
- SMC Assessment
- Infrastructure Planning & Design
- Pilot Deployment
- Managed Deployment
- Customer Training
- SMC Consulting
- System Tuning
SMC is backed by Lenovo award-winning service and support. SMC customers can choose Lenovo ThinkPlus Priority Support to ensure continuous reliability and efficient operation of the SMC solution.
For more information please visit: www.Lenovo.com/software/smc.