Dell: New Partner Opps in Thin Clients, Virtual Desktops

… flexible and useful for a very long period of time. These are still low-cost, around $400 per device with all of this capability.

CP: How is the 5070 configured?

JM: In fact, there are 1,600 factory configurations because health-care providers want something different than banks, which want something different from state and local government agencies. All of these configurations are capable at factory integration. If you want them configured to break down in terms of operating systems, we support Wyse ThinOS and Wyse ThinLinux. We will most likely support Windows 10 IoT in a future version, but for today, the bulk of those shipments are ThinOS.

CP: Is that a first?

JM: Supporting all three operating systems, yes. We do have full Windows 10 IoT in our previous 5000 and 7000 Series, but this new system will run it faster and better.

CP: When you say it will support 1,600 different configurations, do you anticipate demand for each one of those?

JM: The government says “I don’t want copper; I want fiber or I only want two displays.” All of these things can be fully customized out of the factory; you never have to take a unit and then mess around with it. These are designed to get out of the box.

CP: To put those 1,600 configuration options in context, how many SKUs were previous models available in?

JM: Most of the Wyse thin clients based on the Wyse designs had the one configuration with maybe one or two options. So, here’s the thing. Six different units out of the Wyse product line are going away and being replaced by this one new model with its configurability. And with all the granularity, customers want the lowest cost. They want to order exactly what they want.

CP: How will this change the way partners deliver these systems?

JM: That just means channel partners will be able to spec out exactly what a customer wants. Right now, if you look at the capabilities of most thin clients in the market today, they don’t reach this capability of internal performance, they don’t reach this ability to spec in terms of networking or in terms of what we can do with the displays. So now we’ve got a single, entry-level product in 3040 and a single midrange product in the 5070, and between those two products, they could meet almost any need because we have the factory configuration capability. Any configuration they order, they’re not hobbling it together on their work bench. They’re not adding cards into it. We do everything in the factories; we warranty everything for them 100 percent. Procurement, management and everything else is made much, much easier.

CP: Will that reduce the channel’s role in deployment and integration of these solutions?

JM: Partners have an important role because what they’re doing usually is architecting a solution. They’re working on the infrastructure, and they may be promoting a Citrix or VMware or even a Microsoft VDI suite. They’re optimizing that and they’re selecting the storage. Then they’re talking about the whole story with regard to …