And IBM next week will unveil its next-generation Network Station, the first IBM thin client to be based on the Intel Pentium processor. It's the management software that fills a major thin client gap, said Zona Research analyst Greg Blatnik. While thin client technology has been touted as a low-maintenance alternative to conventional PCs, thin clients still require maintenance, configuration and software updates. The thin client can't just be plopped out there and you hope they'll take care of themselves, Blatnik said. In many cases, they're part of large, server-centric applications, with large groups of users.
Nothing happens without something getting managed.
The software, available Oct. 1, will let users flash-program the desktop systems with custom configurations of embedded NT, adding and eliminating components at their discretion. Rapport also includes asset-management and diagnostic tools. User CyberXpo is deploying Netier thin clients in 2,470 kiosks at 190 malls to give shoppers Web access. The Rapport tool allows me to keep the environment up to date, said Scott Minor, director of Internet technology at CyberXpo. Sending out the update is not difficult.