Auditor #9 wrote:

youganmahew reckons there will be the busting of a tech bubble soon ...
http://www.thepropertypin.com/viewtopic.php?t=12486

Many companies do not intend buying new hardware for a while as they are satisfied that their current crop of workstations are capable of performing all the functions they require including operating all relevant business software.

For many, the next major software/hardware purchase will be to move their whole system to server based user applications with workstations only acting as dumb terminals. To put it properly, they will be looking at moving to a thin client software.

The benefits are multiple:
1. System is more secure.
2. Easier to make sure all software is updated.
3. Easier to make sure security and virus checking is properly implemented across the board.
4. Easier to maintain.
5. Easier to be sure everything is properly backed up.
6. Easier to regulate and track access, i.e. control file copying, duplication, email, internet access.

The reason this can be done now is because of the advances in network and LAN capacity. Also, computers are now extremely energy efficient so any further improvements in that regard will not be of sufficient magnitude to justify changing hardware.

The net effect is that the workstation replacement cycle has been extended form 3 years to 5 years and could get longer. A few new network cards to keep up with network speed improvements and Bob's your mother's brother.

The long term implications is for a decline in demand for new workstations/chips and other parts in developed countries.

Is that not what most offices do anyway? Just that they waste money by installing individual computers which are capable of being full service units in their own right. However, I was under the impression that they weren't used as such.

Any office I have worked in (professional firms) have had a central server where all the main software - whether it be Opsis in a law firm or SAGE in a chartered accountancy firm - is run from. On top of that all e-mails are accessible from the server, and I presume stored on it.

I could of course be referring to something different than you.

99% of businesses have their core information on servers. Email and document management systems reside there. However, they also have full operating systems, software suites (eg. MS Word, Internet Explorer, Outlook), USB ports, CD-Rom Drives and so forth on their workstations.

With a thin client system, all server and client software resides in the server. This is in contrast to an email system where the MS Exchange server software lives on the server and the MS Outlook client lives on the workstation. In a thin client / dumb terminal scenario (I am starting to doubt my terminology) all the software resides in the server and the user just has a visual representation of what is happening on the server. No software needs to be configured, updated or installed on the user workstation.

I am not sure how Opsis works but I expect it works like this. If all the software operates like than then you can remove the need and possiblility of running any software on the user machine other than specialised operating system software (e.g. Citrix) which gives you a visual representation of what you are doingon the server.