InformationWeek
Defining The Business Value Of Technology
December 22, 1997
NetPCs Get A Boost
As units start to ship, Gartner study lowers estimated cost of ownershipBy Bob Francis
Gartner Group-whose earlier estimates fueled the debate over the total cost of PC ownership-now estimates NetPCs have a lower annual cost of ownership than network computers, Windows terminals, and PCs running Windows 95.
NetPCs fared worse than NCs in a previous Gartner study. But the Stamford, Conn., IT advisory firm factored in some new parameters, including the cost of beefing up the network to support NCs. For NetPCs, Gartner was also able to test a version of Microsoft's Zero Administration Kit-designed to let network administrators control system changes over a network-which was n
ot previously available.
Gartner now says NetPCs-essentially cut-down PCs with features aimed at preventing users from making changes to the system-will cost about $6,469 per year to own, about $800 a year less than it originally estimated. Gartner says NCs cost $6,547 a year (about $500 more than previously estimated), Windows terminals cost $7,792, and Windows 95 PCs cost $9,869.
AST Research, Compaq Computer, Dell Computer, and Hewlett-Packard are among those shipping NetPCs. Yet HP, for one, says the product has yet to find its niche in the corporate environment. "Because of the confusion caused by the NC, it may take some time for the NetPC to find its proper place," says Jacques Clay, VP of HP's extended desktop business unit.
Some users are showing interest. Says Jeff Held, a technology manager at Ernst & Young in New York, "Any device that gives you a stable computing platform is going to lower the total cost of ownership."
he NetPC has been derided by some experts as the least promising of thin-client initiatives. But several PC vendors have begun shipping NetPCs, and the technology received a boost last week from Gartner Group Inc., which released figures indicating that it expects NetPCs to cost less to own than other types of clients.
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