Published: July 05, 2011
Put Your Company on a Diet: 5 Reasons to Eliminate Bulky Workstations
More than half of US companies continue to equip their staff with bulky PCs showing little change over two years, according to a recent survey of business technology professionals by InformationWeek, an international multimedia research resource.
"When it comes to computer workstations, companies have difficulty seeing into the future," says David Papp, author of IT Survival Guide: Conquering Information Technology in Your Organization. "Many trade short-term savings for long-term costs."
Two schools of thought exist, according to Mr. Papp, regarding workstations. One school adds or replaces workstations as the need arises, maximizing their investment. The other school, however, appreciates the benefits of uniformity long term in relation to IT troubleshooting.
"If you have several types of workstations on an IT network, inherent problems of mismatching can result," says Mr. Papp. "Over time, the cost of addressing these problems can exceed short-term savings."
Now that tablets and Smartphones offer advantages in speed and mobility, businesses may decide to eliminate traditional workstations altogether, according to David. But as the survey demonstrates, the same strategy of short-term savings has prevented such a shift so far.
Mr. Papp expects that such a shift makes sense for some companies and lists five reasons this should be considered:
Tablets and Smartphones offer mobility that workstations cannot.
Fewer workstations mean less real estate requirements.
Cloud computing services favor mobile device use.
Standardization is easier and reduces IT network problems. Reduced infrastructure supports needs.
"It's a matter of time for traditional workstations to become dinosaurs within the industry," says Mr. Papp. "Leaner, mobile and cost-effective is a hard combination to resist."
About the Author: David Papp is an international IT consultant with over twenty years' experience in IT systems. He is a popular keynote speaker on numerous IT topics. Mr. Papp has a computer engineering degree from the University of Alberta and holds multiple industry certifications.
IT Survival Guide: Conquering Information Technology in Your Organization is available on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com.
(IT Survival Guide: Conquering Information Technology in Your Organization by David Papp; ISBN: 978-0-9868213-0-1; soft cover; 5½" x 8½"; 100-pages; PFH Publishing)
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