corporate diary LEADERS SPEAK
50th issue special
Technological Innovations to Address Needs of Growing Economies www.ncomputing.com
Stephen A. Dukker Chairman and CEO, NComputing
What has been the primary philosophy of NComputing in India? NComputing technology is about reducing and economising on cost. We have worked towards bringing down the purchase cost and operating cost by 75%; the electricity cost by 90% and thereby reinventing the computer. In essence, we understand technology and and have found out that the full potential of computers have not been used. The NComputing solution is based on a simple fact: today’s PCs are so powerful that the vast majority of applications only use a small fraction of the computer’s capacity. Could you elaborate more on NComputing’s V space technology? V space is the software which can be used by any Linux or windows PC to large servers. I would first like to emphasise that 75% of our intellectual property is V space. There are three 54
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parts to the NComputing solution: first is the vSpace software, which allows standard Linux and Windows PCs to be shared by multiple simultaneous users. With vSpace, each person runs their own applications, just as if they had their own PC. Software and updates can be found in our Software Download Center (must be a registered user to access). Second is the UXP communications protocol. UXP is the method by which the desktop images and audio are sent to the access device and how the keyboard and mouse data is sent back to the PC. UXP is highly efficient, and excels at multimedia and audio/video synchronization. Third are the access devices. They are inexpensive, small, low-power, reliable, durable boxes. On one side they plug into the users’ peripherals (such as the keyboard, monitor and mouse). On the other side, they connect via cables to the shared PC. Could you explain the benefits of the desktop virtualisation technology? The NComputing devices only use 1 watt of electricity, so the entire 10-seat computing lab uses 90% less electricity compared to an all-PC lab. Most virtualization technologies are expensive to acquire, implement, and maintain. NComputing is different because we help save money from day one. Our desktop virtualization technology allows up to 30 users to simultaneously use a single computer—at a very low cost. Could you tell us about the markets that NComputing is catering to? Our largest market is US and our second largest market is in India. Our third market base is in Brazil and fourth in Mexico. These are dynamic new economies that have discovered that our technology is perfectly aligned with their needs. Our technology is specifically
made for the growing economies and that is the reason why over 65% of our sales are not in the US, but in the G-20 nations. NComputing has invested in creating office locations in different parts of the world because over 100% of our business is done by our channel partners. The only way to sell our product in local markets is through local companies since their presence is important to serve the customer requirements. The biggest market for us is in the field of education. Could you tell us details about the initiatives of Ncomputing in India? The Government of Andhra Pradesh evaluated various computing models, including virtual desktops to implement their project of bringing computer access to 5000 government schools in Andhra Pradesh.. After an extensive evaluation, the government was convinced that a shared computing solution would meet their performance requirements, cost less to purchase, and use a fraction of the power. The government of Andhra Pradesh would save 18 crores of rupees because of shared computing. We have also collaborated with Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Limited with whom we have completed the first phase of the project to promote adult computer literacy. MKCL provides governing softwares or the training disciplines and they have selected Ncomputing technology to be the heart of the computing labs. Wipro, in Bangalore, has recently announced that they have chosen NComputing technology for their largest commercial, healthcare, e-governance and insurance projects in India. This is the biggest miracle record system that is being created here. It is going to be the largest and most efficient computerization of a public organisation. \\