Does Virtualization Really Provide ROI?

 Cost Savings, General, Real World ThinManager, Virtualization  No Responses »
Jan 162013
 

Heading into 2013 the hot topic around the IT water cooler seems firmly focused on the “Virtualization War” being waged between Microsoft and VMware.  There are arguments to be made on both sides of the debate and who will come out on top is anyone’s guess at this point.  Microsoft has a history of coming to market late with a product, only to devour the entire market with a low price point.  While Microsoft looks to finish buying out the current Virtualization Market, VMware has seemingly decided to ignore Virtualization as an “end game” and continues to push past it towards full cloud adoption to compete as a service to rival Microsoft Azure.

As is often the case in these full scale technology wars, it is often the needs and wants of the end user that are ignored while an entire industry stays solely focused on a battle between goliaths.  Regardless of who manages to lure away each other’s executives, or which smaller firms are bought out to provide a deeper arsenal and better market positioning, it is our contention that regardless of who wins, ThinManager is still a superior technology for managing virtualized environments.

As noted in our previous article comparing ThinManager to Citrix, as well as the discussion about where real return on a thin client system can be found, we must begin with the often ignored factor of a platform being able to manage the end device.  While widely regarded as an industry leader in the advancement of managing Virtualized environments, VMware View falls short of the mark as it relates to client management due to its managed images needing clients that require an operating system.  Any platform that requires an end user OS also requires time and resources being expended to keep those devices updated and operating properly.

So while VMware and ThinManager both operate on a “one to many” ratio, ThinManager requires far less resource and hardware management, which is a seemingly forgotten piece of the puzzle when determining ROI.  After all, true ROI must be measured by the total cost of labor hours as well as hardware and licensing costs.

Taking this comparison one step further, the Centralized ThinManager solution continues to pay bigger dividends every time an end device is replaced or added to the architecture of a facility. In a ThinManager environment, that device only needs to be plugged in, and it is instantly configured as the configuration is maintained at the server.  In a VMware environment, that device has to be manually configured before it can share data and deliver applications, requiring even more resource expenditure before being operational.  And the more clients you have, the more time will have to be spent performing maintenance and configuration in a VMware environment.

Yes, there are things that VMware brings to the table that are proprietary and unique to their platform such as PCoiP Protocol.  However, it is an equivalent trade off, at best, for its lack of RDP and ICA Protocol.  Add to that VMware lacks tiling support, client-to-client shadowing, session shadowing, MultiSession, and inability to connect to other non-VMware virtual machines across a network and one must begin to question the assertion that VMware is the answer to all things related to managing a virtualized environment.

Lastly, the lack of VMware support for both applications and management of Terminal Services / Remote Desktop Services (both of which are supported by ThinManager) creates a very large problem as most network facilities in the modern industrial landscape use Windows Server in some capacity.  It is one thing to compete against Microsoft in the battle for virtualization dominance, but it is another thing entirely to ignore the most widely adopted and used operating system on the planet.

While VMware and Microsoft are locked on each other with tunnel vision to the exclusion of the rest of the global landscape, there are more and more viable options for creating an efficient and well managed virtual environment…and ThinManager is on the top of that list.   After all, true Return on Investment comes from the money and resources you don’t have to expend while ensuring the least possible downtime for your facility operations.

 

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To use the ThinManager ROI Calculator, visit here.

To read about successful ThinManager Platform deployments, visit here.

To see when the next ThinManager 2-Day Training Session is being offered, visit here.

 

Looking to the Cloud in 2013

 General, News, Virtualization  No Responses »
Jan 092013
 

Every year as the calendar comes to an end, a new year invariably elicits statements, declarations, and discussions about what kind of year it will be.  People proudly proclaim that this is they year they will lose that last ten pounds that has been hanging around, pundits make bold proclamations about the future of the political landscape, and industry professionals predict what the next wave will be to revolutionize their specific area of expertise.

For those of us who develop software, it has become clear that the prediction we need to be aware of is that 2013 will be the “boom or bust” year for all things cloud.  Then again, that was also the same prediction we heard heading into 2012.  And yet here we are again standing on the precipice of change.  No one can deny that the last year saw great advances in the world of cloud computing, specifically the proliferation of the public cloud by companies such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft.  Previously, cloud computing had been the province of smaller niche software companies and data storage centers.  But as that business model showed gains in both popularity of adoption and profitability, the larger companies have finally committed their resources to capitalize on what has become a proven business model.

While mid-sized players in the private cloud arena such as VMware and Rackspace continue to offer greater efficiency and agility for specific end user needs, large global firms such as Oracle and HP are some of the new IaaS and SaaS players in what is a rapidly expanding landscape that is predicted to generate more than $40 billion in customer spending.  And yet, Amazon is still holding nearly 70% of that market share.

Just a few years ago, this conversation was limited to offsite data storage and accessibility of that data by remote users.  But with the rapid expansion of available cloud based web applications, file sharing platforms, and development of more such management tools by greater numbers of startups and boutique firms, the landscape has become littered with an overwhelming number of options for both early adopters of cloud technology and those looking to finally jump into the cloud.

After years of dealing with such a wide array of technologies and offerings from an endless list of developers, there has been a general shift in attitude towards the endless cloud debate.  There have been too many expectations for too long, and the tipping point is fast approaching.  Modern technology has become faster and more intuitive and accessible at a moment’s notice and end users will simply not wait much longer for a unified solution.

So while 2013 might not be the year the cloud finally dominates the IT world, it should bring about a firmer and more consistent public cloud offering.  If it doesn’t, the multitude of private cloud players just may very well continue to dilute the market share of the major players and wreak havoc in an already confusing and diverse world of cloud offerings.

 

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To review the cost savings of using the ThinManager Platform, visit our ROI Calculator here.

 

To read about successful ThinManager Platform deployments, visit here.

 

To see when the next ThinManager 2-Day Training Session is being offered, visit here.

 

Virtualization in an Industrial Environment (Part 3)

 Education, General, News, Real World ThinManager  No Responses »
Aug 012012
 

This is the third and final part of our three part series focusing on the entire process of Virtualizing in an industrial environment.  While there is a lot of talk about Virtualizing and VDI, we wanted to focus on the viability and deployment of Virtualization in an industrial and manufacturing environment which would speak to the concerns and difficulties specific to this industry.

 

Part 3: Managing Your Environments?

 

In Part 2 of this series, we discussed whether or not Virtualization is necessary once you’ve centralized, and, if it is, how far do you go. For most System Administrators,  RDS is the easiest and most cost effective place to begin.  The need to only install OS’s and applications once, and having them deploy to multiple clients, can provide enough time savings and reduced administrative headaches that Virtualization could very well just be an added cost to a system that already does everything the end user requires.

In Part 3 we explore the best way to manage all of the environments and machines being used in your facilities.  While adding virtualized components as part of a larger system adds features and can reduce costs related to down time (in the case of using a Virtualized Terminal Server to test planned upgrades before deployment), the customer must realize that they will need to dedicate manpower and resources to effectively manage these components.  This is where ThinManager truly comes into play and can offer fully centralized management for all of your environments.

As previously discussed,  VDI will more than likely see limited, if any, use in an industrial or Industrialized Manufacturing environment…especially as you move into your larger deployments.  Regardless of what VDI can bring to the table, it is not viable to manage two hundred operating systems on one hundred machines (virtualized desktop and machine OS) spread across a manufacturing facility with multiple satellite locations or areas with environmental restrictions and limited planned downtime for maintenance.

While these virtualized platforms allow for centralized management of the server, they provide no management of the end user device.  The “Big Three” (VMWare, HyperV, and Xen) are all great solutions for the delivery portion of the Virtualization equation, they do their job quite admirably.  But that “back end” style of system management and application delivery doesn’t allow for management of even the most simple of client functions.  How do you power up those clients, or get them online, or tell them what to run?  What about client side functions?

A "Big Three" Network configuration. As you can see, all of the management (Indicated by red rings) is focused on the Terminal Servers

 

The diagram above shows the architecture of the “Big Three”, which is designed to add applications to the centralized system and deliver it with no regard or thought for the end user device.  There is no client management.

 

In a ThinManager Network the clients AND their connection to the Terminal Servers are managed (Indicated by blue rings)

 

ThinManager, however, manages both the end user clients as well as their connection to the centralized server/device.  This architecture is what allows for our unprecedented user functionality while still providing centralized network management.  Do not be fooled.  Deployment and delivery of applications to an end user client IS NOT client management.  Here are a few examples of ThinManager client functions:

 

MultiSession:    Our MultiSession core technology allows multiple sessions running anywhere on the ThinManager network to be viewed through one thin client.  ThinManager can “tile” these screen views based on your settings. You can dictate which tile shows which session. You can set it to run in screensaver mode so that certain “tiles” are constantly updated with different sessions. Multisession allows you to view displays from different applications on the same monitor.

MultiMonitor:     This feature can be used to span sessions across monitors and/or run individual sessions on each monitor. Touch screens are also supported, and if using a keyboard, the single keyboard entry follows the mouse focus. “Sliding” the mouse off the edge of one screen moves it onto the adjacent screen.

Shadowing:        ThinManager allows ThinManager Ready thin clients to be “shadowed” from within ThinManager. This allows the administrator to see exactly what is being run on the thin clients.  ThinManager also allows the administrator to see what user is logged into a session and what applications and processes they are running.

While there are a number of different options for deployment and delivery of a system, ThinManager is the only one that offers robust management of both the servers AND the clients.

For more information about what functions ThinManager can provide, visit http://www.thinmanager.com/products/features.php

 

Virtualization in an Industrial Environment (Part 2)

 Education, General, Real World ThinManager  No Responses »
Jul 252012
 

This is the second in a three part article focusing on the entire process of Virtualizing in an industrial environment.  While there is a lot of talk about Virtualizing and VDI, we wanted to focus on the viability and deployment of Virtualization in an industrial and manufacturing environment which would speak to the concerns and difficulties specific to this industry.

 

Part 2: How Much Virtualization is Needed?

In Part 1 of this series, we discussed the need to centralize computer resources before considering whether or not to virtualize them.  The vast majority of ThinManager customers use Remote Desktop Services (formerly Terminal Services) as their Centralization solution.  One reason for this is that RDS is included with every Windows Server installation, so there are fewer initial costs incurred when centralizing.

In Part 2 we continue to explore whether or not Virtualization is necessary once you’ve centralized, and, if it is, how far do you go.  For many customers the buck stops with RDS.  Being able to install OS’s and applications once and having them deploy to multiple clients can provide enough time savings and reduced administrative headaches that Virtualization could very well just be an added cost to a system that already does everything the end user requires.

Let’s say you are already using a centralized system in your processing or manufacturing facility and all is well.  Your numbers are steady and consistent, your employees are
familiar with the system, and you are able to effectively manage hardware support and maintenance.  But you still can’t shake the feeling that you should move forward and virtualize.  After all, every single industry publication you read insists that Virtualization is necessary to stay competitive.  Other people in your company have even asked why the competition has virtualized while you have not (they must be reading those same publications).

Apparently, Virtualization is the answer…but the answer to what?  Your company and individual facilities are churning along just fine while the voice inside your head keeps repeating, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”  But that is an old axiom that doesn’t take into consideration the rapid expansion of technological improvements.  After all, at some point the creators of many fine products such as the cassette player and the rotary phone said the same thing.

Once you decide to virtualize, the real question becomes WHAT do I virtualize?  Your current system should dictate which path to take between these two common options:

Remote Desktop Server: As we discussed, running RDS as your Centralization Solution offers many users enough benefit to stop there.  However, if you’re going to implement Virtualization, why not start with virtualizing the RDS server itself?  There are two key benefits you can realize by applying Virtualization to your Remote Desktop Server:

1)   Apply upgrades and patches directly to a virtual instance of your server to test whether or not the updates will work as expected when applied to the live environment, which dramatically reduces the chances of system downtime that could affect daily production volume.

2)   Create snapshots of your “working” server configuration that will allow you to easily restore the server if a problem is encountered.

The vast majority of ThinManager customers using a Terminal Server have come to realize a greater ROI through effective deployment and management in a “1:1 OS to Box “architecture.  If your environment is dynamic enough that this will increase your productivity and reduce maintenance, then taking the next step to virtualize will produce benefits and cost savings.

Desktop Virtualization:  Commonly referred to as “Virtual Desktop Infrastructure” (VDI), this is a concept that fully separates the PC or client desktop environment from the physical machine being used.  Different software platforms have a wide variety of options and applications unique to their platform so serious consideration must be taken when choosing one that might improve your current system architecture.  It is important to note that even though you can virtualize your operating system, you can only deliver applications…not virtualize them.

In general, this is the most hardware intensive option and may require more hardware usage than virtualizing Terminal Servers, purchasing additional hardware, and increasing maintenance and support.

Once you have determined if either of these options would work within your current environment, you will be ready to move forward.

 

Next week we will complete this three part series by discussing the best way to deploy and manage centralized or virtualized components to the end user clients on your network.

*For more information regarding implementation of a centralized system in your industrial facility, contact one of our experts (http://www.thinmanager.com/acp/contactus.php)

Virtualization in an Industrial Environment (Part 1)

 Cost Savings, General, Real World ThinManager, Virtualization  No Responses »
Jul 182012
 

This is the first in a three part article focusing on the entire process of Virtualizing in an industrial environment.  While there is a lot of talk about Virtualizing and VDI, we wanted to focus on the viability and deployment of Virtualization in an industrial and manufacturing environment which would speak to the concerns and difficulties specific to this industry.


Part 1: Centralization Before Virtualization


Virtualization.

It is everywhere and there is no escaping it.  It is written about, discussed, recommended, and deployed in offices and facilities around the world every day.  It is the iPhone of IT…you might not know why you are buying it, you just know that everyone else is using it so it must be the next great thing.  But as implementation of virtualized environments continues to become the norm rather than the exception, industry publications are reporting that up to 40% of Virtualization deployments are never completed and eventually scrapped.

Why then, is the “greatest thing since sliced bread” still being rolled out everywhere even with such a high rate of abandonment?

Simply put, companies are not asking the right questions before making the decision to go forward with radically changing the way they approach their computing environment.  In an industrial environment, where time literally IS money, there is a completely different question that must be asked and answered before considering virtualization.

 

Should you Centralize?

Implementation of a centralized system is the first important building block on the road to a Virtualization.  So for those operating industrial environments it is imperative to figure out if you are a good candidate for Centralization.  That determination can be made by reviewing the following criteria:

 

How much support do your clients require?

Regardless of the number of clients you currently have deployed, this is the single most important factor when determining if you are a good candidate for Centralization.  In a harsh or spread out environment where replacing client hardware is a common occurrence, there is a greater opportunity to realize long term savings by centralizing even when faced with an initial cash layout.  Chances are that if you have not centralized, you are allocating resources to maintain an antiquated or manual system to monitor and maintain your current processes.

 

Does your facility require an application driven process or a process where an application is being used to monitor your processes?

An industrial process based on application usage would almost always benefit by making the switch to a centralized system.  In a manufacturing environment, having a single end user machine hosting an important process is a recipe for disaster.  When hardware failure occurs, being able to swap out the client and access the application from the server can reduce down time on the floor from hours to minutes.  In addition, linking your clients to a centralized system can greatly reduce the costs associated with client deployment and continuing support.

 

Do you have a high client count?

If your operation uses a limited number of clients there might not be a realized cost benefit.  While most operations would see increased efficiency by making the change to a centralized system, the implementation could be cost prohibitive based on current hardware or environmental factors.  But the general rule of thumb is that the more clients you have, the more potential there is for savings.

Before you make the decision to Virtualize, take the time to assess if there is a ROI when centralizing.  If your specific needs can be addressed by a move to a centralized system, while reducing your reoccurring costs related to your network and digital infrastructure, then Centralization would be right for you.

 

Next week we will continue this series by discussing how much Virtualization is right for your company.

 

*For more information regarding implementation of a centralized system in your industrial facility, contact one of our experts (http://www.thinmanager.com/acp/contactus.php)

 

 

Five Ways to Get Thin This Summer

 General, Real World ThinManager  No Responses »
Jun 062012
 

It is that time of the year again.  The days are getting longer, the nights are getting warmer, and the cover has been taken off the pool.  With summer right around the corner, people everywhere are trying to get thin in time for swimsuit season.  But what about your office?  Your factory?  Your remote facilities?  Fear not, ThinManager has five simple tips for them to get thin this summer:

 

1) Eliminate Bloat:

Reclaim your desk by getting rid of your big PC towers and huge CRT monitors.  By switching to thin clients, you can greatly reduce your energy costs and enjoy a more efficient work environment.  A thin client network will allow your infrastructure to stay agile and allow you to easily change your architecture whenever there is a need.  ThinManager knows that there is no easier way to manage thin clients than the ThinManager Platform…and an organized and agile business is a successful business.

 

2) Keep Focused:

Why spend time and money every month patching and updating individual PC workstations?  ThinManager centralizes administration of all of your applications so you can use your IT resources for improvements and expansion instead of maintenance.  By using our AppLink feature, you can designate which terminals can access which applications.  This emphasis on improved efficiency is just one way ThinManager helps your business continue pushing forward after adopting a thin lifestyle.

 

3) Avoid Stress:

Research has showed time and time again that being in a stressful environment makes it far more difficult to get thin.  Thankfully, ThinManager can help monitor and alleviate stress with our SmartSession feature.  By polling all active servers and determining their current load based on CPU usage, memory usage, and total number of current sessions, ThinManager will connect your thin clients to the server with the lightest load.  Eliminating stress by improving functionality is a great way to get thin.

 

4) Stay Moving:

Newton’s First Law of Motion states that an object in motion tends to stay in motion. ThinManager gives you the ability to stay connected without being chained to a desk by offering a complete mobile solution. With ThinManager Mobile you can shadow clients, change configurations, and even reset individual clients from anywhere in your facility.  The iTMC app allows you to turn your iPad into a full blown thin client giving  you to access your applications or desktop  from anywhere…even the gym!

 

5) Healthy Intake:

It is often said that the hardest part of getting thin is adopting a healthy lifestyle.  One of the most important steps toward that goal is making sure that you are only taking in healthy data. Unfortunately, nearly half of all viruses come from inside your facility.  That is why ThinManager allows you to restrict the USB ports on designated thin clients to eliminate viruses that can be transferred via secondary user devices.  For additional security, TermSecure by ThinManager works to reduce internal risks by granting or denying specific user access to thin clients, terminal server applications, and sessions with permission groups.

 

 

This summer, don’t just talk about adopting a healthy lifestyle.  Let ThinManager help you embrace the power of thin!

 

The Future of Thin in the Cloud

 News  No Responses »
May 302012
 


With the continued explosion of cloud computing, and rapid growth in tablet sales, is there a place for more thin client growth in what is still a PC dominated landscape? On paper, cloud computing and thin client networks would seem to be in direct opposition.  The cloud allows for sharing data with no centralized storage point while thin client networks provide multiple access points to data through one centralized place or server.  And yet, these two vastly different approaches to network computing seem to be moving forward in the same direction…away from the NEED for PCs.

For those who manufacture and proliferate PCs, cloud based thin client networks are a continuing problem that will not go away.  People and companies who are deeply rooted in the world of PCs will swear up and down that PCs are still the answer.  After all, why replace a perfectly functioning PC with a new piece of hardware that brings less computing power to the table?  While there may be some validity found in that question, the Dell acquisition of Wyse for nearly $1 billion dollars should give PC zealots something to think about.  After all, when the world leader in PC sales purchases one of the world’s largest thin client manufacturers, it might lead one to believe that current trends and future forecasts are pointing to the continued growth of the thin client as the new standard.

Even though cloud computing offers the same access and benefits to both hardware types, the cloud is more of an added convenience to PC users, while it is very much a necessity for thin client architecture that includes remote users via secure remote connections.  Simply put, the cloud is the great equalizer.  By allowing data storage, application access, and even video processing to be securely accessed by multiple remote users, much of the standard PC becomes not only cost prohibitive but unnecessary.  In an environment containing a number of networked workstations, this cost prohibition is multiplied and makes the benefit of a thin client environment that much more obvious.

For those who create and sell software, the relationship between cloud computing and thin clients is more of a mixed bag that is directly related to specific company and licensing formats.  Microsoft, for example, is currently involved in a love/ hate relationship with cloud based thin client system architecture.  With the proliferation of their cloud (Azure), Microsoft is banking on the continued growth of cloud computing.  However, the expansion of VDI, virtualized servers, and thin client based networks into computing clouds has made the purchase of “per seat licensing” by end users a shrinking market that can be directly attributed to the growth of tablets and thin client network management in work environments.  Recently, Microsoft has stated that they are working on a way to change their licensing structure to ensure that clients and tablets running virtualization programs to access Windows applications will have to purchase additional licensing.

With so many moving parts to the puzzle, and the continuing advancement of cloud technology as well as fully managed thin client networks, it would seem that it is the end user who will dictate the future growth of PCs or thin clients as it relates to cloud computing.  With most of the major players hedging their bets and keeping one foot firmly planted in both camps, it should boil down to individual preference based on things such as ROI, TCO, and security versus accessibility.  While there is no immediate answer to the question of which is more viable in the cloud, the continuing use and growth of thin client network architecture across a growing cross-section of end users will ensure that both players will be able to be a part of the debate for years to come.

 

 

 

ThinManager Platform 6 Now Shipping

 News, Release  No Responses »
May 032012
 

News Release

For Immediate Release: May 3, 2012

ACP ThinManager Platform 6 Now Shipping

 



ALPHARETTA, GEORGIA—ACP (Automation Control Products), a worldwide leader in the automation industry that provides full-feature centralized thin client and terminal server management software, has released its new ThinManager Platform 6 software. This release will continue to build on ACP’s ThinManager platform for the industrial automation sector by centralizing management of all user applications and resources.  This release has several new functions and features iTMC, which allows any Apple iPad to run as a portable, wireless thin client, as well as worldwide remote access capability and improved support for a wide range of hardware and components.  The new version can be downloaded via the following link:

http://www.thinmanager.com/products/demo_form.php

After previewing their new offering at the ThinManager Platform 6 Launch and Training Event last month, ACP is now releasing the newest version of their industrial management platform to the general public.  It includes access to Screentronix, which is a Remote Server Management tool that allows licensed ThinManager users the ability to securely connect to their ThinServer from anywhere in the world.  In addition, they have their newest mobile app, iTMC, available for download from the Apple App Store.

ThinManager Platform 6 also contains many upgrades that end users have requested.  This includes Terminal Firmware and modules combined into packages for networks currently using multiple servers running different ThinManager versions, USB to VGA integration to add up to four monitors to any existing thin client, and hotplug detection to alleviate the need to reboot a client that fails to detect the current USB touchscreen or mouse when initializing after sleep mode.

“We are experiencing a high level of energy from our customers and prospects over the new mobile apps and secure remote management options in ThinManager Platform 6,” says Tom Jordan, V.P. of Marketing at ACP.  With the much anticipated release of ThinManager Platform 6, ACP is looking to carve out more space within the industrial automated manufacturing market while continuing to build upon its 13 years of excellence.

ACP (Automation Control Products), based in Alpharetta, Georgia, is a worldwide leader in the automation industry specializing in Thin Client management software used by nearly 1 in 10 of all Fortune 500 companies.  For more information, contact Tom Jordan, Vice President of Marketing, at (678)-990-0945 or via email at tjordan@thinmanager.com

 

 

ThinManager 6.0 Launch Event Raises the Bar

 News  No Responses »
Apr 252012
 

Ready for Launch!

From the moment the music started and the partition wall was removed in a backlit shroud of darkness, attendees of the ThinManager 6.0 Launch Event started thinking that this was not going to be a typical expo event.  Less than 10 minutes later as the lights came up on a large room filled with rocket shaped display booths and more technology than they could shake a stick at, that feeling was confirmed.

 

Immediately following, Matt Crandell, CEO of Automation Control Products, took to the stage and clearly conveyed the magnitude of this event to a packed house.  There would be no product pitch or chest thumping because the ThinManager platform could stand alone without a need for bells and whistles.  There would be no “dead time” or aimless wandering because there was something for everyone regardless of the time of day.  And most importantly, there would be ample opportunity for everyone to experience a true interactive environment.  “The best way to explain the product is to put it in people’s hands and let them experience it for themselves,” said Crandell.

 

Over the next three days, that is exactly what ACP did.  With the help of a dedicated team of professionals, hundreds of industry experts were afforded the opportunity to see ThinManager in action, to use it, and most importantly, to receive training and certification.  And when attendees were not immersed in a training environment, there was an entire Expo available to them to view partner products, discuss practical application of the products, and to network with other industry leaders.

 

ThinManager 6.0 Expo

With representatives from hardware manufacturers such as Advantech, Arista, Contec, and Strongarm as well as HMI providers such as Rockwell and Wonderware/ Invensys, every aspect of the automation control solutions industry was well represented.  In addition, there were a multitude of vertical presentations from different company representatives who had deployed ThinManager in a broad cross section of industries and wanted to let everyone know how they were able to lower costs while increasing productivity and limiting downtime.

 

Jim Pinto

Perhaps the highlight of the entire event was the Keynote address given by Jim Pinto, the godfather of the HMI and PLC integration industry.  Speaking to a full house, Mr. Pinto espoused upon the importance of innovation and the need to continue progressing to keep pace with an ever changing marketplace. “The large automation companies are developing mostly extensions of old stuff, reincarnations of tired concepts that can’t generate real growth and just won’t cut it much longer. They are too conservative to do much beyond short-term extrapolations,” said Pinto.  These were bold words to be spoken aloud in a room filled with industry experts.  Yet he continued on without hesitation, constantly driving home the idea that true innovation cannot be achieved without moving forward.  There was a sense that his words were more honest assessment than radical ideology, and there was no doubt that he was there to make sure everyone realized that ThinManager was on the forefront of companies leading the way for a new generation of industrial management software.

 

After three days of automation industry immersion, countless hours of expert training, and dozens of presentations, it would seem that Mr. Pinto was correct, and his statements applied equally to the ThinManager 6.0 Launch Event as much as it did to the newest version of their centralized management solution.  They found a way to take something like a “technology expo” that has been done hundreds of times by hundreds of other companies, and turn it into something more…something that exceeded expectations. It would seem that they made their point, and people are listening.

 

Pictures, Videos, and PowerPoint Presentations will be posted to the site and distributed via social media.  For more information please visit:
 
https://www.facebook.com/ThinManager
https://twitter.com/#!/ThinManager
http://www.linkedin.com/company/automation-control-products
http://www.youtube.com/user/ThinManagerTV
 

ThinManager 5.0 XLi to be Released Hot on the Heels of v4.1!

 General, iOS, Release  No Responses »
Feb 222011
 

Just last month we announced the March release of ThinManager 4.1 that will include Virtualization management tools and a brand new iPhone app.

This month we are proud to announce the June release of ThinManager 5.0 XLi!

This version of ThinManager will be able to boot thin clients from a wide range of vendors like HP, Wyse, Lenovo and many others. You can check our compatibility list to see what thin clients already work. If you don’t see your model just fill out the MyThinClient form at thinmanager.com and we’ll test your model to see if it will work with the new ThinManager XLi!

XLi upgrades to existing customers will be 50% Off until June 1, 2011. Call your distributor for details!

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