Wyse Technology Tosses a Life Preserver to Enterprises Being Drowned by the PC Industry

Software Solution Turns Old PCs into New Virtual PCs with Advanced Desktop Virtualization Innovation

SAN JOSE, Calif. – 05/12/2010 - Wyse Technology, the global leader in thin computing and desktop virtualization, today announced the availability of Wyse PC Extender software.  Formerly known as Project Borg, Wyse PC Extender is Wyse's desktop virtualization software that enables customers go get more life from existing PCs as they implement a virtual desktop strategy.  With Wyse PC Extender, organizations can get the benefits of a secure, cost-effective virtualized computing environment today using the PCs they already own, with a seamless transition to thin clients for tomorrow.
 
For many organizations, the investment, management and support of a PC network infrastructure has become unsustainable.  It is this investment that - in the long term - prevents a move to more cost-effective virtual desktops and a simpler, virtualized computing environment.  Wyse PC Extender software resolves the issue by attacking this problem at the core, by enabling organizations to buy those thin clients they can afford, and turn the remaining PCs into thin clients, extending their usefulness for another year or two.  This approach reduces the initial capital expense of a desktop refresh, so it can be done in waves, rather than all at once.  Wyse PC Extender is the actual software that resides in Wyse's popular thin clients, but modified for use on supported PCs. 

"PCs have gone from part of the solution to part of the problem," according to Gregory J. Turner, CIO for Erie County, NY.  "Through our planned implementation of Wyse PC Extender we will be able to accelerate our VDI adoption without having to increase our capital expenditures.  Our improvements in IT management will also be substantial."

Organizations that are committed to replacing PCs with thin clients are no longer faced with short-term capital expenditures in order to do so.  They can now extend the lifecycle of existing PC hardware in preparation for a full-scale virtualization rollout.  Wyse PC Extender is an ideal on-ramp to desktop virtualization by helping them to break the vicious cycle of PC replacement.

Joe Ornelas, Senior Systems Analyst at Sharp Healthcare adds, "Wyse PC Extender enables you to transition from PC devices to Thin Client’s without additional hardware and staff resources, in preparation for a published desktop/VDI rollout."

Wyse PC Extender software features:
o  Rich User Experience
     • Full support for Citrix XenDesktop™ with HDX™ and other protocols including Microsoft RDP, and PCoIP for use with VMware View
     • Full USB peripheral functionality, rich multimedia including Flash and bi-directional audio support with both Citrix HDX and RDP.
     • Built-in support for Wyse TCX Suite virtualization software and Wyse Virtual Desktop Accelerator (VDA) (via an additional license).
o  Minimize Management
     • Integrated "Pull" management automatically updates client software under IT control
     • No need for management software.
     • Eliminates costly PC management regimes.
     • Automates configuration.
o  Secure and Protect
     • Read-only file system.
     • Secure imaging.

Wyse PC Extender delivers a reliable, secure and consistent user experience across a diverse range of hardware. It's also easy to deploy and maintain, without the need for management software, and capable of centrally configuring and securely updating thousands of devices without any manual interaction.

"When Wyse PC Extender was previewed at VMworld® 2009 last August, it was apparent that this solution could help customers more easily transition to desktop virtualization," said Raj Mallempati, director of product marketing, Desktop Business Unit, VMware.  "Combining Wyse PC Extender with VMware View™, the industry's only purpose-built desktop virtualization solution, can help businesses immediately lower costs with a complete solution that delivers dramatic security, performance, scalability and management improvements." 

"By rejuvenating and simplifying older PCs, and therefore enabling customers to adopt desktop virtualization at a lower up-front cost, Wyse PC Extender will help drive adoption in 2010," said Sumit Dhawan, vice president, product marketing for the XenDesktop product group at Citrix.  "Citrix Receiver built in to Wyse PC Extender enables businesses to quickly and easily adopt Citrix desktop virtualization using their existing PC infrastructure."

"Wyse PC Extender provides a much-needed and seamless transition relative to extending the useful life of current client assets by enabling costly PCs to be re-provisioned as high-performance virtual clients," said Arthur Chiang, VP of End User Services Portfolio Management at IBM Global Technology Services.  "This solution will be a catalyst to businesses making the move to desktop virtualization but hesitant to completely abandon their PC infrastructure."

Wyse PC Extender has built-in support for the latest protocols, including Citrix HDX.  Also included out of the box, Wyse Collaborative Processing Architecture (CPA) intelligently divides rich media application workloads between the server and desktop, reducing the need for larger servers and networks, while delivering the best virtual desktop experience yet.  Wyse PC Extender is also simple to install and manage, including automatic management and the best end user experience connecting to virtualization solutions from VMware, Citrix and Microsoft. 

"In a challenging economy, more organizations repurposed existing PCs as thin client terminals instead of buying new thin-client terminals," writes Mikako Kitagawa, Principal Research Analyst at Gartner in a recent report.  "This option became a more favorable option in the gloomy economy because this is one way to save as much as $400 on hardware costs per system.  … Gartner estimates that approximately two-thirds of SBC architecture was deployed with either repurposed PCs or hybrid devices, a percentage that will increase in the challenging economy." 1

"Wyse PC Extender is a terrific option for any organization that has hesitated to adopt desktop virtualization because of an incumbent PC infrastructure," according to Jeff McNaught, Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer at Wyse Technology.  "With this solution, users get a great experience, IT gets centralized and simplified desktop management and greater desktop security, and total cost of ownership drops.  PCs become part of the solution rather than part of the problem.  Of course, when it's time to replace that PC, the ideal replacement is a Wyse thin client, since we've made it a seamless transition from the functionality, management, and security standpoint."

PCs with Wyse PC Extender become easier to manage, simpler to use, and integrate fully with Citrix Presentation Server™, Citrix XenApp™ and Citrix XenDesktop™, Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Remote Desktop Services, Microsoft Windows Terminal Server (2003 & 2008), Microsoft VDI Suites, and VMware View. 

Wyse PC Extender is available immediately.  More information is available at http://www.wyse.com/products/software/pcextender.

1 Gartner, Inc. Dataquest Insight: Global Thin-Client Terminal Market Disappointing, but It’s Poised to Turn Positive, Mikako Kitagawa, Ranjit Atwal, June 17, 2009.

About Wyse Technology

Wyse Technology is the global leader in cloud client computing, leveraging its industry-leading thin and zero client computing-based desktop virtualization software, hardware and services. Cloud Client Computing is the ultimate client computing solution for our time. It replaces the outdated computing model of the unsecure, unreliable, un-green and expensive PC. It delivers the most optimized security, reliability, total cost of ownership, and user experience with the lowest energy usage. It simply connects all the dots: Thin and zero client computing, unified communications, desktop virtualization and the web for users to reach the clouds – in a private, public, government or hybrid cloud. It is software. It is hardware. It is services. It is in business. It is at home. It is on the go. It is freedom – so users can focus on what is important. Wyse partners with industry-leading IT vendors, including, Cisco®, CSC®, Citrix®, IBM®, Microsoft®, and VMware®. Wyse also partners with globally-recognized distribution and service partners along with its award-winning partner programs to service any customer, anywhere and anytime, in the world. Wyse is headquartered in San Jose, California, U.S.A., with offices worldwide.

For more information, visit the Wyse website at http://www.wyse.com or call 1-800-GET-WYSE. All brands and names mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective holders.