Think of how much money you could save if you didn’t have to buy computers for all your employees. Think of all the IT man hours saved because they didn’t have to go and fix each person’s network card or wireless keyboard. You wouldn’t have to buy fifteen copies of that software you need. Your power bill would shrink, shrink, shrink!
Of course this isn't feasible, not in this day and age – well, for most businesses. We need computers and we need a lot of them. Our employees can't share a screen any more than they could share a chair. There is an idea however, that is very much like getting rid of everyone's computer. It's called virtual desktops for a centralized computer.
Interestingly enough, if you switched to a virtual desktop environment, not much would appear to change. Your basic office outlay would look the same. Each employee at their desk, typing on keyboards, clicking mice, and watching monitors. The major difference lies in what is not underneath their desks.
With virtual desktops, the monitor, keyboard and mouse are attached to a small device that communicates – wired or wireless – directly with your central computer. Every program your employee's need is on that computer. They simply log in and go to work. The central computer has each person's "desktop" right there waiting for them.
All of your company's information is on that computer, so there is no need to consolidate contacts, files, or leads. It's all right there. You'll also be saving time by not waiting for computers to boot up. You don't have to worry about work lost due to a particular computer going down.
It doesn't just have to be the workstations in the office. You can log in from anywhere. If a laptop gets lost or stolen, no problem. The employee simply logs in on a different computer. No company data lost because there's no data on the laptop.
Of course a centralized computer would be expensive and expensive to maintain. There are new IT personnel to hire and put on the payroll. But total all that up and compare it with everything that you wouldn't be paying for. Now that would be an interesting spreadsheet!
