Dell has become the latest PC manufacturer to offer managed
desktop services. The approach has become increasingly popular
among users wishing to reduce their IT
overheads.
Through managed services, Dell said it would offer users a way to
manage the lifecycle of their PC environments. The service includes
asset management, roll-outs of PC desktops and software and desktop
support.
Dell has partnered with Getronics and Unisys in the UK to deliver
the service to users. Rod Arnold, head of services at Dell, said,
"We are aiming at users with between 2,000 and 100,000 seats."
Will Cappelli, vice-president at analyst firm Meta Group, said he
had seen an increase in the number of firms outsourcing their
desktop infrastructure. "Corporate management sees desktop
outsourcing as an easy cost saving. It is cheaper than in-house
desktop IT services," he said.
Dell is not alone in offering such a service - Hewlett-Packard and
Unisys have similar offerings - and, unlike other forms of
outsourcing, Cappelli said users could easily switch suppliers. "In
desktop outsourcing you do not have the same amount of knowledge
transfer to contend with as other forms of outsourcing," he said.
Cappelli said that where companies outsource their entire IT
operations to a single supplier, this supplier would typically act
as a portfolio service provider and would sub-contract desktop,
mainframe and Unix services to specialists.