Hello,
I'm curious if anybody has any (hands-on) experiences with this new VDI product from NEC ?
good or bad..........
http://www.nec-computers.com/page.asp?id=157
Hi Martin,Yes I have seen this in action and have limited hands on experience with it. Before I continue I should point out that this is my personal opinion of the product.So what does it use? Well you have the thin client, that are about the size of a wallet. Everything connects to it via USB (except power and monitor of course). Now from memory it did have a good graphics card and VoIP capability.You then have the VPCC server which is your broker. I would say this is rudimentary at best when compared to XenDesktop or VMware View. Your backend is VMware ESX which hosts your desktops.So what does it offer? It is actually quite good at offering VoIP and Multimedia. It offloads multimedia to the desktop which processes the multimedia and displays it locally. No idea really how it accomplishes this though. I would presume it would utilise TCX (as the thin clients are based off WYSE technology).From speaking to NEC a little while ago, they seem to be marketing this towards call centers where they can now deploy VoIP via a VDI solution therefore reducing cost of IP handsets, computers etc. However I remember the cost being quite steep (I wont quote a price because I got a verbal September last year).Is it nice to manage and install. No. It was complex to install, instructions I saw were in broken English/Japanese and managing at the time was not logical. Again I must say this was mid last year and NEC were working on making the product friendlier to install and configure. However in saying this, to get maximum benefit from it, you would need a NEC VoIP PBX and know how to configure that as well. So you would probably end up getting NEC to do the setup for you anyway.So is it fit for what it was designed for? For sure. I think for its first effort it has done very well. If you are going to have a call center and VDI is a fit for your business (which is a whole other discussion which has been covered and commented on by Patrick, Brian, Rick, Michael Keen and I am sure a few others) and have NEC IP telephony, then this is seriously worth considering. Speak to NEC about it.If on the other hand you are not considering IP telephony, then I would have to ask the question about maturity of the product, ongoing support/training and cost of the solution.I hope I addressed this somewhat for you.CheersJase
Thnx Jason for your opinion.
I am looking for opinions because my company bacame NEC reseller and i am curious about experiences with the virtual PC Center.
No problems Martin,I think the best way to know the software is by playing with it. I would speak to your NEC Account Manager and ask them for a demo and a run through as to how it all works. I personally think it is a niche type of product however if you are already selling the IP PBX equipment for call centers, this may slot straight into your portfolio of products very nicely.Jase