The following was authored by John Pate, End User Computing
What's the difference between Business and Consumer Client Systems?
In today’s competitive economic environment, minimizing costs of IT expenditures is an absolute requirement to be successful. So the question that has to be asked “does it make sense to purchase those heavily discounted consumer notebooks or desktops for your corporate environment?”
After all, as the commercial famously put it “parts is parts” and if the corporate and consumer systems have the same chipset and processor, isn’t that enough? That is really decision each organization has to make for themselves. However, before making a major switch of product class, it is probably worth understanding how the Dell consumer and relationship systems differ.
Client Systems Lines of Business:
What product lines does Dell offer?
· OptiPlex – Corporate Relationship Desktops
· Latitude – Corporate Relationship Notebooks
· Precision – Corporate Workstations
· Vostro – Small Business Systems
· Inspiron/Adamo/XPS/Studio/Alienware – Consumer Systems
OptiPlex, Latitude, Precision – Dell corporate systems are targeted toward large corporate customers who value stability, manageability, and corporate security. http://www.dell.com/optiplex
Vostro – is designed for small businesses where the machines are deployed for fewer than 20 people – in a non-networked environment. See this website from Dell that spells out this is a “small business” machine. http://www.dell.com/vostro
Consumer (Inspiron/Adamo/XPS/Studio/Alienware) – Internal components change regularly as new technologies are introduced meeting the demand for the latest and greatest features at any point in time.
Relationship Lines of Business are focused on minimizing the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
Large organizations typically look at more than just the acquisition cost of hardware and instead focus on the total cost of ownership. These customers have complex environments where internal applications, network compatibility, and security must be tested and qualified before a system can be introduced into a workgroup. Change increases risk and must be carefully evaluated before introduced into an organization. Hardware stability is important in these environments since common parts can reduce learning curves of becoming familiar with new systems and also reduces the complexity of parts management.
Attributes of Relationship systems include:
· Long lifecycles – Stability allows Dell customers to standardize on a single platform and lock on the hardware and image for an extended period of time without changes. For Latitude and OptiPlex, our mainstream systems are available for at least 15 months without hardware changes
· Managed transitions – When the replacement system is introduced, 60-90 days of overlap is offered where the current and new system are both available. This allows time for customers to receive the new system, load their custom image, and test it before deploying it into their environment.
· Global Standard Products– Global customers can obtain the same hardware on a worldwide basis.
· Advanced systems management – Features provide one-to-many and out of band (OOB) capabilities with Intel vPro, Intel Standard Manageability, Broadcom TruManage, and ASF.
· Legacy Operating Systems – Support for the latest operating systems and legacy OS’s such as XP and Vista.
· Support Options– Corporate support options such as same day onsite support, self-maintainer, keep your own hard drive, image installation on the HD from the factory, asset tagging, longer warranties, etc.
· Imaging & updates – All Dell systems have drivers and BIOS updates available online for easy downloads. Documentation is also available on the Dell site for easy availability.
· Deployment services – Options for services such as multipack (several systems in a single box) and reduced documentation ship the systems without DVDs or user’s guides.
· Labor costs – Dell hardware is designed to be easy to deploy and service. Keep in mind most of the leading analyst organizations claim that 70% of the costs of running a PC are upkeep, not acquisition. To reduce upkeep costs Dell provides tool-less desktop chassis, common hardware color coding, and designs that allow for easy access to commonly access components. For example, our Latitude E6410 features an inverted system board which allows a single screw access to the Bluetooth module, memory DIMMs, Wi-Fi, and mobile broadband cards.
Relationship Notebooks:
Latitude relationship notebooks also differ from consumer systems in several significant ways:
· Common peripherals– Share key components such as power adapters, media modules, docking solutions, and monitor stands across multiple generations of E-Family notebooks. Dell Latitude laptops and Dell Precision mobile workstations will continue this family commonality for years to come. As a result, transitioning from the new Dell Latitude and Dell Precision models to future releases is designed to be simpler and less costly than the transition from previous product families because you can eliminate the requirement to purchase new docking peripherals.
· Advanced Security– Dell aims to simplify corporate security for mobile users by offering secure platforms that are easy to deploy, use, and manage. The Latitude family offers a comprehensive suite of security options that enable administrators to deploy secure systems direct from the factory. For example, Dell ControlVault software provides a single firmware location for storing, processing, and managing end-user credentials such as passwords and biometric templates—thereby enabling Latitude products to perform security processing and matching outside the scope of malicious applications. Encrypted solid state and rotating HD options are also offered. A contactless smart card reader can also help control laptop access using multitechnology cards that businesses already have. And the integrated fingerprint reader is an option for the Latitude E6400 for customers wanting multifactor authentication.
· E Docks– Support dual monitors up to 30 inches at their native resolution using DisplayPort connectors, even using integrated notebook graphics.
· Built for “Road Warriors”– Hard drive free-fall sensor automatically parks the heads to protect drives from a drop of as little as 5 inches. Latitude notebooks also feature StrikeZone, which provides protection from flat drops by dispersing energy away from your hard drive in the event of accidental laptop drops and bumps.
· ExpressCharge– feature provides +80% charge times from a flat battery in about an hour, so you can make the most of even short charging opportunities.
· Backlit keyboard– Use your notebook in dark environments such as an airplane without disturbing your neighbor with this option on Latitude notebooks.
· Semi- and Fully-rugged systems– Simplify your notebook fleet using fully or semi-rugged notebook that shares E64x0 notebook images and peripherals.
Relationship Desktops:
Relationship desktops provide customers with key features and services for corporate buyers including:
· Solid state and encrypted HD options
· Multiple chassis options feature image commonality
· New USFF chassis provides internal Power Supply Unit and All-in-One option
· Faster servicing on key components than other tier one vendors
· vPro option on Intel-based notebooks
Relationship Services:
· ProSupport offers IT support tailored to the customers’ environment, not the outdated one-size-fits-all model.
· Warranty Parts Direct: Dell understands many IT professionals have a strong understanding of computer hardware and gain little in going through support checklists. Those customers may wish to use Warranty Parts Direct to request warranty replacement parts from Dell through online dispatch of parts and labor with hardware support https://warrantypartsdirect.dell.com/AMER/Program/index.asp.
· ImageAssit 1. Greatly simplifies transitions 2. One image for current and future OptiPlex, Latitude and Dell Precision 3. Patch Management New computers arrive fully compliant with customer security standards 4. Parent/Child Imaging: Each department gets a unique software load without multiple images
· ImageWatch 1. A global tool that provides a 6-month outlook of product changes that include End of Life & Ready to Ship dates for all relationship platforms, peripherals, and software 2. Provides users with proactive communication of changes (and optional email notification) 3. One matter of record for all product transitions world-wide
Consumer Lines of Business are focused on the Latest and Greatest Features at Great Prices
Since consumers want the latest and greatest features, we tend to change these products very often and do not manage the transitions. They also want the latest OS, so XP is not tested, qualified, or supported. Generally speaking, business customers that purchase consumer products become frustrated because we cannot offer the same level of service, support, and stability as we provide in our relationship products. And, to “upgrade” a consumer product to relationship capabilities adds a lot of cost (i.e. additional OS qualifications) which makes them less competitive with pure consumer products and increases the TCO in the long run.
Attributes of Consumer systems include:
· Shorter lifecycles to allow buyers to obtain the “latest and greatest” features.
· The average lifecycle is-5-7 months.
· Light switch transitions that allow new features to be added quickly without technology overlap.
· Different countries have varied needs, so Global availability is not offered.
· Smaller sized environments mean there is no need for Intel vPro or advanced management features.
· The latest operating systems are offered. Legacy operating systems such as XP downgrade options are not available or supported.
· Consumer support options are not cost effective for relationship users.
· Imaging and other large deployment services not available.