IT managers in the UK wealth management space using “thin” or “zero” desktop devices is rising, highlighting how more people than before want to store data on a server.

The number of IT managers in the UK wealth management space who are using “thin” or “zero” desktop devices is rising, highlighting how more people than before want to store data on a server to guard against viruses and benefit from efficiencies, a survey claims.

Thin clients and zero devices, unlike a PC, store little (if any) information on the hard drive and instead take and store information directly from the server. In the IT world, personal computers are often dubbed fat devices or clients as they store lots of information on them.

Research, conducted by Dynamic Markets on a sample of 50 UK wealth management companies on behalf of Germany-headquartered IGEL Technology, said that IT managers plan “to put their desktops on diets over the next 24 months”. Thin and zero client adoption looks set to rise from 22 per cent to 39 per cent.

The survey found that managers say increased speed of deployment, flexibility, better cost structure and easier use and management are the primary benefits of thin client.

Centralised
At present, 81 per cent of the wealth management companies surveyed run a centralised IT infrastructure, with 83 per cent of organisations using some thin or zero client desktops.

The average number of desktops that are thin or zero clients is 22 per cent, with PC’s still dominating at 46 per cent. Some 24 per cent of users are also using notebooks and 19 per cent are using tablets.

However, although thin and zero client use is set to almost double there are still mental obstacles to further implementation. The three top concerns with thin client deployment are: implementation costs (40 per cent), connectivity (40 per cent) and user dissatisfaction when the system goes down (37 per cent).

With almost all those surveyed (96 per cent) saying an increase in the number of thin and zero clients on their desktops was likely or very likely, over a third (38 per cent) also confirmed that this increase could very likely in part come from converting existing hardware into centrally managed thin client-like devices.

The research showed a spread of providers in the space with Citrix, VMware and Microsoft software all present in roughly half of all organisations with thin clients.

“This research demonstrates that wealth management IT managers have a clear view that speed of deployment, better cost structure, ease of use and management are the prime motivators behind their desktop strategy,” said Simon Richards, IGEL Technology managing director for UK and Ireland.

“As a result, thin is in as the best way to bring these advantages to the desktop. But with the mix of technologies and desktop providers, no vendors appear as yet to have convinced the wealth management industry of their vision on how best to deploy a thin desktop environment. It’s a case of thin is in but which diet to follow? There is still much for vendors to do to convince the industry of their benefits.”