VIA Connected Client Platform Benefits for Enterprise

A 'software as a service' based technology architecture improves computer security, maintainability and lowers the total cost of ownership. Using the network and Internet to deliver information and applications through a single portal, administrators control what employees have access to and can deploy new technology across multiple locations with ease. VIA Connected Client Platform enables solutions designed to leverage the benefits of this service based architecture in five key areas:

Security

With the introduction of new legislation demanding strict control and protection of data, and with the overwhelming tide of hackers and cyber-theft, enterprise like never before has to protect data exchanged and stored. Not only have the threats and legal requirements changed, but how and where information is accessed has changed too. Employees are increasingly using mobile technologies such as laptops to do their work from any location. Others work from different desktop PCs everyday. Both locally store and use applications to do their work, which can pose a significant challenge to administrators charged with protecting company and customer data.

Migrating to a services architecture, technology departments can protect all data centrally. Regardless of what type of computing device an employee uses, all applications and services are accessed through a single interface moving processing and data storage to a central location, preventing embarrassing and financially devastating situations that can occur through hacking and physical theft.

In a 'software as a service' architecture, performance measurement shifts, from how fast a client computer can perform work to how efficiently a client computer can process information. VIA Connected Client platforms provide power efficient highly integrated silicon products that provide an optimal platform for efficient computing.  The platform includes technology such as the VIA PadLock Security Engine, a military-grade security engine integrated into all recent VIA processors that strengthens and accelerates security of information exchanged and stored with little or no effect on a processor's utilization rate. This enables solution providers to offload the computational processes involved with securing data sent and received by an employee's computer, as well as improve the level of security offered.

Manageability

A services based technology architecture also helps to reduce the costs of in-field support and administration of patches & new software across the enterprise. Under the services architecture, logistic issues and costs are resolved by employees accessing applications & information through a single interface, regardless of their physical location or type of computing device used. Corporate applications are executed on an enterprise's server enabling patches and new software to be loaded centrally rather than on every employee's PC. This drastically reduces the costs normally involved with this process where, traditionally, updates are made by onsite technicians on each PC in the enterprise.

However, whilst delivering significant benefits, this model does not account for failure of a client computer in the field, where the cost of deploying a technician to go onsite and repair the machine can make redundant the initial savings to time and money that the services architecture provide. To ensure that the benefits of movement to a services model are not lost to in-field failure, client computing devices need to have a low failure rate.

VIA Connected Client Platforms solve this problem with platform solutions that balance performance per watt with ultra-low power consumption and leading manufacturing processes to reduce the amount of power and heat produced by over sixteen times when compared to a traditional PC. This in turn lowers heat related component failures, giving client computing devices rock solid reliability. Reducing power consumption and heat produced also increases the lifespan of client device considerably to lower the cost of enterprise hardware upgrades. Devices that utilize the VIA Connected Client fanless platform also have no moving parts that help to improve reliability further.

Ease of deployment

A 'software as a service' based technology architecture enables administrators to deploy & add client computers easily. PCs under a services model need only connection software installed onto the machine, allowing I.T. departments to pre-build machines without prior knowledge of who the end user will be. This model also facilitates deployment using mobile devices, in extreme environments or locations where local technical support is not available.

With industry leading low power consumption, VIA Connected Client Platforms facilitate deployment in remote locations where power is expensive or intermittent, or in scenarios where long battery life is needed in mobile client devices. Using VIA Connected Client Platforms, I.T. departments can deploy solutions in any environment and ensure that the savings of a 'software as a service' architecture are maximized by reducing the cost of operation and increasing employee productivity through long battery life for mobile devices and a platform with rock solid reliability.

Total cost of ownership

Easier and more cost-effective deployment of client devices combined with a substantially lower cost of maintenance and rate of in-field failure all contribute to lowering the overall cost per seat under a services model. This is essential as, while a server based architecture does deliver many benefits for the enterprise, the initial costs of its implementation can be high, pushing the total cost of ownership to same of local application based architecture when traditional PCs are used.

VIA Connected Client Platforms solve this potential dilemma with industry leading power efficiency, rock-solid reliability and exceptional value for money to lower the total cost of ownership when compared to traditional PCs by over sixteen times, ensuring that the cost per seat under a 'software as a service' architecture is significantly lower.

Performance

A 'software as a service' based technology architecture runs applications and processes data on a central server and uses a single interface to communicate with clients. Performance under this model is measured according to efficiency of throughput rather than pure speed. VIA Connected Client Platforms optimize throughput for desktop and mobile client devices though rich integration that lowers processor utilization and increases the system's efficiency. Features such as the VIA PadLock Security Engine that protects data stored and exchanged, the VIA UniChrome Pro IGP graphics engine with MPEG-2 acceleration to give a rich visual experience, the ultra-efficient VIA V4 bus to maximize throughput within the system and full DDR2 support to enhance system performance yet lower power consumption all increase system efficiency, ensuring that clients based on VIA Connected Client Platforms give a smooth desktop experience within a server based architecture.

VIA Connected Client optimized performance example

Processing a secure video using a traditional computer

Processing a secure video with a VIA Connected Client using the built-in VIA UniChrome Pro IGP graphics engine and VIA PadLock Security Engine