As head of ICT for Cambridge and District Citizens Advice Bureau, George Pettit was reviewing his organisation’s IT capacity, when he read that LG was looking for pilot sites in the charity sector for its new Network Monitor solution.
After a meeting, five LG N1742L network monitors were installed at the Cambridge Citizen Advice Bureau for a three-month trial. The concept of multi-computer networks is all about reducing the number of expensive desktop PCs whilst retaining the same number of workstations. Today’s computers are far more powerful than is needed for most non-specialist office tasks – so the idea of sharing the processing power among multiple users was born. LG’s Network Monitor Solution enables up to 11 users – each with their own monitor, keyboard and mouse – to share a single computer.
“Freeing up desk space was the first benefit of the networked system here at CAB but it would turn out to be the least of them. We’re saving money on the hardware and also on the power consumption – so it’s good for the environment too,” says Pettit.
“We spent £500 on the PC that is running six seats now, whereas prior to that, we’d have bought a slightly lower spec PC at £400 – but we’d have had to buy six of them! That’s reducing our capital budget by £1,900.”
“This network monitor system will change the way we work, as well as benefit our bottom line, but it’s also ‘of the moment’; the whole of the IT industry will begin moving towards virtualised desktops because of savings in capital cost, power and admin, as well as increased accessibility. And it’s a green solution too. We’re very happy.”
