Wyse Extends Client Virtualization Leadership in Education Market with the Introduction of a New Zero Client for Schools

rtualization, today announced the introduction of the Wyse E01 Zero Client, a new shared desktop offering from Wyse designed for the education market. The Wyse E01 Zero Client works in conjunction with Windows MultiPoint Server 2010 to provide education institutions with a low-cost, easily-managed and properly licensed Windows 7 experience for classrooms. Windows MultiPoint Server 2010 is a new Microsoft product that allows multiple users to simultaneously share one computer.

Benefits to students and educators include:
· Better student-to-teacher ratio
o Because the combination of Wyse zero clients and Windows MultiPoint Server 2010 enables fully-licensed shared resource computing, multiple students are able to access a single computer with no drop in the quality of the student experience. Up to 10 students are able to simultaneously access a single computer.

· Easy to use, and add students

o Teachers will appreciate the simplicity of the Wyse E01 thin client. It simply plugs into the main computer, automatically configures, and enables a student to work immediately.

· Lower operational costs

o Schools only need to service and support one computer. Combined with easy set up and management built into Windows MultiPoint Server 2010, computer down time and support issues are both significantly reduced.

· Energy-efficient IT

o Ongoing energy efficiency and energy cost savings not only helps a school's bottom line, but also helps the environment.

"Educational institutions are looking for virtualization alternatives to traditional personal computing to ease management while reducing their total cost of ownership," said Jeff McNaught, Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer at Wyse Technology. "Wyse is pleased to be working with Microsoft to deliver the Wyse E01 Zero Client with Windows MultiPoint Server creating a properly-licensed shared computing environment that provides administrators, teachers and students access to a reliable, secure and affordable virtual client solution based on the latest Windows technology."

"We’re happy to be launching with strong support from Wyse, which has committed to developing innovative and effective solutions like the Wyse E01 Zero Client for the MultiPoint platform," said Ira Snyder, general manager, Windows MultiPoint Server at Microsoft Corp. "MultiPoint Server can deliver a familiar Windows computing experience to educational institutions around the world, helping them get the best value out of technology investments while providing the very best education for their students."
End users have been drawn to the shared computing model, but concerned about potential licensing issues.

"We've looked at other solutions, but have always been concerned about sharing a single Windows license across multiple users," according to Sean Colt, Information Technology Director at Belmont-Redwood Shores School District in Belmont, CA. "The Wyse E01 Zero Client with Windows MultiPoint Server 2010 provides us with a reliable, efficient and economical solution to our computing needs, while legitimizing our software licenses."

"Like many schools we’re trying to do more with less," according to Tom Rainey who serves on the PTA Technology Committee at Alvarado Elementary School in San Francisco, CA. "Shared computing is an ideal solution for us, as it puts more computers in the hands of more kids without impacting our budget. In addition, with names like Wyse and Microsoft involved, we know we will receive the support we need from companies that will still be around when our students graduate."
Advances in processing power and the typical usage scenarios of K-12 students make shared computing a logical solution for education institutions looking to economically simplify their IT solutions.

"Shared Resource Computing (SRC) can multiply the number of student workstations available at a much lower price point than individual desktops, laptops or netbooks," according to Bill Rust, Research Director at Gartner. "The total cost of ownership (TCO) is lowered by deploying fewer fully configured computers and by reduced workstation support liabilities."[1]

How It Works

Windows MultiPoint Server 2010 is a new Windows product that allows multiple users to simultaneously share a single computer, an ideal solution for education customers. It is designed to be easy for teachers to set up and use, provides the familiar Windows 7 desktop experience, and requires no advanced IT expertise.

Wyse E01 Zero Clients have been specifically designed to work with Windows MultiPoint Server 2010. They offer a truly low cost alternative for PC sharing technology through an innovative hardware design. Teachers can simply connect the E01 devices to the PC running Windows MultiPoint Server 2010 via USB cables and their system is up and running in a matter of minutes.

Wyse E01 Zero Client is capable of supporting USB peripherals such as keyboard, mouse, webcams, and USB flash drives in conjunction with Windows MultiPoint Server 2010 in order to provide a full rich Windows 7 desktop to students and maximum flexibility to teachers and administrators.

Pricing and Availability

The Wyse E01 Zero Client will be available worldwide in March 2010 for education customers. U.S. pricing starts at $99 with international pricing available shortly. For more information, please visit http://www.wyse.com/solutions/education/shared-desktops/multipoint/index.asp or call 1-800-GET-WYSE.
Wyse Technology and Education
Wyse has been providing thin client and client virtualization solutions to K-12 and higher education schools around the world since 1995. With Wyse in place, IT administrators are replacing their high-cost, high-maintenance PCs with thin clients. The benefits to schools include having a safer computing environment, lower TCO, greater energy efficiency, and less maintenance; all while getting more computers into the hands of more students. At the 2009 National Educational Computing Conference (NECC), Wyse products were recognized by ChannelWeb Magazine as one of the "25 Hot Products For Education." In addition, Wyse customer Western Wayne School District in Northeast Pennsylvania was named by the National School Boards Association’s Technology Leadership Network (TLN) annual list of "20 to Watch" emerging leaders in education technology. For more information on Wyse Education Solutions, please visit, http://www.wyse.com/solutions/education/

About Wyse Technology
Wyse Technology is the global leader in thin computing-based virtualization software and hardware solutions. Wyse and its strategic partners, including, Citrix®, CSC®, IBM®, Lenovo®, Microsoft, Novell®, VMware® and others deliver the most innovative hardware, software, and services that optimize the benefits of cloud computing, virtualization and green IT. These thin computing solutions allow consumers, SMEs and large public and private enterprises to access high definition voice, data and video content they need, with optimized security, manageability, and user experience at a much lower total cost of ownership than other traditional end user devices, including PCs. Wyse has the largest global distribution network in the thin computing market through its partners and offices worldwide. Wyse was founded in 1981, and is headquartered in San Jose, California, USA.

For more information, visit the Wyse website at http://www.wyse.com or call 1-800-GET-WYSE

* All brands and names mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective holders.

[1]Gartner: Promising Shared Resource Computing for Schools from Microsoft, November 2009.