Carters axes its old PCs

By RICHARD WOOD

Building products and hardware retailer Carters has spent $1.2 million replacing 460 worn-out PCs with "thin client" technology and Wyse terminals.

Thin client allows Windows-based programs to be run on central servers and delivered to each terminal.

Citrix Metaframe server software works on a Windows 2000 server farm housed at Carter Holt Harvey-owned service provider Oxygen, which is also supplying the networking and maintenance.

The project was completed in conjunction with IT services business Unisys.

The decision on the new system was made last August and installation began in mid-January.

Carter Holt's retailing arm has 800 staff across 41 stores. The software used includes Microsoft Office, Outlook email and a financials system.

IT manager Mike Lambert said the move to dump PCs was forced by an increasing failure rate in its existing PC base. Only the head office in Auckland has not been upgraded, as its PCs are fairly new.

The rest of the company's PCs were so old they used Windows 3.11 and were chock-full of dust and gunge.

"They are operating in stores where we have diesel forklifts. They are in quite a dirty environment as they tend to suck in a lot."

Lambert said the Wyse terminals did not have a fan to suck in dust, were half the cost of PCs, and could last up to 15 years.

"Even if we get seven we're doing pretty well."

The company's Unix-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and point-of-sale system from Quanta Financials communicates directly to 160 of the terminals, bypassing Citrix.

Lambert said that overall the new system cost much the same as a complete PC replacement, but would have a longer life and be easier to manage.