A few statistics address the trend. The NPD Group estimated that 34% of the PCs sold in July 2011 were all-in-one PCs. IDC projected that nearly 16% of commercial PC purchases will be all-in-ones by the end of 2012. PC World stated that in 2011, all-in-one PCs transitioned from a novelty to a strong product category, exhibiting powerful performance in a compact form.

During 2011, the big PC manufacturers introduced some new all-in-one PC designs that can be used by business and consumers: Apple released one, HP released two, and Dell released one. Of course, they have a lot of catching up to do in order to compare with Cybernet, because we released 5 new all-in-one LCD PCs and one keyboard PC, for a total of 6 in 2011. Our primary business is all-in-one PCs, however, so that is to be expected. Our PCs are mainly used for B2B purposes, and a growing number of them are for specialized markets such as health care, who have a very specific set of requirements.

All-in-one PCs are also evolving in terms of features. Most of the new all-in-one computers are widescreen models, which are great for multitasking. Many have touch screen capability (single or multi-touch). The processors and graphics capabilities available in all-in-ones are comparable to what you’d find in a standard PC tower configuration. These trends all beg the question: why NOT an all-in-one PC? Indeed, the market has answered.

Cybernet iOne-H5 widescreen multi-touch

With the advent of ATMs, many people predicted that bank teller jobs would disappear. Well, that hasn’t happened yet, mainly because tellers still provide valuable services to customers that an ATM or online banking just can’t handle. Examples include: preparing cashier’s checks, providing change for merchants, resolving issues with banking statements, advising customers on foreign exchange rates, cashing checks, selling savings bonds, opening new accounts, selling or issuing certificates of deposit, ordering imprinted checks, ordering ATM and credit cards, advising customers on bundled services to lower their fees, and processing wire transfers. That is a pretty long list!

To provide these services, tellers need fast and reliable PCs at their teller windows or stations. Banking records that tellers routinely access must be readily available while the customer is standing in front of them. Processing transactions like wire transfers or ordering cards must happen quickly so as to not keep the customer waiting. And if something goes wrong with a PC during banking hours, the IT staff has to be able to access the computer and fix it quickly. Many PCs can handle that load today, but the problem is that there is not a lot of physical space available for traditional PC tower configurations where the tellers are located, so banks are now using all in one PCs: either LCD PCs or keyboard PCs. All-in-one PCs are space-saving, reliable, powerful, and are very easy to service because they can be accessed from the teller counter instead of the floor, with no messy cables running everywhere.

Many of Cybernet’s customers have used our all-in-one keyboard PCs or LCD PCs with great success. Our two most popular models that banks purchase are the ZPC-series keyboard PC and our iOne-series LCD PC. Here are the latest versions of both:

Cybernet ZPC-D5

Cybernet iOne-GX45

Not only have the Cybernet all-in-one PCs freed up space at the teller windows, but they also provide powerful computing resources to track daily transactions and use administrative applications. Our customers find that our all-in-one PCs are very easy to deploy and are powerful enough to run complex banking software. Their superior reliability is also a huge benefit, because the PCs have to perform continuously during banking hours and beyond. Here are some of the customers who use Cybernet’s all-in-one PCs to support their bank teller operations; click on the logos to read their success stories:

THE SAVINGS BANK:

For the enterprise environment, cloud computing (public or private cloud) is enabled through a process of virtualization and scaling of computer resources. To move to cloud computing, decisions need to be made about access, security, and hardware infrastructure. It is a complex problem, but presents opportunities to increase computing capacity quickly while saving money in the process. 

Benefits of Cloud Computing:

• -Saves money due to lower investment in server resources
• -Provides access to greater, perhaps more powerful, computing assets than may be available internally
• -Enables collaboration among business partners
• -Facilitates data backup, recovery and business continuity
• -Reduces the need for IT staff to monitor, manage and maintain computer resources, freeing them up to focus on other projects 

Risks Surrounding Cloud Computing:

• -Uptime, availability, and reliability
• -Data security
• -Access control and user authentication
• -Privacy and identity protection (of employees and customers)
• -Regulatory compliance (varies by industry)

An IT manager or CIO needs to decide whether the benefits outweigh the risks, which can be significant with the public cloud. There are whole new industries that have evolved to address the risks of cloud computing: advanced network security appliances, specialized encryption software and systems, and consulting services or “cloud brokers” who can find the best technology solutions to mitigate these risks.

So how does a data center within an enterprise move from a client-server model to cloud computing, and what impact does it have on the computer hardware business?

Once the decision is made to adopt some level of cloud computing, the challenge for IT is to make sure that uptime is still maintained, and redundant systems are in place during transition. Migrating to a cloud computing model should be done incrementally. An IT manager can choose one application such as email and migrate it to cloud computing, while everything else remains on the main network. (This assumes, of course, that emails are not going to contain company-confidential data or customer information that falls under the purview of regulatory compliance.)

The good news for the computer hardware industry is that no matter where the computing takes place, it will still require some form of desktop or portable computers for users to access the cloud – whether public or private. It would seem logical that cloud computing might only require thin-client technology because the work would be done on the server side; the user would only need a network connection and not much else. Some computer manufacturers are indeed beginning to build thin-client-enabled hardware devices for this purpose (and some of them are all-in-one PCs with low-power processors such as those from Acer). Are IT Managers going this route for new cloud computing projects? Not necessarily. Because they still have concerns about public or private cloud reliability and availability (risk number 1 on the above list), IT Managers still want client desktop PCs powerful enough to run on their own in case of any downtime or problems with the cloud network – it’s their backup plan.

Some IT managers have also been seeing an interesting trend – using powerful desktop PCs (with big CPUs and advanced graphics) as workstations to tap into the high-performance server applications in the cloud and bring new applications and even more computing power to the desktop. This would suggest that high-performance PCs and workstations will be in serious demand in the cloud computing era. Some of these powerful desktop computers are also all-in-one PC designs with higher-performance CPUs and graphics, like Cybernet’s iOne-H5.

With the rate of cloud computing adoption so far, it appears that there will be a continuing demand for desktop PCs and workstations. Whether they are thin client devices, all-in-ones, desktop PCs with powerful processors and graphics, or high-performance workstations, the demand for such computer hardware will continue well into the future.

In July, PCWorld completed a rigorous test of our iOne-H5 all in one PC, measuring performance and comparing features with others in its overall PC category. PCWorld in its article entitled, “Cybernet iOne H5: Business-Ready All-in-One Packs a Punch”, stated that the iOne-H5 was powerful on the inside, delivered very well on graphics and outperformed all the other PCs in its class, earning a performance score of 133 (17 points higher than its nearest competitor). PCWorld reviewers also noted its “slick swivel stand” and a “big, bright and glossy” touch screen. Read more details in the PCWorld Review. 

In September, PCWorld issued its ranking list of All-in-One PCs. In the category of Best Budget All-in-One PCs under 23 inches, PCWorld ranked Cybernet’s iOne-H5 as number one on the list, with a 4-star rating – higher than all of the other models in this category from HP, Lenovo, Acer, Sony and MSI. See the list in the PCWorld Ranking.

Cybernet iOne-H5