A Scalable Approach
to Thin Client Solutions
Tight margins and heightened competition continue
to present challenges to SMB retailers of all types.
Whether for the point of sale (POS), in the back room or
at headquarters, merchants are seeking solutions that
afford flexibility while simultaneously reducing operating
expenditures, simplifying processes and maintaining
market share.
For many forward-thinking retailers, the adoption of a
server-based model built on standardized, efficient thin
clients is the answer. In this lean model, all essential core
applications and data backups run centrally on web
servers. Such a lean infrastructure enables the same
desktop to be accessed from stores, headquarters or even
home offices, cutting costs in many areas and bolstering
application availability to a degree that sharpens the
competitive edge.
Sponsored by
“We are definitely seeing more and
more of a push to thin client, including
at the SMB level.
”
—Jerry Sheldon, IHL Group
Thin client is gaining momentum
throughout the retail sector.
According to “The State of
Customer-Centric Retailing,” a
report by Aberdeen Group, 44%
of “average” retailers have slated
web and network-based POS
applications like thin client as one
of their top 10 customer-centric
technology enablers over the next
24 months.
“We are definitely seeing more
and more of a push to thin client,
including at the SMB level,” said
Jerry Sheldon, Analyst and VP of
Technology at IHL Group. Sheldon
noted that while two years ago the
majority of SMB retailer transitions
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to the thin client model were made
by those in the specialty hard
goods vertical — e.g., furniture
stores and automotive repair
shops — the scope of migration
has since expanded. Operators
in other markets, from soft goods
to hospitality, are fast beginning
to recognize the spate of benefits
that can be reaped via a thin client
architecture.
Moreover, although such
advantages as enhanced flexibility
and cost savings figure heavily
into the migration to thin client, the
fact that merchants need not go
from “zero to 60” in making the
change, but rather have the option
of starting with a “thin register”
setup and migrating to a “thin store”
configuration only when and if needs
and desires dictate, is also pushing
the envelope. “With more than one
approach to thin client, comes
greater appeal,” Sheldon stated.
This white paper will explore in
detail SMB retailers’ opportunity
to lower operating costs and
increase flexibility through a
scalable approach to migrating
store systems to thin client
solutions. Retailers will learn about
the benefits of thin client and the
scalable thin strategy through realworld examples. Criteria to help
determine which thin client path to
follow will be covered as well.
In its study, “TCO Comparison of PCs with
Server-Based Computing”, Gartner found that
a thin client computing model offers a 79%
lower downtime cost per user, 34% lower
maintenance costs, and 19% lower operating
costs than a PC-based computing model—
as well as a capital cost savings of 16%.
Benefits of Thin Client
vs. PC-Based
Considered alone, the lower total
cost of ownership (TCO) afforded
by thin client makes a strong case
for conversion from the PC side. In
its study “TCO Comparison of PCs
with Server-Based Computing,”
Gartner found that a thin client
computing model offers a 79%
lower downtime cost per user, 34%
lower maintenance costs, and 19%
lower operating costs than a PCbased computing model—as well
as a capital cost savings of 16%.
This adds up to a 48% lower total
cost of ownership (TCO).
“From an energy savings standpoint,
in particular, thin client is hard to
beat,” Sheldon said. “Thin clients
require about 10% the energy of
standard thick clients, which is a
true boon to return on investment.”
Indeed, numerous factors
contribute to the lower TCO
equation offered by thin client.
Thin client architecture eliminates
the cost and complexity of
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traditional PC-based POS systems,
operating systems, databases
and applications, bringing in their
place secure bandwidth and
web browsers hosted by central
servers situated at the store level
(for “thin register”) or in a centralized
location (for “thin store”). By virtue
of this simplicity, thin client allows
dramatically faster application
deployment and easier access to
data, yielding a significant leg up on
the competition.
Meanwhile, maintenance, upgrades
and new applications are
administered centrally on the server
in real time, saving retailers the time
they would otherwise spend and
the expense they would otherwise
incur were they to initiate changes
on a terminal-by-terminal basis.
Moreover, as Sheldon observed,
the less hardware components a
system has, the greater its life span,
and the fewer the data access
points, the easier it is to manage
the configuration.
Additionally, the price tag for
thin client hardware, support
and training falls well below
what retailers would pay for the
elements of a PC-based, or
“thick” configuration. The reduced
functionality required from, and
wear-and-tear on, thin client devices
extends the life cycle of retailers’
legacy IT investments; hardware
rarely becomes obsolete.
“The ‘cost-versus-performance’
“The ‘cost-versus-performance’ curve
continues to move in thin clients’ favor,
especially when retailers also consider
the flexibility they get with the platform
independence that accompanies it.
”
—Dan Grady, a principal of C-CORE Consulting Group.
curve continues to move in
thin clients’ favor, especially
when retailers also consider the
flexibility they get with the platform
independence that accompanies
it,” stated Dan Grady, a principal of
C-CORE Consulting Group. Grady,
whose firm has handled a myriad
of IT consulting engagements
centered on thin client architecture.
Grady pointed out that “with thin
client, as long as you can run
the browser, you can run the
application.” ETailers see additional
savings through a reduced need for
software licenses and, accordingly,
lower licensing costs and simpler
license management. Instead of
separate, locally used licenses for
each unit, as with PCs, thin client
systems can take advantage of
economical terminal server licenses.
Beyond lower TCO and all of its
sub-components, there are the
benefits of enhanced security and
outstanding system performance.
In the thin client environment, all
of retailers’ critical data is updated
in real time and held in a secure
repository, with all access rights
defined in a centrally hosted
application. Securing the enterprise
merely necessitates securing
headquarters rather than systems
in multiple individual stores. System
performance is dictated only by
servers and network bandwidth,
rather than a larger, and perhaps
unwieldy, network of client terminals.
Building a Scalable
Strategy: Evolution
vs. Revolution
Some retailers, SMB merchants
among them, have traditionally
shied away from embracing thin
client based on the belief that
such a move would entail an
all-encompassing equipment
“rip out-and-replace” endeavor.
However, this is not necessarily
the case. Depending on individual
retailers’ needs and priorities, the
migration from a PC-based retail IT
configuration to a thin client-based
configuration can be an evolution,
rather than a revolution.
The evolution can start with “thin
register”, wherein databases
reside, and applications are run
on, a central in-store server or
servers. Store employees access
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data in the servers directly from
the thin point of sale terminals. A
subsequent and, if desired, gradual
transition can then be made to
a “thin store” mode, wherein there
are no servers or databases at
the store level. Applications run
on a server at a central location,
with updates to data (for example,
price changes) executed at that
location and accessed by individual
stores via browser. Common “thin
store” applications, Grady said,
encompass, but are not limited
to, labor scheduling, human
resources, planning and promotion
optimization.
The decision of whether and
when to step up from “thin
register” to “thin store” — or in
other words, how thin to be — is
indeed predicated entirely in line
with retailers’ circumstances and
requirements.
Several factors merit consideration
when attempting to draw a
conclusion about how thin to be.
The first such factor is IT budget
and desired savings. A “thin register”
offers significant cost savings
based on reduced maintenance
expenditures and other factors,
but TCO really begins to decrease
in a “thin store” environment.
However, hardware implementation
expenditures will be higher for “thin
register” than for “thin store.”
An even more significant criterion
is network stability. “Thin store”
implementations rely on WAN
connections, which, unlike the
LAN connections utilized in “thin
register” environments, may be
operational only 95% of the time.
“Retailers need to determine the
investment they are willing to make
in the network to maximize its
stability and bandwidth, as well as
what contingency plans they can
formulate for ‘thin stores’ when the
network is down,” said Alan Hohler,
Director of Software Development,
UTC RETAIL. “For example, what
tools and processes exist in the
store to handle customers during
‘network-down’ conditions? How
is server redundancy architected?
How quickly can server failover be
achieved?”
Recovery timing also merits
consideration. “Tolerance for having
a network — and hence, a point
of sale system — that is ‘down’
varies from retailer to retailer,”
Hohler observed. “Retailer A may
be able to tolerate a ‘network-
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General Manager of Professional
Services. “Others will want to evolve
at varying paces. The scalability
and flexibility of POS-J mean that
the limitations on ‘thinness’ will be
imposed entirely by each retailer
that implements it, rather than by its
design and infrastructure.”
The Real World:
Thin Register
down’ condition for two hours
while IT redirects the store to a
failover server. Retailer B may
demand immediate offline register
functionality, but be willing to
operate in this offline scenario for up
to 24 hours. Give-and-take between
Store Operations and IT can result
in a win-win for both groups.”
These considerations
notwithstanding, with such a
standards-based, 100% Java, thin
client store automation solution as
POS-J from UTC RETAIL, retailers
can invest in a “thin register”
configuration without concern
that they will need to scrap it
later when an enhanced comfort
zone, additional bandwidth, new
IT priorities or other catalysts
propels them into the “thin store”
mindset. “Some retailers will never
want the ‘bells and whistles’ of ‘thin
store’; ‘thin register’ will continue to
work for them,” said David Smith,
UTC RETAIL’s Vice President and
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For some retailers, “thin register”
is indeed the most practical and/
or desirable starting point along
the “thin client” continuum. DunnEdwards Paints, one of the nation’s
largest independent, employeeowned manufacturers and retail
distributors of architectural paints
and painting supplies, ranks among
these operations. Dunn-Edwards
Paints operates 103 stores, each
with five to seven cash registers.
Each store runs an Oracle database
on an Apache Tomcat Web server
and uses a Windows IE7 browser.
Three years ago, the retailer
identified a need to extend the
capabilities of its POS systems
beyond ringing up transactions,
as well as to better monitor
store activities, according to
Ken Anderson, POS Manager.
Beginning in 2007 and concluding
the following year, Dunn-Edwards
implemented a “thin register”
configuration built on POS-J.
“In addition to cost savings,
with ‘thin register’ in place, we
“In addition to cost savings, with ‘thin
register’ in place, we can leverage the
Internet to take advantage of a variety
of applications.
”
—Ken Anderson, Dunn-Edwards
can leverage the Internet to
take advantage of a variety of
applications,” Anderson said. “For
example, we have a custom module
that integrates with POS-J to create
a more efficient, accurate painttinting operation and paint checkout
process by allowing custom color
orders taken at the point of sale
to be electronically transmitted to
the tinting machines,” he explained.
“Through simple web browser
navigation, we have complete
insight into orders from any cash
register, as well as from the tinting
stations.”
Similarly, through the ‘thin register’
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architecture and the Internet, the
retailer can easily check the status
of orders and deliveries for its
commercial customers.
The thin, web-based architecture
also enables Dunn-Edwards to
easily integrate other applications,
such as credit card transaction
authorization and processing,
with the point of sale system,
augmenting its functionality. It
facilitates the propagation of data
to the stores and the deployment of
new applications.
“The web application is our ‘eye’ at
the stores,” Anderson added. “We
can see, from anywhere, what’s
going on. The thin client lets us view
reports at corporate and in stores
from the web, versus shipping
them through the mail. Our store
personnel rely very heavily on
reports, and this alone has made
thin client a win-win situation for us.”
While “thin register” is currently
sufficient to meet Dunn-Edwards’
needs, Anderson doesn’t discount
a possible switch to “thin store”
down the road. “It’s good to know
that with a scalable system, it is an
option,” he said.
The retailer benefits “significantly,
both time- and financial-wise,”
from maintaining and updating
data on corporate servers situated
at headquarters, the spokesperson
stated. He added that its network
has the necessary redundancy
and bandwidth to operate in such
a fashion.
“With our current capacity, we
have the capability to add new
applications as we grow,” the
spokesperson concluded.
The Real World:
‘Thin Store’
Conclusion:
The Future is Now
For other retailers, “thin store” is the
way to go. A broadband service
and equipment provider with
more than 100 stores and plans
to expand its retail operations in a
myriad of markets opted to follow
such a direction recently, using
POS-J as a base.
Whether large or in the SMB
category, retailers can no longer
afford to remain on a PC-based
computing course simply because
this is the model they have
always followed. Rather, they
need to explore new means of
leveraging technology to achieve
their business objectives. Flexible,
scalable thin client solutions that
match current business needs and
offer sufficient flexibility to adapt
to these requirements as change
dictates can be key to navigating
the waters. “Thin register” or “thin
store,” the future is now.
“Our decision to go ‘thin client’ was
based on a desire to enjoy the lower
total cost of ownership it would
allow,” a spokesperson said. “As far
as ‘thin store’ versus ‘thin register’,
it was apparent to us that not
maintaining data and
applications on every register and
on in-store servers would better
support our growth.”
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About UTC
UTC RETAIL is a leader in providing seamlessly integrated retail
management solutions for small to mid-size specialty retailers. In addition to
best-in-class software solutions, UTC provides a complete set of branded
hardware solutions and comprehensive professional service offerings,
providing retailers a single point of contact and accountability. For more
information visit www.utcretail.com
About Retail TouchPoints
Retail TouchPoints is an online publishing network for retail executives,
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