Teradici has been peddling its "PC-over-IP" concept for some time and trying to generate interest, but not without challenges. It seems that most IT administrators are having trouble envisioning a PC-to-thin-client marriage. You see, the Teradici concept basically boils down to "hosting" the PC in the data center and then delivering the user experience via IP. That means users only need a thin client to tie into their PCs from anywhere.

The conceptual problem here is that most users (and administrators) picture this as nothing more than a remote desktop or remote control solution, and therein lies the problem. Teradici is not about delivering bit-map screen captures and cached keystrokes down to the desktop; it is actually a hardware technology that melds a thin client to a remote PC over IP. Teradici accomplishes that trick by using an in-house developed ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) chip set called PC-Over-IP, which combines acceleration and compression technologies to offer an acceptable user experience that includes streaming video, three-dimensional graphics and so on.

So what exactly does this have to do with Dell? Simple: Back in June, Dell announced that it was partnering with Teradici, and then a month later demonstrated the Dell Precision R5400 and FX100 platforms running the technology, which makes Teradici truly a real product for the enterprise data center. The real question becomes how far Dell will take the technology. Will Dell offer Teradici solutions for sale via the channel for enterprise data centers? Or will Dell take Teradici direct and compete with the channel?

Both are questions that need to be answered, but perhaps the big question here should be, Will Dell build its own data centers and offer the technology to users looking for hosted PCs, directly? A situation that could threaten not only solution providers, but the very network administrators that Teradici is poised to help. Dell becoming a hosted PC provider clearly follows in its managed service steps as the company looks to move into the more lucrative services arena. Only time will tell!