Reduced hardware, software and data communications costs

• As the PC simply becomes a 'display device' there is no need to have to continually replace your existing PC desktops. Any type or age of PC will quite happily operate over Microsoft Terminal Services and can be used with the very latest versions of Microsoft Office and other software.
• Whilst extending the life of existing PC's they will need to be replaced eventually. When this happens you can use inexpensive 'thin-client' devices. These are simply a high quality screen and have no moving parts whatsoever.
• Reduced power costs. Thin client devices use significantly less power than full blown PC's which have hard disk units, fans and powerful processors to support.
• Reduced 'hardware maintenance' costs. With 'thin-client' devices having no moving parts the maintenance cost of covering them against failure and/or having them fixed reduces accordingly. You may consider that your old PC's do not need a maintenance contract and you can simply swap them out for 'thin-clients' as and when they die.
• Where remote office or home users are involved instead of having a high bandwidth leased line you might well be able to connect them using the Internet and a VPN. With leased lines costing many £1000's to install and the same per annum for rental this could be a massive cost saving over say, a 5 year period.

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Reduced administration time and costs

• Quick and easy 'roll-out' of all of your Microsoft Office applications and LAWFUSION as you simply need to install them once on the server instead of on every single PC. For many firms this is the only way to get complete firm-wide standardisation and a stable user 'desktop'.
• Makes upgrading and patching of existing software quick, easy and simple. Instead of having to attend and troubleshoot multiple PC's you simply need to apply an upgrade or patch to the server and this will be immediately available on every PC session.
• Most problems are down to PC's being incorrectly configured or corrupted. Many hours a week are wasted by IT admin troubleshooting these issues with fee earners time being wasted as well. With a Microsoft Terminal Server system this just does not happen.
• Administration of the entire system including each individual users 'PC session' can be done from the administrators own 'PC session'. This could be done from any location, even from home. This means there is no need to physically 'visit' each user at their desk. An absolute godsend if users are at remote branches or working from home.
• As all applications and data are running from one server it is easy and simple to make access to the system extremely secure preventing any unauthorised use. Consider how weak and complicated this is when dozens of PC's are involved all running different operating systems and versions of MS Office and spread over multiple offices, branches and locations.

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Improved operational performance and a better client service

• Gives remote users at branch offices or home a connection to the system which operates at a similar speed/response to ' head office'. This gives fee earners the opportunity to do real work from home without compromising efficiency or becoming stressed over poor response time and its effects on performance.
• Frees fee earners from wasted time spent' managing' their PC (i.e. troubleshooting, loading and upgrading software, applying patches, fixing problems etc..) and gives them more time to do what they are meant to be doing with their PC - using it to service clients requirements.
• Having a single server from which to provide both new software and the latest releases of existing software means these assets can be be put to use immediately. Many firms suffer because they cannot get their computer systems deployed quickly across the firm or cannot continue to maintain them as new features and patches become available. Hence these systems fall into disrepair and users start finding other less efficient ways of doing things.
• The overall infrastructure is modular and scalable which means that should the number of users increase these can be accommodated by simply connecting them in. Also, additional Terminal Servers can be added very easily should a significant increase in users or processing requirements (i.e. new systems are needed) occur. This means that none of your initial investment will be lost.
• As all applications are run from one server issues such as a virus attack and/or hacking are vastly reduced. Not only that, should a virus hit, instead of having to clean dozens of PC's you will only need to attend to the one server.

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