In a recent TechRepublic article, Jason Hiner asks: Are Netbooks quietly driving us to Thin Clients and Cloud Computing?

Of course, the article is primarily about netbooks and how wonderful they are. No argument here. But the question of thin versus cloud has popped up in an interesting way. Thin is important because of the nature of the netbook but what does that have to do with cloud computing? Not all cloud applications are thin.

Perhaps the logic is as follows:

• If cloud then we are delivering services over the internet
• If internet then we must be using a browser
• If browser then the computing must be taking place in the backend with only the UI distributed to the client device
• Therefore all cloud devices must be thin

So what about rich clients? We happen to think that they are perfectly suited to cloud computing. Maybe our latest whitepaper on Better Together: Rich Clients and Cloud Computing can help set the record straight – or at least prompt some alternate thinking.

Collaborative Argumentation Study

In this project, Intel Information Technology and MIT studied web-based social media as a tool for understanding collective intelligence and distributed decision-making. The useful question we posed was "What are good ways to balance the potential productivity advantages of open collaborative computing versus the data security needs of the organization?"

Over the three week period we generated 73 author accounts, with 51 from outside Intel. The users contributed 64 certified posts, with 40 from outside Intel. Twenty five ratings were collected. Our resulting deliberation map was well structured and remarkably complete.

What did we learn?

First and foremost, we validated that there is good potential in the combination of social media and argumentation. Social media gives us ability to host large scale discussions with a vast number of diverse users over the internet. It enables us to readily combine discussions that are internal and external to Intel, if desired.

One of the biggest benefits of Deliberatorium was the ease of generating the argument map. The "moderate-as-you-go" approach saved a great deal of time during the post-processing of the data collected. This was especially important as the number of users and topics scaled. The compact format was useful to reduce complexity and helped "make sense" of threaded discussions (conversations) characterized by other tools. It also provided an artifact that can be used for later data mining or as a historical record of the project.

Based on this effort, we have decided that the argumentation capability is an important overlay for social computing tools. In the future we want to find and link all related content regardless of the source: web, wiki, etc. The key is flexible input with robust analytics and reporting to get better output.

Thank you for participating

Thanks to everyone who participated in our study, especially our top contributors: Luca, Ultimo15, Adam, and Lfriedl. Inside Intel, thanks to our most active contributors: Chris Wisehart, Guillermo Rueda, and Matt Rosenquist.

For more information

Klein, Mark and Iandoli, Luca,Supporting Collaborative Deliberation Using a Large-Scale Argumentation System: The Mit Collaboratorium(February 20, 2008). MIT Sloan Research Paper No. 4691-08. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1099082

Visit the MIT Deliberatorium Tool

Background

Traditional corporate information is stored in highly secure repositories within enterprise boundaries. New forms of data are being created in emerging mediums such as blogs and wikis. Cloud computing and network-based systems offer new venues for processing and storage.

The Big Question

What are good ways to balance the potential productivity advantages of open collaborative computing versus the data security needs of the organization? Consider several examples:

• Does having access to social media make you more productive? Is it secure?

• Is having access to raw corporate data more productive than secure, specialized tools?

• Does IT need more control or less? What new tools and/or methods are required, supporting a more open environment?

These questions may never see wide consensus and the decision is crucial to every CIO. We will use your feedback for IT analysis.

Make Your Opinion Heard

Become one of the first to test MIT's new collective intelligence tool called Deliberatorium. Join the fun in two simple steps:

1. Create your account and log in to the MIT Deliberatorium

2. Add your perspective to the discussion

• View, rate or comment other author's posts using pros & cons

• Add your own ideas for new solutions and issues

This discussion topic will be available until September 29, 2008, and then results will be shared on Intel.com. Feel free to forward this invite to any interested parties.

It's Cool to Argue

Research shows that a large group of diverse individuals tends to get the right answer because they bring different perspectives into the discussion. Help Intel and MIT learn more by participating in this web-based argument.

For More Information

Watch the ten minute video clip for a concise overview.

Our very own Randy Nystrom discusses the challenges of managing remote PC in the Intel IT training rooms. With Intel® vPro^TM technology he can remotely power on PCs, install OS or application software, and debug any PC problems, regardless of the state of the PC! Watch as he explains the challenges he faces in effectively managing the devices in the 77 training centers around the world. Randy's training rooms have been an outstanding test bed for the Intel vPro implementation since he faces many of the same issues as the larger environment but in a controlled environment.

Intel IT Systems Engineer Randy Nystrom discusses cost savings for computer support in the Intel IT training rooms. He was one of our first test beds when we got vPro technologies implemented in the production environment. He demostrates how he can increase after hours training room support, decrease technician usage time, decrease mean time to repair (MTTR), and reduce costs by using Intel® vPro^TM technology!

Take a look and see how he is saving Intel money and how vPro technologies has given him his first good nights rest in years.

Anybody out there have other cool tales of how vPro has improved thier lives?

According to Dictionary.com “one size fits all” is an adjective that means “acceptable or used for a wide variety of purposes or circumstances; appealing or suitable to a variety of tastes.” In IT, we have used this approach for how we deliver client systems to users. We pick a few key hardware platforms and create OS builds that meet security requirements and contain a base level of software applications. Users take delivery of new systems and then customize from there with various configuration settings and specific software needed for their jobs. The “one size fits all” model has worked pretty well over the years. It has been a highly successful way for IT to mass produce systems and support users in a standard way.

The world is changing. The number of available choices in hardware platforms is significantly increasing, ranging from desktops to portables to blade client to smart phones. Users are becoming increasingly aware of the choices and want to participate in the decision over what devices are best suited to their work style. In some cases, they want to use different devices simultaneously (for example, a smartphone and a laptop). In terms of software applications, new computing models are emerging to respond to the complexity. IT does not want to create new applications for each kind of device introduced in the environment. A major challenge will be to consolidate backend infrastructure and provide a common user experience across the spectrum of client hardware platforms, not to mention all of the issues related to security and IT governance. We must embrace these challenges because the days of “one size fits all” client hardware are numbered.

A Proof-of-Concept (POC) conducted by Intel IT evaluated OS and application streaming in call center and manufacturing environments. The four-part study included performance, usability, IT support and cost. The POC successfully identified streaming as a novel, feasible technology in the tested scenarios. The biggest benefits were related to locking down the client, improving security and eliminating service calls. Challenges were encountered related to the learning curve and software maturity of application packaging and troubleshooting.

A technical brief is available for downloading:

Software On Demand: OS/Application Streaming Client Study