An IT Briefing produced by

Netbooks vs. Notebooks: Matching Systems Form to Function in the Enterprise

Sponsored By: vs. Notebooks: Matching Systems Form to Function in the Enterprise

By Craig Mathias ©2010Dell

Craig Mathias is an internationally recognized expert on wireless communications and technologies, a well-known industry analyst, and frequent speaker at industry conferences and tradeshows. Craig is also a principal with Farpoint Group. The Farpoint Group is a wireless and mobile advisory firm, based in Ashland, Mass. BIOS

This IT Briefing is based on a Dell/TechTarget Webcast, “Netbooks vs. Notebooks: Matching Systems Form to Function in the Enterprise.”

This TechTarget IT Briefing covers the following topics: • What is a ?...... 1 • Market Drivers...... 3 • Technological Innovations ...... 3 • Netbooks and Mobile Strategy ...... 5 • Netbook Limitations ...... 6 • The Era of Info-centricity...... 8 • Operating System: Linux vs. Windows...... 10 • Netbooks and Security ...... 11 • Management Lifecycle ...... 12 • Conclusion...... 13 • Common Questions ...... 14

Copyright © 2010 Dell/VMware. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction, adaptation, or translation without prior written permission is prohib- ited, except as allowed under the copyright laws. About TechTarget IT Briefings TechTarget IT Briefings provide the pertinent information that senior-level IT executives and managers need to make educated purchasing decisions. Originating from our industry-leading Vendor Connection and Expert Webcasts, TechTarget-produced IT Briefings turn Webcasts into easy-to-follow technical briefs, similar to white papers. Design Copyright © 2004–2010 TechTarget. All Rights Reserved. For inquiries and additional information, contact: Dennis Shiao Director of Product Management, Webcasts [email protected] Netbooks vs. Notebooks: Matching Systems Form to Function in the Enterprise

Since their introduction in 2007, small form What is a Netbook? factor netbooks have experienced a strong demand and growth rate as consumers and Netbooks are evolving and changing, and business users adopt them as highly portable have been referred to by other names, like primary and secondary systems. Shipments ultraportable and mobile of these systems have nearly doubled, from devices. As a result, there may be about 16.4 million in 2008 to an expected some confusion as to what exactly is a 32.7 million in 2009. Users are attracted by netbook and the different netbook classes of their low price, which is usually under $650. computers. Let’s start with the clamshell They provide easy access to Web-based form factor. It looks a lot like a small applications. They have a long battery life, notebook computer, generally weighs about a and a reasonably sized screen. kilogram (two-to-three pounds), and almost always has a low voltage processor. The While initially targeted at consumers, has proven to be very popular. There businesses especially like these small are some compromises there, but it runs the systems, because they are portable and can full PC-oriented instructions that support a be used to extend IT resources and PC architecture. Generally, hard drives are applications to a wider group of people limited to about 150 GB, so a lot of these within an organization. products have solid state storage. Between 8 and 40 GB is pretty typical, so storage is Despite the attraction, though, netbooks do much smaller than you find in a typical have their limitations in terms of processing notebook. There’s no built-in optical drive, power, storage, and application capabilities. because we’re optimizing for size. Even their convenient size can be a drawback in some cases. In selecting an appropriate Generally, screens range from 7” to 11”. system, users first have to look at what they Sometimes, you see them a little bigger, want to accomplish in terms of both personal sometimes a little smaller, but it looks like and business objectives, and then find the 10”, 11”, and 12” are proving to be the most right system to match meet their current and popular. The keyboards are also smaller. future needs. In many cases, netbooks may Some people don’t have a problem with that, not be the best choice for a primary mobile while others are going to find that a little less computing platform and may be better suited convenient, but it’s definitely better than your as a secondary or supplemental system for typical smart phone with the two-thumb lightweight, on-the-road productivity. typing technique. Generally speaking, there

1 IT Briefing: Netbooks vs. Notebooks: Matching Systems Form to Function in the Enterprise Sponsored By: What is a Netbook?

• Clamshell form factor (Some tablets) •1+ kilograms • Low-voltage processor (e.g., ) •1-2 MB RAM • Up to 160 GB hard drives (or 40 GB Flash drives) • No optical drive • 7- to 11-inch screens • Smaller keyboards • No expansion slots (PC Card, ExpressCard) • Includes WLAN • Some optional WWANs • Windows XP (Home) or Linux (Windows 7 possible) • Bigger than a MID; smaller than a notebook Source: Farp oin t Group

Figure 1 Figure 2

Netbooks: Key Technologies

Processors • High performance • Low power •Small Displays • Inexpensive • Less power • LED backlighting

Storage • Cheap hard drives • Cheaper SSDs Wireless • No-compromise Wi-Fi • 802.11n Power • Cheaper batteries • Improved batteries • Power-conservative circuitry Source: Farp oin t Group

2 IT Briefing: Netbooks vs. Notebooks: Matching Systems Form to Function in the Enterprise Sponsored By: are no expansion slots. You’ll have a couple If you’ve got a smart phone that has a good USB ports, but you’re not going to find PC browser, you can do e-mail, but you don’t get Card or ExpressCard. Wireless LAN is built- a lot of screen, and you definitely have a tiny in, including 802.11n, in many of the newer keyboard. Netbooks are a nice step up from models. Some of these also have built-in that. In terms of pointing and clicking, all of optional wireless WAN. You’ll often find them now have touch pads and the usual them sold at a subsidized price by the cellular buttons, and it’s very similar to using a carriers, so the convenience of anytime/ notebook. If you can use a notebook, you can anywhere broadband Internet access is also use a netbook. there. In terms of operating systems, you’ll find Windows XP Home, although we’re I have several large notebooks that I use in starting to see Windows 7 as well. Linux has the office, but I don’t like to travel with them also been popular, but somewhat less than I because in general they weigh on the order of thought it would be. These, in general, are five, six, seven pounds, and they’re fairly large bigger than a mobile Internet device, which and bulky. I need a bigger bag to put them in. are larger than handsets and haven’t proven What I get in the netbook is the convenience to be very popular. They were a novelty a few of high mobility. I get a very familiar years ago, but still smaller than a notebook. operating environment. I prefer Linux but, And, that in a nutshell, is what a netbook is again, Windows is a possibility as well. You all about. get a full desktop operating system, which is significantly different than the experience you Market Drivers have on a handset, and of course all of the desktop applications. Anything you do on the From both a technology and an application desktop, in general, you can do on a netbook. standpoint, netbooks are hot. More than 10 million have been sold in the past year or Technological Innovations two. The primary market drivers are their size and weight. They are also oriented towards Advances in processor technology are mobility and longer battery life. The price has obviously important, especially in smaller been a factor as well. devices, and especially when it comes to lower power requirements. But other But, ultimately, they’re a matter of technology advances and tradeoffs have convenience. Like everything else in mobility come together to create this new class of and mobile computing, it’s all about system. It’s not just about processors, convenience -- having access to the though I do think the development of the information that you need, where and when Intel Atom and a few of the other very low you need it, over the most appropriate device voltage, battery conservative processors were that’s available at that moment in time. We a key motivator in bringing these products to can surf the Web on our handsets these days. market. Intel’s Atom is known for reasonably

3 IT Briefing: Netbooks vs. Notebooks: Matching Systems Form to Function in the Enterprise Sponsored By: high performance. It’s definitely not the same performance there, and also brighter and level of performance that you get with a Dual- clearer screens. Core Pentium, for example, but these consume very little electrical power. They are And, as I mentioned previously, wireless. It very kind to your battery. They are physically used to be very expensive and difficult to small themselves, they do not generate a lot build something like 802.11n, which involves of heat, and they are inexpensive. So, vendors multiple antennas, into something as small started looking at these processors and said, as the netbook. Today, that’s not a big “What can we build around them?” And, then technical challenge. they started asking, “What other technologies are going to be available?” So, all of these have come together in a very convenient and low-cost form factor, A few years ago 160 GB would have been surprising a lot of analysts with what can be quite exotic. Today, we can build that in a tiny done at that particular price point. Again, form factor and put it into a netbook without we’re talking here maybe $300 to $500. consuming much power. There are also very That’s the very low end of the notebook space inexpensive solid state storage devices and more expensive than you’d pay for a lot available. These can get quite pricey in of more primitive devices that you might notebooks, but they’re reasonably want to carry around, but here you’re getting inexpensive when we find them in the a real computer at a very reasonable price, netbook form factor. that you can do a lot with.

Batteries have gotten better. This is not an Originally when netbooks were conceived of, area where we see the same kind of progress a lot of the manufacturers thought this was that we do with processors. There’s no going to be pretty much a residential Moore’s Law for batteries. If there were, the product, something you’d sell to people as battery would double its performance every their first computer, something for the kids 50 years, perhaps. But, nonetheless, we’ve for school. Then Mom and Dad saw it and seen great advances in lithium and also in said, “Wow, I’d love something like that!” the circuitry that monitors and manages Both of my daughters saw my netbook, and I batteries in order to get the most out of each knew what I was getting them for Christmas battery charge. the next year, and they use them all of the time for work. Displays have gotten better. LCDs consume a lot of power because of the backlight. We’re Netbooks don’t replace smart phones, just as starting to see some LED backlighting, the they don’t replace notebooks. They fit in the same that you see on high-end TVs. So, middle quite nicely. Let’s face it, we’re all generally we’re getting a little bit better power going to carry a smart phone, but the two- thumb typing technique is unpleasant. It’s

4 IT Briefing: Netbooks vs. Notebooks: Matching Systems Form to Function in the Enterprise Sponsored By: not something I want to do for more than a they have faster processors, more memory, few hundred words. And, of course, the and larger hard drives. The hard drives can be display is small, and not just for people over swapped. In general, you don’t share PCs but 40. You don’t get a lot of content on smart if I can swap out a hard drive and use it for an phone screens. You don’t get that much entirely different user, a different application, storage. There are very few expansion a different set of conditions -- hey that’s a opportunities. However, they are very good thing! The screens definitely get large, portable. They essentially have the wireless up to 17” in some cases. The batteries are WAN built in, so you have anytime/anywhere larger, and they need to be because you’re Web and Internet access. The browsers have dealing with a processor that consumes gotten much better, if you can manage the more power. You don’t get more battery life small screen. Possible access to desktop from that larger battery, but it is still pretty files, these are clients on the corporate good. There is some price overlap, with network like any other. netbooks at the low end. We’ve seen some notebooks selling in the $300 to $500 range. Furthermore, there’s no OS standardization That’s the sweet spot for netbooks, and so it with smart phones. There are at least half a can be a very interesting question about dozen good operating systems out there which one to buy. But, the netbook has an running on these, so it’s more of a obvious advantage in portability, size, and management problem for IT. The weight. But, both of them, again, will run applications tend to be customized and often enterprise-class operating systems. unique to the platform. The iPhone has 100,000 applications, but they only run on We’ve heard organizations admit to giving the iPhone. You also wind up with somewhat netbooks to those users that can’t get a closed software development environments, notebook, but because of that price overlap, unlike the world of the PC where anybody can that’s no longer a valid approach. A mobile develop an application and deploy it on any strategy comes down to two factors. The first device at any time. one is portability. Netbooks are smaller and lighter, and offer minimal reduction in Netbooks and Mobile Strategy capability versus the notebook. I wouldn’t do video editing or very compute-intensive tasks Every company gives nearly every user a on a netbook. I wouldn’t carry terabytes of notebook today, and it’s the standard data on a netbook, because it’s just not platform. It’s something that IT can manage. possible. But, if you think of it as kind of a Everybody’s familiar with it. We’ve gotten dinghy or a launch -- to use a nautical analogy used to all of the technology’s capabilities -- to your notebook, much the same way we and drawbacks, and learned to work with thought of PDAs in the very early days, then it them. Notebooks are going to be standard makes a lot of sense to add a netbook to issue, I think, for a long, long time because one’s mobile arsenal.

5 IT Briefing: Netbooks vs. Notebooks: Matching Systems Form to Function in the Enterprise Sponsored By: There is still the financial argument. You will the way, in some cases, for large get more bang for your buck at the low end computational problems, depending on what with a netbook than with many other you do. I run typical office suites on netbooks approaches. Some low-end notebooks are all of the time without much of a problem, not quite as configurable or expandable, or as but it’s not as fast as a desktop. You don’t versatile as the more expensive notebooks have an optical drive that’s built in, so it’s are. They’re probably going to weigh a little more difficult to install new software or bit more, so you’ve got that size and weight a DVD. You may not be able to carry issue there. But, with the netbook you will everything that you need. Being a Web- definitely save money. If you’re not planning centric user, I generally recommend access on getting a notebook in a particular case, to the Web as a solution to just about every but you want to start with a netbook and use IT problem. Not being able to carry it exclusively for some applications, it makes everything with me is not a problem. We use perfect sense to do so. It boosts penetration remote access a lot, and that works just fine of PCs within the organization, gets for netbooks. But if you need to carry a lot of everybody connected, boosts productivity, data with you, you may not be able to find a because we are talking about a real netbook that can hold everything you need. computer, and we can lower total cost of ownership and boost return on investment. Traditionally, we haven’t had access to So, it boils down to those two factors: cost business-class Microsoft operating systems and utility. on these devices. I use Linux and have very good luck with it, but it’s fairly rare these days Netbook Limitations to find Windows 7 on netbooks. Anecdotally, I’ve heard of people running even the high- Netbooks have a lot to offer, but they are not end version of Windows 7. I don’t think a panacea for everyone. I occasionally run an there’s any reason why that wouldn’t work, office suite to produce a document or give a but it’s definitely not going to be as fast as presentation, but heavy duty computing tasks most notebooks today. are not something I attempt on a netbook. In terms of consuming media, video and media Let’s focus on the actual application of both rich environments work fine. With an external netbooks and full-size notebooks in an DVD drive, you can even watch movies, but organization. A lot of companies are asking the small screen makes it difficult to create people to use multiple devices when they’re that media. You wouldn’t want to edit a video traveling. One of the biggest issues years ago or try to do an audio production. You just with using multiple systems was don’t have enough information to do a good synchronization and making sure you had the job. Given the small keyboard, in many cases, latest version here and version there. There is you’re not going to want to use a netbook no good solution to that problem. Going every day. That limited processor may get in back to the days of the mainframe, you pretty

6 IT Briefing: Netbooks vs. Notebooks: Matching Systems Form to Function in the Enterprise Sponsored By: Netbook Limitations

Small Screen No Built-In Optical Drive

Small Keyboard Limited Storage

Limited Processor No Business-Class Microsoft Operating Systems Limited Memory

Source: Farp oin t Group

Figure 3 Figure 4

Picking the Best Tool for the Job

• Netbooks should not be thought of as a “consolation prize” for those who don’t get a notebook • Many will prefer a netbook over a notebook anyway! • Provide the most appropriate tool given the tasks assigned to a given user • It’s really a question of productivity – people always cost more than PCs! • IT itself exists to boost productivity • It’s unlikely that any single tool will be all that’s required in any given case • One will need at the very least both a handset and a netbook or notebook, and will often have all three! • Ultimately, it’s a question of applications

7 IT Briefing: Netbooks vs. Notebooks: Matching Systems Form to Function in the Enterprise Sponsored By: much knew where your data was. It never left case. You are going to have multiple devices. the building. Now we’ve got people all over You are going to need to work out a means of the place, accessing data over a wide variety device synchronization. We recommend of channels, wired and wireless, in hotel storing everything on a secure on the rooms, from their home, from their cars, Web. Don’t try to synchronize devices. Don’t from coffee shops, over all kinds of devices, try to make sure all of your various dialing ranging from smart phone and other directories and things are up-to-date, handhelds, up to regular notebook type because it’s a hard thing to guarantee in computers. It’s going to be difficult, I think, every given case. Instead, keep your data’s in the future to come up with a strategy that central repository and synchronize when you allows a single device to do it all. We call that absolutely need to. the single device paradox. Ultimately, the way we make the decision is My personal arsenal consists of several the same as the question of applications. different smart phones, a number of What application is most appropriate to what netbooks, and a number of notebooks, and I platform? If you’re doing quick and dirty Web grab the one that is most appropriate to what access or you’re talking to somebody, a I will be doing when I’m out of the office. handset is fine. If you’re doing regular office- That’s what it boils down to: picking the best level computing tasks, running full blown tool for the job. Netbooks shouldn’t be office suites, dealing with lots and lots of thought of as a consolation prize -- data, a notebook is probably a better choice. something that you get when you don’t But for the nice sweet spot in the middle, deserve a notebook -- because, again, there is where you’re optimizing for mobility, some overlap with the notebook market. A portability, convenience, and you have lot people who get netbooks prefer them enough computer power and storage to get anyway. People like me would much rather most things done, then the netbook is the have a netbook for a lot of things that they do way to go. I wouldn’t recommend a netbook in the field because the size and weight really as the only computer for somebody who does matter. I like being able to carry something a lot of computer work day in and day out. that isn’t going to break my back when I’m on For casual use, for on the road use, as a the road. dinghy or a launch for your flagship notebook, a netbook makes perfect sense. What we want to do, of course, is make people productive. People cost more than The Era of Info-centricity PCs. People cost more than networks. So, the question is “What is the right combination of Another way to approach the decision of devices that’s really going to work for a netbook versus notebook is to consider the user?” It’s unlikely that any single tool is information your users are working with. Ask going to work for everybody in any given yourself, “What’s the best way to deal with

8 IT Briefing: Netbooks vs. Notebooks: Matching Systems Form to Function in the Enterprise Sponsored By: information?” I like to refer to the When you move to a highly mobile computational era that we’re in today as one environment, you deal with lots of different of info-centricity. We’re starting to think kinds of devices. We start to think about our along the lines of designing IT solutions computational environment somewhat around information and not around differently. First of all, we think about the computers. Start with the information and information that we have to manage. What’s figure out what kind of computers make the the best way to deal with it on the device I most sense. happen to have at hand? Browsers become much more important inside of a universal I got my start during the mainframe era when client, or desktop virtualization becomes you bought a computer and you built more important. We start to think about everything around it. The computer really anytime/anywhere access and, very mattered. The wonderful thing about the PC importantly, cloud computing or Web is it standardized the platforms that we all computing; the idea of moving a lot of our use. I call that the application-centric era resources into the cloud so that any device because we had PCs, we had Windows, we that’s compatible in terms of its adherence to had Microsoft Office, and we had a particular standard, say as a browser or at standardized browsers. It was very easy to the operating system level, is more than build solutions. usable when we’re on the road. If I don’t have

Figure 5

The Era of Infocentricity – The Increasing Value of Information 1960s/70s 1980s/90s 2000+ Compu-Centric Application-Centric Info-Centric

• Computers matter • Appl ications matter • Infor mati on matters • Customapplications • Standard applications • Browsers matter • Universal clients? •Anytime/anywhere access • Cloud/Web computing • Continuous connectivity

Source: Farp oin t Group

9 IT Briefing: Netbooks vs. Notebooks: Matching Systems Form to Function in the Enterprise Sponsored By: my notebook or netbook with me and I need Operating System: Linux vs. Windows to do something, will I be able to do it with my handset, and the answer is yes. It’s just A lot of netbooks, of course, are based on not as convenient. It’s a little bit more work. Linux instead of Windows, which is the It’s definitely harder to type. It’s harder to overwhelming business standard. But what see. we’ve seen in recent years is that Linux is becoming quite capable of supporting a wide We’re moving into an era of what I like to call variety of mobile applications, working on continuous connectivity. We will be able to ordinary PCs just as Windows does. Linux rely on network access a lot more than we has one big advantage, and that is that it’s have in the past and so the value of our free. There are some very good distributions individual subscriber units, the particular that one can obtain at no charge, but there computer or mobile device we have with us are a lot of different versions and people do at any given moment in time, is a function of find that confusing. Linux is often viewed as connectivity more than it is of the nature of being complex and hard to use, but I don’t the device itself. Again, that being said, for a think that’s at all true. Some newer lot of people they’re going to need higher distributions are available. , for performance processing than what you can example, is particularly easy to use and do in a handset or in a netbook. But, over install. time, as we become more Web-centric, an incredible array of devices will be available, A lot of people have looked at Linux as a and that’s one of the reasons why the counterculture or anti-mainstream success of the netbook is assured over time. alternative, the anti-authoritarian computing environment if you will. People that don’t The fact that we’re moving more of our want to use a Microsoft operating system are computational resources -- processors and happier with Linux. A lot of college students storage -- into the cloud enables us to go learn computing on Linux, and they’re very after that processor capability and the data happy using it. You can run Windows that is operated on, on those processors, on applications on Linux in some cases, but a much wider variety of devices. When you usually not, and so people looking for more think about it, a desktop-class browser on a of the canned, self-contained environment tiny device, be it a handset or a netbook, was will want a Windows environment instead. inconceivable a few years ago, and now it’s Firefox is available on many implementations the way many of us work. I routinely use of Linux, and it gives you the same experience Firefox on many different kinds of computers, with exactly the same browser that you would and it’s not available on a handset but we’ve be running in a desktop or typical notebook got some very good, almost equivalent environment. In general Linux is also a browsers available. lightweight operating system so it runs well on netbooks.

10 IT Briefing: Netbooks vs. Notebooks: Matching Systems Form to Function in the Enterprise Sponsored By: I think Linux has the potential to become circumstances, and then what to do in the much more popular as more applications event of a breach. This is particularly become available for it and as this aura of important in the era of Sarbanes-Oxley and difficulty-of-use dissipates. I think Linux HIPAA, and the other regulations that makes sense for a lot of people. The difficulty various industries have regarding the we may run into is what we’re calling the compromise of customer and consumer iPhone model, and that is where you have a data. In general, implementing a good relatively closed system. Applications run security plan is not hard. Encrypt files. Use only on a particular platform. That’s not what virtual private networks. Have a strong the enterprise is looking for in general. It authentication, authorization, and might be OK on handsets, but not on accounting mechanism. netbooks or notebooks used by the enterprise. We generally find that the best place to start, once you have your security policy in place, is And yet, despite the benefits of Linux, I think with culture. Make sure everybody is aware of we’ll find that Windows 7 is the platform of why it’s important to protect information, choice on netbooks going forward, and that what information is sensitive, and who we really won’t think of netbooks as a should have access to it. Read them the separate and distinct class once that security policy. Train them on what the happens. They’ll simply be a smaller, less opportunities and problems could be. expensive notebook that’s capable of Provide good help and support. Make sure handling most corporate or enterprise tasks. you have an acceptable use policy in place that protects the company against Netbooks and Security malfeasants that might be committed by someone using one of your PCs out in the While there are always security risks, I don’t field. Make sure you have employee see netbooks as having any particular impact agreements in place, and that they are on enterprise security. They’re really just reviewed and are up-to-date. another PC. As long as you have a good firewall system and management strategies But, like I said, netbooks really won’t affect in place, you’ll be in good shape. your security posture one way or the other. In fact, if I were to sum this up, if this is a What you need to start with, and we always typical wireless or mobile security value recommend this, is a good security policy, chain, you’ve got users out there in the field and a lot of companies don’t have this, but on the one hand. On the other hand, you it’s really just a simple document that defines have the resources they want to access. In sensitive information relative to the the middle you have a lot of intervening company, how it should be protected, who technology: maybe a wireless LAN or a carrier should have access to it and under what network. You almost certainly have the

11 IT Briefing: Netbooks vs. Notebooks: Matching Systems Form to Function in the Enterprise Sponsored By: Internet acting as transport, connecting the the business portion of their use of the disparate ends of the network together. You device, be it voice or data. this You do want have your own enterprise network and the to make sure training and support plans and firewall. They get into that, and then of procedures are up-to-date and working, and course all of those servers and everything. that users are happy. IT is about productivity. But, here’s the strategy: Encrypt sensitive It’s about making users productive. We just data. Make sure that only authorized users happen to use computers and networks as can get to it. Force users to authenticate in our vehicles for making that happen, but the order to get access to that information. Use a bottom line is the productivity of individuals. virtual private network between the two And, when it comes to this whole area of endpoints. You’re all set. It doesn’t matter if mobile device management, which is a very you’re using a netbook, a notebook, or a important emerging area that’s typically handset. This strategy will work for associated with handsets, we’re starting to everything. find that netbooks fit in very nicely.

Netbooks can fit very nicely into what we call Mobile Device Management Lifecycle a personal liability plan because of their low price. Instead of buying PCs for users, you The impact netbooks have on lifecycle give them a sum of cash to buy a PC off a pre- management, such as deployment and approved list and even reimburse them for provisioning, is minimal. Assuming that you Figure 6

The Mobile Security Value Chain

Authenticate Authenticate Subscriber Units Enterprise Wireless Network Server Network Internet

Airlink

E nd-to-E nd En cryp t (VPN) Encrypt

Source: Farp oin t Group

12 IT Briefing: Netbooks vs. Notebooks: Matching Systems Form to Function in the Enterprise Sponsored By: are getting that boost in productivity and you area. Again, the good news, the fact that can measure the value that the computer we’re using netbooks really shouldn’t have contributes, you’re in good shape. There’s a any impact on this at all. lot to be done, but most of it needs to be taken care of on any platform: provisioning, Conclusion configuration, cost accounting and management, backup, security, asset As we move forward, I think both netbooks management, etc. The goals are the same, and notebooks will prosper. I think netbooks too: minimize operating expense, and make are going to have another good year in 2010 sure you have the right tool for the job. with high sales, in both the consumer channel as well as into the enterprise There may be a question about whether a channel. We’ll also see a new generation of particular service is provided by a carrier or processors coming along so the performance by the enterprise in terms of management issue will be addressed to some degree. capability. There are very few standards in the Along with that, you’ll see upgrades in main mobile device management space today. The memory, RAM, and storage, both solid state open mobile alliance has a device and hard drive. And, of course, Windows 7 management specification that they are will run on these as well. So, you are promoting and some vendors have adopted essentially looking at a little notebook. that, but this is still very much an emerging Netbooks as a separate and distinct category Figure 7

Mobile Device Management Lifecycle

Provisioning and Updates Security, Integrity. Asset Management Configuration Management Help and Troubleshooting Deactivation/ Zapping Backup/ Logging and Restore/ Reporting Synchronization Cost Accounting So urce: and Policy Farpoint Group Management Enforcement

13 IT Briefing: Netbooks vs. Notebooks: Matching Systems Form to Function in the Enterprise Sponsored By: will begin to fade to a great degree in the think we’ll still be carrying multiple devices minds of many enterprise IT managers. The around for quite some time into the future. future is extremely bright for computers overall. We’re not talking about an enormous paradigm shift here. As we begin to look at cloud computing, we’re still going to be carrying mobile computers with us, and I

14 IT Briefing: Netbooks vs. Notebooks: Matching Systems Form to Function in the Enterprise Sponsored By: Common Questions

Question: Can you expand on the benefits of But, if you’re looking for a very good OS to running Ubuntu on netbooks? run on essentially any PC that’s going to be used primarily in a Web environment or to Answer: Ubuntu is one of the most popular run Linux applications, it’s terrific! distributions of Linux. It’s free. It is extremely easy to install. We’ve put it on a wide variety Question: What is the best DVD device for a of computers that we have here, including netbook? ones that we’ve built from scratch. We’ve had Answer: You won’t be able to power the DVD very few compatibility problems with it. There device, in most cases, from the USB port are various editions that come out every year. without quickly draining the battery. So you Support varies, so you need to be a little care- want to look for an external DVD drive that ful about which one you install. There are a has a built-in battery, and many of them do. lot of support channels that are available, a That being the case, it’s a question of which lot of consultants, books, and tutorials on the software to use. Ubuntu has a media player, Web, so I wouldn’t worry about the stability but of course on Windows, which is what or utility of Ubuntu. most people are going to be using, the driv- On the other hand, Ubuntu may not be a ers are all included now, and you won’t have good choice for Windows buffs. It might be any trouble playing a movie or loading soft- more difficult to manage. It will definitely rep- ware, whatever it is you want to do. resent some additional support overhead.

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15 IT Briefing: Netbooks vs. Notebooks: Matching Systems Form to Function in the Enterprise Sponsored By: