ARCHIVED: Completed project: Leveraged Services Thin Client

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Primary UITS contact: Pete Bucklin

Completed: August 7, 2013

Team lead: Chris Calabrese

Description: The Leveraged Services Thin Client project seeks to explore the feasibility of using thin clients in conjunction with client virtualization to deliver IUanyWare applications to students, faculty, and staff.

Executive summary: Leveraged Services, Security, and Purchasing offices reviewed a number of thin clients in order to identify the best solution for Indiana University. We considered a number of different factors, including price, performance, functionality, and security. We have selected the Dell Wyse R10L to deploy into the field, in order to achieve additional testing and feedback.

We have collaborated with STC Operations, UITS directors, and the ITMC to identify interest and develop a schedule for initial testing. We will use a variety of metrics to assess viability and help determine an appropriate production implementation strategy.

Metrics:

  • Individual interviews
  • Follow-up surveys (see example)
  • Focus groups
  • User Experience Group testing
  • Comparison of login data on thin clients vs. conventional desktops in the same locations

Timeline:

  • November 12-16, 2012 Completed
    • Receive thin client shipment
  • November 26-30, 2012 Completed
    • Inventory thin clients
    • Set up and configure 20 thin clients for deployment in staging environment
    • Migrate thin client management server from physical host to Intelligent Infrastructure
    • Create test environment on management server
    • Create staging environment on management server
  • December 3-7, 2012 Completed, except as noted
    • Set up and configure 30 units for STC Operations (delayed - TBD)
    • Deploy 3 thin clients to Marc Wilson for ISTM
    • Deploy 5 thin clients to Bernadette de Leon at School of Public Health
    • Deploy 3 thin clients to Charlie McClary at Recreational Sports
    • Deploy 3 thin clients to Ulrik Knudsen at the College of Arts and Sciences
    • Deploy 1 thin client to Lisa Brown at UITS (migrating off desktop PC)
    • Deploy 2 thin clients to Momi Ford at UITS Support Center
    • Deploy 1 thin client to John Weakley at UITS Enterprise Infrastructure
    • Deploy 2 thin clients to Joe Husk at UITS EITS
  • December 10-14, 2012 Completed, except as noted
    • Work with Network Operations to insert network tags for automatic configuration of thin clients (delayed, ongoing)
    • Implement printing solution for CIB print queue
    • Implement printing solution for IUB student print queue
    • Implement printing solution for IUPUI student print queue
  • December 17-21, 2012 Completed
    • Set up, configure, and deploy 15 units for STC Operations at IUPUI
    • Set up, configure, and deploy 15 units for STC Operations at IUB
    • Follow up with all thin client deployments to determine where they are and who is doing the testing
    • Deploy 5 thin clients to IUB Union Room 099
    • Deploy 4 thin clients to IUB Psychology Room 199
    • Deploy 6 thin clients to IUB Psychology Room 199B
    • Deploy 10 thin clients to IUPUI CA 199
    • Deploy 4 thin clients to IUPUI IT 4
    • Determine User Experience Group
    • Determine focus groups and strategy
  • January 7-11, 2013 Completed
    • Follow up with all thin client deployments to determine where they are and who is doing the testing
    • Review and develop specific questions for individual interviews
    • Determine additional surveys or survey questions necessary
  • January 14-18, 2013 Completed
    • Perform individual interviews
  • January 21-25, 2013 Completed
    • Perform individual interviews
  • January 28-February 1, 2013 Completed
    • Perform individual interviews
    • Perform User Experience Group testing
  • February 4-8, 2013
    • Submit surveys
    • Perform individual interviews (ongoing)
    • Perform focus group study
  • February 11-15, 2013 Completed
    • Perform individual interviews
    • Perform User Experience Group testing
  • February 18-22, 2013 Completed
    • Perform individual interviews
    • Perform focus group study
  • February 25-March 1, 2013 Completed
    • Submit final surveys
  • March 4-8, 2013 Completed
    • Perform comparison of login data
    • Collect and analyze survey data, interview data, focus group data, and User Group testing data
  • March 18-22, 2013 Completed
    • Organize data
    • Begin draft for final report
  • March 25-29, 2013
    • Deliver draft report to Sue Workman and Duane Schau
  • April 2013 - Additional deployment locations:
    • Deploy 4 thin clients to Scott Murray at the School of Informatics and Computing - Completed
    • Deploy 1 thin client to Cathy O'Bryan at UITS Support Center - Completed
    • Deploy 5 thin clients to Todd Duke at IU East - Completed
  • May 10-17, 2013
    • Thin client security enhancement - Completed
    • Client image - Completed
    • Re-inventory of client deployment - Completed
    • Update inventory and confirm - Completed
    • Evaluate new thin client models
    • Working with vendor to further customize user experience
    • Delivery of final report scheduled for May 17, 2013 - Completed
  • June - July 2013
    • Evaluating the Wyse D10D thin client as a possible future default device - Completed
    • Testing of version 8.0.37 firmware for current R10L devices - Completed
  • August 2013
    • Purchased 200 additional thin client machines to replace existing express mail stations at IUB. In production by fall 2013.
    • Fifty thin clients will be deployed at IUPUI. In production by fall 2013.
    • The Wyse Device Manager portal will be renamed to thinclient.iu.edu with ssl security.

Survey:

Screenshot of survey questions

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Last modified on 2018-01-18 17:33:28.