Department of Navy computer users who primarily use software office applications are prime candidates for thin- or zero- client computing, DON Chief Information Officer Terry Halvorsen said during an Aug. 23 press availability.

Halvorsen has advocated as a cost-saving measure a shift away from computers fully loaded with memory, storage and software--the personal computer model in near total hegemony for the last three decades--in favor of low-powered machines that access applications through a network connection and have minimal local capabilities. Halvorsen has said the Navy and Marine Corps must reduce spending on information technology business system by 25 percent over the next 5 years.

"We found that a lot of our users spend 90 percent of their time on office-type software," Halvorsen said. Software-as-a-service in general has become more viable, he added.  "Early applications weren't made to run on networks; they didn't work well on local-, let along wide- area networks."

Still, the potential for thin- and zero- client computing utilization is much higher for machines connected to the Defense Department non-secure internet protocol network, the NIPRNET, rather than for those connected to the department's secure internet network, the SIPRNET, Halvorsen said.

"It doesn't mean don't do it on the SIPRNET, but we think the ability to expand is much more on the NIPRNET right now," he said.

Execution of a thin- or zero- client strategy requires a robust cloud computing environment, Halvorsen added, saying that the Navy strategy there, too, is to limit data placed on commercial clouds to non-sensitive matters.

As another cost-saving measure, the DON CIO office is negotiating a departmentwide Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) software enterprise buying agreement, Halvorsen said. When the Marine Corps began negotiating such a deal for itself, Halvorsen said it became apparent that the Navy could also benefit from a single Microsoft contract. The Air Force negotiated for itself a servicewide Microsoft license in 2004, and Halvorsen said it's conceivable that the Pentagon could set up a single contract for all DoD components with a series of big software vendors.

Perhaps more immediately, Halvorsen said the Navy is also preparing other enterprise license deals with big software vendors.

The 25 percent cost reduction goal won't entail sacrifices, Halvorsen said, although it might require some modification of business processes.

"Do you really want to spend x amount of dollars to accommodate that last 10 percent of everybody's processes, or in that case does it make sense to say, 'You, change your business processes to fit the IT,'" Halvorsen said.

For more:
- listen to Halvorsen's Aug. 23 press availability

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