HP has announced global availability of its Consolidated Client Infrastructure (CCI), enabling customers in the UK and elsewhere to cut IT support overheads by centralising desktops into server rooms.

CCI replaces standard desktops with blade PCs in a rack-mounted enclosure, typically accessed via a thin client on each user’s desk. This architecture, available in the US for some time, can reduce management costs by 50 percent over four years, HP said.

The company is making CCI available globally in response to customer requests, according to Neil Dallison, HP’s business manager for thin-client solutions in Europe.

“There’s been a lot of interest from large accounts, who want worldwide deployment in all geographies they have a presence,” he said. Pilot rollouts are already underway in Europe.

CCI is an alternative to using server-based Citrix accounts or virtual machines, Dallison said, with the advantage of offering a physical rather than a software-based solution. It cuts support costs by practically eliminating desk-side visits.

Management tools allow a user to be switched automatically to a new blade if theirs fails. HP’s chief rival in this field is ClearCube Technology, which pioneered blade PCs.

HP’s blade PCs are based on a 1GHz AMD Athlon 64 processor with up to 2GB memory. Purchase costs for a deployment work out at about $1,400 (£717) per user while management costs are about $700 (£360) per user per year, or half that of a standard desktop, HP said.

HP also unveiled two thin clients as part of its CCI line-up. The £200 HP Compaq t5530 is an entry level Windows-based terminal, while the £179 HP Compaq t5135 is able to configure itself from server-based settings at power-on.