Lenovo is one of Microsoft’s key Windows partners and today the Chinese company has dropped two significant pieces of news. The first its first ever PC as a Service (PCaaS) initiative, which follows similar programs created by Microsoft and HP. Secondly, Lenovo has introduced a new ThinkStation PC.
PC as a Service is a pay monthly scheme for PC purchase. It allows business customers to effectively ‘rent’ a PC on a month subscription plan. This is different to the consumer model of paying monthly with credit, as this is very much a rental solution.
It allows organizations to get machines without having to outlay huge sums of money outright. Lenovo’s take on the PCaaS concept lets customers combine PC hardware and other services under a monthly subscription. The company also throws in management of the PCs.
Like other similar programs, Lenovo wants to entice customers to upgrade. However, the company is also removing the initial sting of largescale upgrades. By adding support, software, and management, the PCaaS gives organizations one subscription model that can cover multiple needs.
Under the program, businesses get configuration of the PCs, regulation compliance, and security. Lenovo says customers can use the service across all its PC products. This includes PCs, workstations, tablets, and laptops.
Microsoft has previously launched a similar scheme. Called Surface as a Service, the program allows customers to buy the Surface hardware through a subscription model. This is similar to how Microsoft sells services like Windows, Azure, and Office 365 to corporate clients.
New Lenovo ThinkStation
Lenovo also today unveiled the new ThinkStation P320 Tiny. It’s all in the name really, as this workstation PC is all about being compact. Indeed, the Chinese giant says this is the smallest ISV-certified workstation currently available.
Size does matter in this case it seems and the P320 Tiny measures 35 x 179 x 183mm (W x D x H) and weighs just over 1.3kg. For its size, it is well stocked with up to Core i7 Kaby Lake processors, up to 32GB of RAM, storage up to a pair of NVMe SSDs (1TB), and a Nvidia Quadro P600 GPU.
Lenovo is offering the ThinkStation P320 with Windows 10, Windows 7, or Linux. The machine is available today and costs $849.
