(Nashville, Tenn) - Clients who visit Goodwill's Career Solutions offices often need help updating resumes, doing online job searches and learning basic computer skills. Counselors work with their clients in computer labs located at each of the company's 15 Career Solutions offices throughout middle and west Tennessee. In order to stay current with the latest software and hardware, Goodwill's IT team has started updating the computer labs with NComputing, a green technology which upgrades the computers with the latest operating systems, Microsoft Office packages and video options.
Director of IT, Ed O'Kelley, says, "This conversion means saying goodbye to expensive PC replacement cycles. Our Career Solutions labs will be equipped with modern training and job search technology. NComputing requires only a single PC to be updated by the IT department and then the entire lab is completely up-to-date."
"Today's PCs are so powerful that most people use less than 10 percent of a computer's power. "NComputing takes advantage of that untapped power and makes it available to several users who share the resources of a single computer," says O'Kelley. He adds, "NComputing technology will allow our Career Solutions centers to deliver the same technology and tools that our clients will later utilize as employees at most companies."
The IT team has already completed the conversion to NComputing at the Franklin Career Solutions computer lab and the Shelbyville lab. This new system allows as many as 30 computers to run off a single operating system which reduces the need for IT support at each lab. Trainers are also able to view all PCs in the lab on a single computer including client Internet searches. Ncomputing allows clients to download resumes and other documents onto a USB giving them the ability to work on their documents at home or another location.
The conversion to NComputing will save costs for our Goodwill on several fronts. O'Kelley estimates a 42 percent savings for Goodwill on hardware and a 90 percent decrease in energy consumption. "The savings in electricity alone will pay for the initial start-up costs," says O'Kelley. The conversion to NComputing at all 15 Career Solutions labs, including the two 20-seat computer training classrooms in the new Career Solutions building, will be done in phases and will be based on the age of each center's equipment. It's expected that it will take two years to complete the conversion.
About Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee, Inc.
For more than 50 years Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee has provided job training and job placement free of charge to people with disabilities or other barriers to employment through the sale of donated items. Goodwill has served 5,388 people through May 2009 in middle and west Tennessee and placed 988 clients in jobs. For more information about Goodwill's Career Solutions, retail stores, and donation centers, please visit www.giveit2goodwill.org or call 1-800-545-9231.
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