Samsung Electronics East Africa is partnering with technology firm Seven Seas Technologies to help its clients in Kenya reduce their operational costs by supplying virtual desktops and laptops.

The two firms plan to offer thin client solutions in Kenya for the first time to business and government organisations.

A thin client is the use of a unified server system to network multiple access devices such as personal computers, mobile phone and tablets.

And as part of the deal, Samsung has unveiled desktops and mini-laptops that have no internal Central Processing Units (CPUs) but which rely on the cloud.

“The key thing here is that organisations will be able to cut costs on hardware, infrastructure and bandwidth by between 50 to 60% ,” Seven Seas Technologies chief executive Mike Macharia told the Business Daily newspaper.

Samsung Electronics East Africa chief executive Robert Ngeru said, “Server based computing is an increasingly popular alternative to having a desktop PC in every desk. Samsung’s integrated thin client solutions provide excellent performance and value for desktop virtualization customers.”

The Samsung thin client solutions is targeted at commercial enterprises, education, healthcare, government, finance and retail sectors. The thin client solutions will be replicated by Samsung in other markets in the continent, as part of the company’s African expansion plan.

“We are targeting to grow our market base and Africa is the place. With such partnership we will not only reach a wider market faster but also tighten our grip on the enterprise market.” said Ngeru.