Research Brief

 

Intel Sets Goal of Reducing PC Support Costs

Intel Drives Initiative to Reduce Cost of PC Support- Intel Corporation is taking a leadership position in reducing the cost of PC support. At its recent Wired for Management initiative in New York, Intel announce new PC management products and an overall strategy for reducing PC support costs by an average of 15% during the next year, with further savings over the following years. Key to Intel’s strategy is a suite of software and hardware pieces that can be used to provide PC and network management.

 

Workgroup Strategic Services’ Analysis

Intel is tackling one of the most challenging areas for network or system administrators. The cost of the actual hardware components of a PC or server make up only one third of the total lifetime cost of the system. Training and service and support make up the remaining tow thirds of the money spent to maintain a network. Workgroup Strategic Services finds it interesting that the one entity that contributed most to the margin erosion and price reduction for the hardware components of a personal computer and server is now turning its attention to the service and support element for Intel based computers. CA-Unicenter TNG links will allow Intel to coexist with heterogeneous networks without any reduction in manageability.

Intel is very intelligently moving toward more hardware integration within its processor families. New multimedia features will be offered soon in both Pentium and Pentium Pro chipsets. Workgroup Strategic Services also expects to see higher levels of networked management incorporated within the Intel hardware architecture, combined with additional functionality to the LANDesk suite of applications as it works with Computer Associates on Unicenter TNG. Intel will also incorporate future enhancements to the DMI standard.

Intel has clearly aligned itself with players targeting high level enterprise solutions. Within that very competitive area, Intel is providing the tools that allow it to coexist with other computing platforms. Given its price performance and increased manageability, Intel is making it very hard for IS managers to ignore its platform.

 

Announcement Highlights

Within the Wired for Management initiative, Intel will focus on three areas:
  1. Specific hardware components that will monitor the PC environment and make it easier for network management software to recognize each node and its configuration. Intel is also offering a hardware monitoring chip for its motherboards to provide information about the PC environment including temperature and voltage usage. This information is available to the LANDesk Client Manger application that monitors and responds to any problems with the desktop MC. Intel also announced new Pentium Pro based servers that incorporate built-in management software and hardware components to allow easier remote diagnostics, monitoring and repair of the system.
  2. Greater desktop management capabilities via tools to remotely install, configure, repair, and manage PC across a network. Intel announced it LANDesk Support Center at the New York meeting, part of its LANDesk suite of applications that also includes LANDesk Configuration Manager and LANDesk Server Manager PRO. LANDesk Support Center uses the Desktop Management Interface (DMI) standard to allow for remote PZC and server diagnostics and repair. Configuration Manager lets network managers remotely ins tall operating systems for PCs on the network based on the specific configuration of the computer without building a desktop configuration for each machine.
  3. Integration tools to allow enterprise systems to better manage PCs and servers. Computer Associates, developer of tone of the most robust network management applications on the market, and Intel will also be working together to provide integration between the LANDesk Server Manager PRO and CA’s Unicenter TNG. Intel is also partnering with high end database provider Tivoli Systems to develop end to end solutions integrating enterprise and workgroup management.