Solution Brief Managed Workplace* Intel® vPro™ Technology
Level Platforms Managed Workplace* and PCs with Intel® vPro™ Technology Company
LPI Level Platforms Inc., founded in 1999, is a privately held company with more than 1,500 MSP customers, and over 40,000 small businesses under service-contract subscription.
Business Challenge
Reduce on-site service calls and improve revenue margins for MSPs by improving remote monitoring and management of multiple networks and devices.
Technology Solution
Managed Workplace*
Enhanced By
Intel® vPro™ technology
Improved monitoring and asset discovery to reduce truck rolls and improve automation Level Platforms is working with Intel to develop improved remote services for managed service providers (MSPs) that address the small- and mid-size business market. Level Platforms' enhanced services are based on powerful new hardware capabilities built into PCs with Intel® vPro™ technology. The capabilities in these PCs include “always-available” remote communication, remote power-up, and tamper-resistant, nonvolatile memory for storage of critical system information. With these capabilities, MSPs can use Level Platforms Managed Workplace* to remotely power up and power down PCs, collect alerts and events, and discover PCs, regardless of the PC power state or the state of the operating system (OS). When used on PCs with Intel vPro technology, Managed Workplace allows MSPs to shift more processes from field technicians to “bench” technicians at the MSP service center. In turn, this will allow MSPs to improve efficiencies, perform more work off-hours, automate more processes, and improve revenue margins.
Today’s challenge
Improved discovery — even if PC power is off
In the small-business service environment, there are no simple
In a flat-fee service model, revenue generation requires accurate
deskside visits. Every service call is a costly and time-consuming
invoicing. However, small-business customers are often in a state of
technician dispatch (called a “truck roll”) to a remote customer site.
flux. Assets are moved, some systems are sold or go missing, while
For example, issues that traditionally require a truck roll include
other, new PCs are added to the environment as new employees
discovery and monitoring of a PC that won’t boot, software updates
are hired.
for a PC that is powered off, and asset inventory for a PC whose management software was accidentally — or deliberately — removed.
The service problem in this changing environment is that communication with today’s PCs is processed through the software stack in
The main challenge in reducing truck rolls to customer sites is that
the OS. There are many conditions under which the software stack,
the MSP agent cannot poll, monitor, collect data from, or commu-
and thus the PC, might become unavailable. For example, an agent
nicate with PCs that are powered off or whose OS is down. When
cannot discover the PC if the system is powered off, the hard drive
a PC becomes unresponsive or goes missing from the network,
has failed, the OS is corrupted so the PC can't boot, or management
the MSP must call the customer to confirm that the asset is still in
agents have been compromised or removed.
place, ask a user to help diagnose and fix the problem, or dispatch a technician to the site for a time-consuming service visit.
One of the most powerful capabilities built into PCs with Intel vPro technology is the hardware-based remote communication channel.
Small businesses can experience significant interruption to business
This channel works “under” the OS, through the TCP/IP firmware
from such problems. Because small-business customers are also
stack, and is independent of the PC’s power state or the state of
usually on fixed-fee contracts, providing service via a truck roll is
the OS — working, compromised, or inoperative. As long as the PC
the last choice in both efficiency and cost for the MSP to perform.
is connected to a power source and plugged into the network, the
There is a critical need for tools that support better, more efficient
channel is available for remote communication with the MSP agent.
managed services from the remote MSP center. The solution: Level Platforms and Intel® vPro™ technology Level Platforms is now taking advantage of powerful new remote manageability capabilities that are built into PCs with Intel vPro technology. These hardware-based capabilities are designed to significantly improve down-the-wire services for MSPs and help reduce costly truck rolls to customer sites.
Managed Workplace can now automatically discover PCs with Intel vPro technology anytime, not just during working hours or when the PC is powered on. This helps improve the accuracy of asset tracking, reporting, and invoicing. The result is greater visibility of the customer’s systems for improved monitoring, maintenance, and repair. Increasing revenue margins with more accurate
For example, remote management capabilities in these PCs include
asset tracking
an “always-available” communication channel, remote power-up
One of the main challenges in servicing PCs is keeping track of
capability, proactive alerting, access to preboot BIOS settings, and
hardware and software assets. To help resolve this problem, PCs
persistent asset and configuration information. Because these
with Intel vPro technology store hardware asset information, soft-
capabilities are based in hardware and firmware, they are available
ware version information, and system configuration information in
to authorized MSP technicians even if PC power is off, the OS is
nonvolatile memory. This information is persistent, regardless of PC
down, or the PC’s software agents are missing. This not only helps
power state or the state of the OS.
eliminate truck rolls, but also reduces the need for users to participate in many IT processes. The result is greater efficiency both at the service center and for the customer’s workers.
With persistent memory and “always-available” communication in PCs with Intel vPro technology, Managed Workplace can collect asset information anytime. This includes component manufacturer
Extensive new features in Managed Workplace are taking full
and model (such as hard drive capacity), BIOS configuration settings,
advantage of Intel vPro technology to help MSPs automate more
system ID, .DAT file information, and virus-scan version numbers.
processes. This will help MSPs perform work more efficiently
This information helps service technicians quickly and accurately
and shift more work off-hours, when it won’t interfere with
identify software that needs updating, or hardware components
customer productivity. Service quality, not just service margins,
that might need maintenance or repair. The result can be reduced
can be improved.
truck rolls and greater service efficiencies, with less downtime for users.
Improved asset tracking also enhances other service opportunities for MSPs. For example, MSPs can use access to persistent asset information to improve depreciation and financial tasks. This could include upgrade planning, improved software license tracking, and end-of-life planning for assets. A new level of monitoring PCs In today’s environment, the MSP agent is dependent on the OS for alerts and platform event traps (PETs). When hardware malfunctions or a PC becomes otherwise unresponsive, alerts which would
S O LU T I O N B E N E F I T S • Reduced truck rolls and improved service efficiency • Effective discovery even for PCs that are powered off or whose OS is not responding • More accurate asset inventories with persistent, “always-available” information
typically indicate a potential or immediate problem cannot be collected. Instead, the MSP must usually dispatch a technician to the customer site to diagnose the problem. PCs with Intel vPro technology store event logs, not just asset information, in persistent, nonvolatile memory. Events — such as a
• Enhanced monitoring of PCs through improved, remote alerting • Increased automation for discovery, monitoring, and maintenance processes
hardware failure — with critical severity levels can now be collected and quickly passed to the MSP service center, regardless of PC power state or the state of the OS.
Improved remote management, such as remote power-up, asset tracking, monitoring, and updates, can have a significant impact on
Managed Workplace is taking full advantage of this capability to expand its ability to remotely monitor more PCs. For example, an MSP technician can now use Managed Workplace to monitor power-on self-test (POST) events as the system boots, before the OS has launched. When Managed Workplace identifies a potential problem, such as excessive hard-disk utilization, the technician can investigate and schedule maintenance or repair before the issue
MSP service efficiencies. For example, Level Platforms recently conducted a study of MSP partners. The study concluded that MSPs who used remote monitoring for businesses with fewer than 50 PCs per site save more than 5 hours per month per customer.1 Level Platforms expects the new capabilities in Intel vPro technology to drive this number higher as MSPs use even more remote services to improve labor costs.
becomes serious enough to bring down the user’s PC. Summary Updating software automatically and off-hours The main challenge in performing software updates is dealing with PCs that are powered off during the update cycle. Today, many MSPs must accept a hit-or-miss method for updates, upgrades, and application migrations. PCs with Intel vPro technology address this issue with a built-in remote power-up capability that allows an authorized technician to power up, power down, and reset PCs from the central service center.
With the combination of Managed Workplace and Intel vPro technology, MSPs are no longer limited by the power state of the PC or the state of the OS. Instead, MSPs can perform more tasks off-hours, such as back-ups for critical data, regular BIOS updates, disk defragmentation, and other management tasks. In addition, by deploying PCs with the new Intel vPro technology capabilities, MSPs can use Managed Workplace to automate more processes, from asset tracking to software updates. This can help MSPs not only
Managed Workplace can now remotely identify and manage the
reduce service costs and eliminate many truck rolls, but can also
power state of a PC with Intel vPro technology. If the PC is off, a
help improve revenue margins.
technician can use the remote power-up capability to power the system up. The technician can then install the patch and return the PC to the state in which the user left it: on, off, hibernating, or sleeping. This is a new capability that helps eliminate a significant percentage of truck rolls related to both software updates and problem resolution. Because PCs can now be powered on remotely, more of these tasks can be performed off-hours, when they don’t interfere with the customer’s business.
MSPs can now provide critical services without interrupting users, and even expand service offerings in a more cost-effective service model. By improving the efficiency of both field and bench technicians, MSPs also increase customer satisfaction and the retention of small-business clients.
For more information PCs with Intel vPro technology give IT administrators critical, hardware-based security and manageability capabilities not available in software-only solutions. When provisioned with third-party software, these PCs can be managed directly from the management console, regardless of their power state or the health of their OS.2 For more information about how the capabilities of Intel vPro technology improve remote management for desktop PCs, refer to the white paper, “A New Level of Remote Managed Services for PCs in Small-Business Environments,” May 2006, Intel. For more information about Intel vPro technology, visit www.intel.com/vpro For more information about Level Platforms, visit www.levelplatforms.com
1
Source: the Level Platforms study titled, “Management Services: Cost Savings for Solution Providers,” June 2006, LPI Level Platforms, Inc.
2
PCs with Intel® vPro™ technology include Intel® Active Management Technology (Intel® AMT). Intel AMT requires the computer to have an Intel AMT-enabled chipset, network hardware and software, connection with a power source, and a network connection.
*Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others. Copyright © 2006 Intel Corporation. All rights reserved. Intel, the Intel logo, Intel. Leap ahead., the Intel. Leap ahead. logo, and Intel vPro are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. Printed in USA
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