Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the task of managing dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of PCs across your organization? You likely have better things to do with your time than physically touch each PC to install updates or troubleshoot issues. What if there was a way to manage all those PCs from a single remote location without having to lay hands on each one? That’s where Intel comes in.
Intel vPro is a set of technologies built into Intel-based business PCs that gives you extensive remote management capabilities. By leveraging these vPro features, you can spend less time hands-on with devices and more time focusing on strategic initiatives that move your organization forward.
In this blog post, we’ll explore eight key ways that Intel vPro can simplify and streamline your overall PC management efforts
1. Remote Manageability
One of the biggest benefits of Intel vPro is its remote manageability capabilities. With vPro, you can remotely access, update, and troubleshoot PCs, even when they’re powered down. No matter where employees are located, whether in the office or working from home, you have full remote access and control.
You can remotely boot into the UEFI/BIOS, operate virtual media such as mounting an ISO file, and remotely control the mouse, keyboard, and screen. This allows you to fix issues without having to roll a truck. You can also remotely deploy updates, patches, and new images from a central location. Say goodbye to traveling to different offices just to update a few PCs!
2. Hardware-Based Security
Intel vPro takes device security to the next level by building protections directly into the CPU chip itself. Features like measured boot and Intel Authenticate establish a virtual fortress at the foundation of the device, hardening it against even advanced low-level attacks.
- The measured boot acts as a digital bouncer, verifying each part of the startup process to ensure nothing has been tampered with. It checks the firmware, BIOS, and early boot components to make absolutely certain the device is booting into a trusted state. This prevents firmware rootkits or other boot sector viruses from hijacking the process unseen.
- Intel Authenticate then strengthens the walls, using the chip’s encryption engine to authenticate every link in the chain up to the OS. It cryptographically confirms the identity of the CPU, BIOS, and other components to their software counterparts. Hackers can no longer bypass security by spoofing or impersonating these crucial components.
3. Enhanced Manageability Tools
Intel vPro works with major remote management and monitoring tools from vendors like Microsoft, IBM, and VMware. It integrates with solutions like Microsoft Endpoint Manager, IBM BigFix, and VMware Workspace ONE to deliver enhanced capabilities. For example, vPro allows these tools to remotely manage PCs even when they’re powered off.
It also provides more in-depth hardware, BIOS inventory and configuration details. You gain a single pane of glass to manage both software and hardware across all your PCs from these robust third-party platforms.
4. Built-In Performance Monitoring
Intel vPro has built-in performance monitoring capabilities, so you stay on top of how your PCs are performing over time. It provides out-of-band monitoring of key hardware metrics like CPU and memory usage, temperature readings, and more. You receive alerts if performance degrades or hardware issues like fans failing start to emerge.
Early detection of performance problems allows you to proactively address issues before they impact productivity. It also allows you to optimize hardware deployments based on real-world usage data from vPro’s monitoring.
5.Streamlined Deployments
Intel vPro makes it easier than ever to deploy and configure new PCs within your organization. Its built-in vPro Setup utility simplifies mass deployment of BIOS, firmware, and driver updates. You can automate the deployment of images, applications, and settings to a whole fleet of PCs with a single command. No more manually configuring each device one by one.
You also gain features like vPro Setup and Configuration Manager that let you remotely apply BIOS and firmware settings to standardize your PC environment. Deployments that used to take days can now be completed in hours. By leveraging features like remote access, automated updates, and streamlined deployments, you save valuable time that can be better spent on strategic business objectives.
6. Improved Security Updates
With Intel vPro, you receive automated alerts about the latest BIOS, firmware, and driver updates from Intel.
- These low-level updates are critical for addressing security vulnerabilities but are often overlooked.
- vPro makes it simple to remotely install any available updates with a click. The hardware-based security protections in vPro also shield you from certain types of firmware attacks.
- You gain robust, automatic visibility and remediation of low-level security issues that traditional software-only tools can miss.
Staying up-to-date on the latest vPro firmware releases ensures your PCs benefit from proactive vulnerability protections.
7. Simplified Warranty Management
Dell, HP, and Lenovo PCs with Intel vPro technology come with extended hardware warranties and advanced replacement options as part of their standard vPro service offerings. Rather than having to package up and ship defective devices, vPro partners let you simply request an advanced replacement.
The replacement PC arrives before you even send back the faulty one. You avoid downtime and can get employees back up and running quickly. vPro also makes it easy to look up service tags and warranty information for any PC remotely. Simplified warranty processes save you time and headaches.
8. Lower Operating Costs
When you consider the cost savings from reduced IT workload and support expenses, vPro PCs actually have a lower total cost of ownership than non-vPro devices over their lifespan.
- Features like remote manageability mean you don’t need to hire technicians to handle issues on-site.
- Built-in performance monitoring helps optimize hardware deployments. And simplified warranty processes require less administrative effort.
Over time, these efficiencies add up to significant savings versus the higher support costs associated with managing a non-vPro fleet. The upfront premium for vPro-enabled PCs pays for itself in reduced operating expenses year over year.
In Summary
Whether you manage tens, hundreds, or thousands of PCs, Intel vPro can be a game-changing technology for simplifying your overall device administration tasks. Its extensive remote management, security, and support capabilities take the hands-on work out of common PC management activities. If you want to reduce costs, improve productivity and security, and simplify PC management across your organization, exploring Intel vPro is a smart choice.
