Question

Answer

Q1: Are there other   vendors/products that take advantage of the vPro technology, or is Symantec   exclusively doing the management for the vPro technology?

A1: Yes, there are others. In fact, we have many ISV partners that   support vPro Technology in their client management solutions. Other than   Symantec, Microsoft supports vPro in their Configuration Manager (aka SCCM)   product in the Out-of-Band Manager component. LANDesk also support vPro   Technology, as well as others.

Q2: Cleveland Clinic: How much   do you pay to purchase desktop from HP? Any minimum purchase?

A2: We buy over 5000 new pc's a year on our lifecycle process. We   have built into this process the imaging and vpro setup. The cost is volume   based, but anyone can buy a PC from HP with VPRO enablement on a one off   basis.

Q3: How could you boot a   remote system from a network ISO if the OS is down? ie no vpn client? Thanks!

A3: With the Intel vPro technology, a boot redirection can be   initiated. This allows a bootable ISO to be presented to the system. There   are online demonstrations at Intel vPro Expert Center and Symantec Connect. This   is the power of Intel vPro technology and out-of-band management. Regardless   of the host operating system state, Intel vPro technology communications can   connect to, power on\off, present a bootable ISO, and other items over the   network. The bootable ISO can be located at any accessible UNC share. There   are online demonstrations at Intel vPro Expert Center and Symantec Connect.   Example article.

Q4A: What specific kinds of   problems can be fixed remotely, if the OS isn't operating?

A4: Software problems. By booting to an ISO located somewhere on the   network, the technician has the ability to run diagnostic tools or repair   corrupt files on the local hard drive. So, specifically, a tech could fix OS   problems, perform hardware or low-level scans, boot into the BIOS to review   and change BIOS settings, etc. This ability to redirect the boot process   allows the tech to access common diagnostic tools, even if the OS won't boot!   But obviously, bad hardware cannot be fixed remotely and will require a   desk-side visit.

Q4B: OK, so maybe this is   obvious, but to implement this, I need all new hardware, right?

A4: You may already have systems supporting Intel Active Management   Technology, within the Intel vPro Technology platform. The technology has   been in systems for over 3 years now. There are tools and articles on Intel   vPro Expert Center and Symantec Connect explaining how to find systems. One   example is here. Intel vPro Technology is a platform (analogous to Centrino) that   consist of: CPU, chipset, and network adapter(s). I am not aware of any   computer manufacturers that offer FRU (field replaceable unit) upgrades for   motherboards/systems to convert a non-vPro PC to vPro. So, yes, the short   answer is, unless you have existing PC's that support vPro, as companies   refresh their fleet, they can opt for vPro Technology in their new PC   purchases. We maintain a list of PCs featuring vPro Technology on the vPro   Expert Center here.

Q5: How long of a time frame   from investigation of vPro to actually having machines up and working?

A5: [Cleveland Clinic] It’s a process to start this. You really need   to engage the product your using and vPro together. We were very early   adopters in this process, and really took us about 6-7 months. Once we got   through all those initial hurdles, we were able to move very quickly. We have   a lifecycle process now and also pushed that back to our manufacturer. In   terms of new deployment, I think it would be much quicker.

Q6: Were all of your employees   behind moving to vPro? Were they all believers at first?

A6: It’s having a positive impact and is lowering the workload for   people responsible for managing these systems.

Q7: How could you boot a   remote system from a network ISO if the OS is down or maybe if you don’t have   a VPN client?

A7: Intel vPro technology is contained in the hardware, so the OS   itself is irrelevant to the functionality of vPro. The way this would   typically work is that the chipset manages the network stack and so it’s   still on the network with same IP/hostname. You can connect with the Symantec   tool and tell it to grab this network based image (ISO) of our repair utility   that we put together inside our company. That machine will reboot and load   that image across the network. Now, if there’s no VPN client, you can provide   the user a CD to cause the computer to be rebooted, or a USB image and have   that capability still be performed.

Q8: What are the typical types   of problems that customers are fixing remotely?

A8: It’s the ability to reach out and repair and recover the machine   from a variety of bad scenarios. You can go down the wire to figure out if   your inventory isn’t up to date and what kind of hardware it is. Once you   have the ability to boot to an ISO – you can jump into the BIOS you can help   the end user walk through it, low level scans, copy over possibly corrupted   files. We have seen people reboot dead hardware to do even just limited   functionality. Once you can fix something remotely you can repair things that   you usually couldn’t.

Q9: Are there other software   tools that can be used to manage vPro PCs?

There are about 60 different programs that support vPro capabilities.   On the vPro Expert Center there is a list of the programs that support vPro.   Some examples are Microsoft Systems Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) and   LANDesk.