Upgrading work devices is essential to ensure employee satisfaction and productivity, but can prove a nightmare for IT departments to manage. This does not need to be the case if organisations roll out mobile systems designed specifically to help ease the transition.
With a large proportion of workforces today operating remotely, end-user devices and laptops have become an integral part of employees' daily lives.
More than half of business IT decision makers, in fact, believe PC and mobile operating systems are critical productivity technologies for their workers, according to IDC's 2020 Enterprise Mobility and Workspace Survey.
Growing reliance on such devices means businesses will need to regularly assess the performance of these systems, so user experience and efficiency remain optimum, and replace them where necessary with more robust models.
This is particularly important as running and maintaining older systems can actually be a costly affair. Owning a PC that is four years and older, for example, will cost a small and midsize business (SMB) in Asia-Pacific 2.7 times more than a system that is less than four years old, according to a Techaisle survey, commissioned by Intel and Microsoft.
In addition, the study reveals that older PCs result in an average of 112 hours lost due to downtime, which is 3.1 times more than newer PCs. Some 62% of SMBs also report higher employee productivity with newer systems, while 63% say these devices deliver better cloud and mobility experiences for their staff.
But while the benefits of acquiring newer systems are clear, upgrading end-user devices can be challenging.
Software drivers, for instance, may be missing or may not work on the new systems. This not only can impact staff productivity and lead to unforeseen downtime, but also forces IT administrators to spend time troubleshooting--time that they otherwise could have spent on higher-value tasks.
Organisations need a smoother transition path that, amongst others, should ensure their key business tools such as proprietary applications and industry-specific software, are fully compatible with the new systems.
Stability assurance key to transition
Intel's Stable IT Platform Program (SIPP) is designed specifically to address such challenges and provide enterprises the confidence they should have to move to new technologies. Organisations also should be able to do so at their own pace, with consistent quality and performance.
Offered as part of the Intel vPro® platform, SIPP encompasses a validation programme that strives for no hardware changes for at least 15 months, or until the release of the next generation model.
Reducing the need for hardware changes means fewer interruptions for users and less time spent on setting up and configuring PCs. It frees up time that IT administrators can then use to focus on more urgent tasks.
Intel also validates multiple versions of Windows 10, which enables organisations to better manage OS transitions and tap Microsoft's support for any given OS release. It assures that whatever Windows kernel enterprises choose to run on their Intel vPro® systems will be able to do so without a hitch, and for at least 15 months.
Intel further works closely with its OEM partners throughout the year, running thousands of rigorous tests and feedback loops to certify that vPro® systems will provide the stability and reliability business users demand.
Intel's SIPP guarantee also extends across a wide array of technologies including wireless connectivity, Thunderbolt 4, and Intel Optane memory.
Hardware-based protection further bolsters stability
Beyond delivering systems that operate high on reliability, the Intel vPro® platform safeguards user devices with Intel's Control-Flow Enforcement Technology (CET). It protects businesses against control-flow hijacking attacks, which are tough to detect and prevent because hackers use existing codes running from executable memory to alter the behaviour of an otherwise legitimate programme.
CET is built into the Intel vPro® core to provide bare-metal capabilities that can better defend organisations, especially as cyber attacks move further down the system stack.
Designed to meet key business requirements, the Intel vPro® platform provides the latest PC technologies in one single solution to deliver enterprise-class performance. It offers robust security features and remote manageability that organisations today need to support their hybrid workforce.
Coupled with SIPP, Intel vPro® systems further assures the stability and support companies should have when they transition to new technologies.
Now more than ever, organisations need user devices that are intelligent and reliable, and that can be seamlessly managed. The Intel vPro® architecture is built to deliver on all of these, and more.
