What a thrill to pen a blog post for Intel, tied to its Intel vPro® platform for business users and IT professionals.
As many of you know, Intel vPro debuted 15 years ago–designed to boost business productivity–and the latest PCs adorned with its prestigious badge deliver elite performance, security, stability, and manageability.
Recently, I hosted a series of interviews with Intel experts on my nationally syndicated Tech Talk radio show (and podcast, via iHeartRadio). My goal was to learn all facets of Intel vPro. I include excerpts from these episodes below.
I found that Intel vPro unlocks your business’ potential. It’s what IT needs and employees want, whether you’re an enterprise or an SMB with PCs running Windows or Chrome OS. It takes care of performance, stability, security, and manageability, so your company can focus on earning revenue, driving growth, and staying competitive.
“When you have all the selected hardware components together in one machine–the Intel vPro CPU, chipset, and networking–that Intel vPro badge, or sticker, means [that] your device is ‘platformed’, and thus built for business,” says Eric Chong, Enterprise Client Technical Sales Specialist at Intel.
Hear Episode 1 of my interview series, which offers an "Intel vPro 101" with Eric Chong.
One platform, two options
While core functionality remains the same–providing businesses with fast, secure, and stable technology–there are two ‘flavors’ of Intel vPro.
Intel vPro Enterprise
Intel vPro Enterprise is the full-featured and robust commercial platform. It packs a comprehensive suite of technologies to help stay ahead of security threats. (Note: the ‘legacy’ vPro platform is now known as Intel vPro Enterprise, starting with 12th generation Intel® Core™ processors.)
“Intel vPro has features only found on this platform,” says Chong, “beginning on the silicon level, below the OS [operating system]–even before the office system loads, you’re [more] secure.”
Beyond Intel® Hardware Shield protection, at the application (or OS) layer (where you’d typically find anti-malware), and at the highest level, Intel advanced threat protections safeguard against ransomware, crypto-mining, and more.
In today’s hybrid work environment, IT professionals can be everywhere, too. Intel vPro on Windows OS ships with Intel® Active Management Technology (Intel® AMT) and Intel® Endpoint Management Assistant (Intel® EMA), to help IT pros remotely discover, repair, and protect PCs across the entire organization–wherever they may be.
Intel vPro-powered PCs also undergo rigorous testing to help ensure a stable foundation for smooth fleet management in larger organizations. The Intel® Stable IT Platform Program (Intel® SIPP) provides platform validation that aims for zero hardware changes throughout the buying cycle, for at least 15 months (or until the next generational release).
When you choose the Intel vPro platform, you’re getting everything your business needs to thrive under hybrid.
Learn more about Intel AMT in Episode 2 of my interview series, where Eric Chong returns to dive deeper into Intel vPro manageability features.
Intel® vPro™ Essentials
Intel vPro Essentials, the second ‘flavor’, was created for the small-and medium-sized business segment, whether they have a lean (or no) IT department. It’s designed for SMBs, but Intel vPro Essentials is also built on Intel 12th Generation Core processors, and delivers professional-grade performance, out-of-the-box hardware-based security, and manageability features to support growing business.
“Even though small businesses are considered the backbone of the economy, they’ve had to weather tumultuous times these past two years,” says Rajita Kaundin, Senior Program Manager for Business Client Platforms at Intel. “Growing small businesses that survived the pandemic acknowledge they did so by embracing technology. They need it to integrate seamlessly, with tight security, especially now that workforces are hybrid and working remotely.”
Hear Rajita Kaundin speak in-depth about Intel vPro Essentials in Episode 4 of my interview series.
A deeper dive into security
I know many of you reading this are IT decision makers, so let me break it down further.
Evolving threats that businesses face today–and tomorrow–demand security features designed to stringent standards. Take the abovementioned Intel Hardware Shield, which delivers integrated hardware-based PC protection, below-the-Windows-OS security, application and data protection, and advanced Intel® Threat Detection Technology (Intel® TDT). The latter provides IT teams with near real-time insights about end-user devices.
Matthew Harrison, Technical Solution Specialist for Enterprise PC at Intel, says they’re proud to have countermeasures aimed at protecting against 47 different attack vectors, as part of the MITRE Attack (a globally-accessible knowledge base of adversary tactics and techniques based on real-world observations). “Everyone wants to claim ‘we’re the industry-leading security experts’,” says Harrison. “It’s prudent for businesses to go down that list of MITRE methodology, that list of attack vectors, and see how many they’ll be protected against by Intel.”
Hear my full interview with Matthew Harrison on Episode 3 of my interview series, where we discuss Intel vPro security in more depth.
Intel vPro + Intel Evo
Let’s call it the best of both worlds.
Giving both the IT department and end users what they want and need, laptops on Intel vPro®, An Intel® Evo™ Design are the perfect choice for commercial purchases. That was my takeaway from interviewing Asma Aziz, Marketing Director for the Americas at Intel. You get built-in security to help deliver comprehensive protection, remote manageability (improving IT performance and end-user support), and reliable stability to help better manage lifecycle complexities–all within a sleek and user-friendly design.
“Intel Evo™ focuses on user-experience, performance and design,” says Aziz. “When you combine it with Intel vPro and its Intel Hardware Shield and Intel AMT–which support tough security and remote management features–you’re adding some welcome bells and whistles. So now you’re getting a truly comprehensive solution.”
Listen to me speak at length with Asma Aziz in Episode 5 of my interview series
For more on Intel vPro, and how to become the IT hero within your organization, visit www.intel.ca/itheroes
For the past 25 years, Marc Saltzman has been a prolific tech expert with one simple goal: to break down geek speak into street speak. Marc is a freelance journalist for more than 20 publications (USA TODAY, Costco Connection, AARP, Post Media, and Toronto Star); a 16-time author (including Apple Watch For Dummies); radio/podcast, television and movie theatre personality; keynote speaker; and content creator for social media platforms. Marc is also the host of the Tech Impact TV show, which airs on Bloomberg Television and Fox Business in the United States. Marc specializes in consumer electronics, business tech, automotive innovations, interactive entertainment, and future trends.