Intel vPro, what is new ?

Managing and securing a fleet of notebook computers has been a nightmare for many IT department. While Intel is promoting vPro as a proprietary technology to help secure laptops with third party software vendors developing applications for security and management.

The Intel vPro technology was first introduced to desktops in 2006 and laptops in 2007. It is a chip that is bundled to make managing and security PCs easlier. Intel has also renamed its mobile platform to Centrino 2 with vPro to show that they are including the same technology in desktop to notebooks.

The improvement that the Intel vPro has currently is to give the IT department the ability to wirelessly power on a laptop, which allows administrators to apply patch, software upgrades and routine maintenance of the laptop. Since most management tools are inside a firewall, and within the enterprise network, most routine work could be done without fuss. However, there are also times where these notebooks are off the enterprise network, hence the added connectivity features helps with the IT department.

With its capability of being accessed remotely, Intel has worked on the security side of the vPro by including a Trusted Execution Technology into that notebook. The technology provides a protected layer of environment to separate the data from other softwares. When virtualization is added, vPro creates a layer of trust that is rooted at the hardware level. The extra protection layer protects the data that is going in and out of the system.