Intel Announces Broad Specification to Help Reduce Ownership Cost for All Business PCs

'Wired for Management Baseline Specification' Complements NetPC Spec by Detailing Manageability Requirements for Other Business PCs

SANTA CLARA, CA March 12, 1997 -- Intel Corporation today announced the Wired for Management (WFM) Baseline Specification, which is designed to help manufacturers produce a wide range of business PCs that can be more effectively managed over networks to help reduce ownership costs. By addressing the broad category of business PCs, the WFM Baseline complements, and is compatible with, the focused NetPC Reference Specification announced today by Intel and Microsoft. The WFM Baseline lays a foundation of PC manageability on which manufacturers can build further capabilities to provide even greater value to customers.

Intel today began industry review of the WFM Baseline, which initially covers business desktop PCs and is scheduled to be expanded at mid-year to include mobile PCs and servers. Intel plans to publish the first edition next month after review and comment by leading hardware and software vendors.

Systems based on the WFM Baseline will feature the same network management capabilities detailed by the NetPC specification, such as a pre-boot protocol allowing remote configuration and other instrumentation and agents that enhance networked administration. As a result, a customer will be able to use a common set of applications to manage flexible PCs based on the WFM Baseline as well as systems compliant with the NetPC specification. For example, systems based on the WFM Baseline will be compatible with such management applications as Intel's LANDesk® products, Microsoft's System Management Server, Tivoli Systems' Tivoli Management Environment (TME-10) and others.

The WFM Baseline continues the work of Intel's Wired for Management initiative to reduce the ownership costs of business computing while taking advantage of the power and flexibility of high-performance PCs based on Intel's Pentium® processors, Pentium® Pro processors and, when introduced, Pentium® II processors. The WFM Baseline will help manufacturers build systems that take advantage of today's newest technologies, such as the Desktop Management Interface 2.0, while providing a smooth transition to Web Based Enterprise Management and emerging technologies such as Windows Management Instrumentation.

The WFM Baseline reflects both Intel's development work of the past year and the recent efforts of Intel, Microsoft, and other industry leaders in developing the NetPC Reference Specification. For the last several years, Intel has been independently designing further management capabilities into its PC and server building blocks - processors, chipsets, motherboards and systems -to enhance their ability to be centrally administered and remotely managed.

"Intel's WFM Baseline Specification is a blueprint for mix-and-match manageability of high-performance connected PCs," said Pat Gelsinger, vice president and general manager of Intel's Desktop Products Group. "By delivering these capabilities in all business PCs, OEMs can help their corporate customers control costs while delivering the productivity and business advantages of high-performance PCs. Our goal is to help all our customers offer products with these capabilities in 1997."

"IBM fully supports Intel's WFM Baseline specification, and views this as an extension of our Advanced Manageability Alliance," said Anne Sylvia, vice president and GM, Commercial Desktop Systems. "Moreover, IBM is committed to delivering PCs that meet the WFM spec to help us fulfill key customer requirements and to meet our goal of delivering the most highly managed PCs in the industry."

The WFM Baseline will help PC manufactures deliver systems with an integrated capability for central administration, remote system installation and configuration, off-hours maintenance, and constant health monitoring. The specification defines the requirements for interfaces and protocols to allow remote network access for system management purposes and interoperability between systems instrumentation and management applications. It also describes the instrumentation required to ensure that hardware devices can be monitored and acted on by software.

Industry-Leading PC Manufacturers Support the WFM Baseline
"Compaq is committed to continue delivering the most manageable PCs with the lowest Total Cost of Ownership in the industry," said Mike Winkler, senior vice president and group general manager, PC Products Group, Compaq Computer Corporation. "We are committed to supporting the Wired for Management Baseline Specification and believe it complements Compaq's Intelligent Manageability and the NetPC initiative, which Compaq has taken an active role in defining and promoting."

"Dell strongly supports the efforts of Intel to create a standards-based environment for effective management of PCs across complex enterprise networks," said George Martin, vice president and general manager, OptiPlex products, Dell Computer Corporation. "As a co-author of the NetPC specification, we are closely aligned with Intel and Microsoft in our efforts to help customers reduce their costs of ownership through a standards-based approach to manageability."

"Dell has been among the first in our industry to offer customers products based on the latest DMI standards. Consistent with the WFM baseline specification, Dell intends to implement DMI 2.0 in future OptiPlex PCs, providing a standard method for remote management of networked systems. We believe this is one of the most effective ways for our customers to reduce the costs of managing their information technology."

"Manageability is the core of HP's strategy to reduce the cost of business computing. Intel's Wired for Management Baseline Specification fully complements our aims and will provide a strong foundation for the industry to accelerate the development of best practices system and desktop management technologies required to address real customer needs," said Jacques C. Clay, general manager for HP's Worldwide Commercial PC Business.

"By delivering WFM-compliant PCs, SNI can help their customers to reduce TCO while delivering the productivity and business advantages of high performance PCs," said Dr. Pacher-Theinburg, vice president and general manager, desktop PC division, Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG.

"The Intel Wired for Management Baseline specification reinforces Digital's long-standing activities developing software and hardware for greater manageability," said Scott Cutler, vice president and chief technical officer, Personal Computer Business Unit, Digital Equipment Corporation. "These developments enhance the value of our client and server systems by reducing our customers' total cost of ownership."

"AST Computer is committed to being responsive to the needs of our corporate users by staying on the forefront of innovative and value-add technology solutions and industry specifications. We are constantly looking to ways in which we can provide higher levels of system manageability to our customers," said Laura Raybin, director, AST Worldwide Commercial Desktop Product Planning. "Intel's WFM Baseline Specification is one more way in which we continue to deliver to our customers the solutions that they need, when they need them."

"NEC is committed to providing the lowest total cost of ownership and the highest value for our customers," said Murali Dharan, vice president of desktop systems, NEC Computer Systems Division of Packard Bell-NEC. "The Intel Wired for Management Baseline Specification will provide a manageability solution from which NEC can build industry-leading solutions for the PowerMate line that deliver additional value to the commercial customer."

"NEC believes that standards-based manageability is a critical aspect of enterprise computing solutions," said Masao Toka, executive vice president of NEC Corporation - Japan. "We support Intel's WFM Baseline Specification as it addresses our mutual interests in delivering both performance and efficiency in a connected client-server environment."

"The Intel Wired for Management Baseline Specification will provide a solid foundation for Intergraph's newest line of 3D PCs for the professional power user," said Wade Patterson, President, Intergraph Computer Systems. "This specification complements our work toward reducing ownership costs while enhancing the features and performance quality of our PCs."

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