When “Simplify” is the Value Proposition Managed services provider TLC Tech uses Intel® vProTM technology-based PCs to deliver simplified IT for SMBs—and reduce service ticket costs by up to 75%.

1. Case Study
Intel® vPro™ Technology
When “Simplify” is the Value Proposition
TLC Tech
Managed services provider TLC Tech uses Intel® vPro™
technology-based PCs to deliver simplified IT for
SMBs—and reduce service ticket costs by up to 75%
As a leading managed service provider in the Sacramento, California area, TLC Tech’s value proposition to its
small and midsize business customers is very straightforward: Make technology a simple tool for business.
“ y allowing us
B “The only variable in that value proposition is the word ‘simple,’ says Michael Nelson, president of TLC Tech.
“All potential customers already use technology as a tool in their business,” he explains. “Our role is to simplify,
to prevent many
simplify, simplify—make our customers’ technology so simple that they can forget it and focus on their business.”
customer issues, That means anticipating needs, preventing problems, and accelerating repairs. To do this, TLC Tech is constantly
reduce interruptions, looking for ways to improve their processes, both to streamline their customer’s experience and control their
own costs.
and repair problems
more quickly, vPro This approach to simplification led TLC Tech to adopt Intel® vPro™ technology-based1 Dell desktop and laptop PCs
as a standard part of their solution. By managing these advanced platforms through their Kaseya management
helps us to be console software, the company has been able to significantly cut the cost of delivering services while at the
perceived as being same time improving their customers’ IT experience.
there, rather than “vPro-based Dell PCs allow us to do more maintenance and remediation activities remotely,” says Nelson. “Doing
just being an offsite more maintenance remotely means we can stay out of the customers’ way. Doing more repairs remotely means
a customer with a problem is back up to speed faster—often much faster.” As a result, TLC Tech has made Intel
tech support function.
vPro technology-based Dell PCs their standard platform. “When you compare the cost adder of $20 or $30 for
vPro allows us to be a vPro-based PC with the amount of time and money saved by both us and the client, it’s crazy to not install a
more proactive than vPro machine,” notes Nelson.
our competitors.”
– ichael Nelson, President,
M
TLC Tech

2. Advanced Tools Improve Customer Service
While Increasing Service Profitability Why Dell PCs with Intel® vPro™ technology
The advanced manageability and security features of Intel vPro “Dell has been an excellent partner for us,” says Michael
technology allow TLC Tech to significantly streamline a number Nelson, president of TLC Tech. “They actively reach out to
of key PC management tasks within their existing management support us, and give us a number of channels to access
support. We’ve found that with Dell, you just get through the
console software. This both reduces their cost and helps elimi-
clutter faster. Warranty replacement is very responsive and
nate downtime and interruptions for PC users. The power of
turnarounds are quick whether we need to get a part or to
this solution has three elements:
get a Dell technician onsite. And of course Dell’s vPro-based
• ncreased abilities to monitor, manage, and repair PCs remotely2—
I systems are great, with excellent performance and stability.
regardless of power state or operating system health—that Dell’s configuration options are very good—we can get the
greatly reduce maintenance and management costs and increase machine spec-ed to our customers’ needs without hassle.”
the utilization of TLC Tech’s personnel.
• ncreased security capabilities that better protect the
I
customer’s critical data while reducing downtime.
“If a warranty service is required, we get it started faster. If we
• standardized, energy-efficient platform that can meet
A need to replace a part, we can take the right part out the first
the developing demands of the customer’s business while time. This cuts our average hardware repair time by 50%.”
significantly reducing total cost of ownership (TCO).
Remote remediation of OS problems lowers repair times “vPro effectively reduces the distance between us
by 75%. Intel vPro technology allows TLC Tech to diagnose and the customer. We’re able to take better care of
and repair many software-related issues without a service visit.
the customer, with over 80% less downtime and
“If a vPro machine is blue-screened or hung, we can manipulate
the BIOS, boot to a remote ISO image, and even reload an OS if fewer interruptions—all of which mean they can be
needed—all remotely,” explains Nelson. “These capabilities really more productive. This is something that customers
extend our reach. It means we don’t have to roll a truck or bring
the machine into our facility to work on it. The amount of time notice, and it’s huge from a sales perspective.”
saved is a big deal. vPro’s impact on virus remediation alone is – Michael Nelson, President, TLC Tech
worth the price of admission.” With vPro’s hardware-based KVM
Remote Control (discussed below), TLC Tech’s technicians have New hardware-based KVM is a breakthrough. Today’s Intel
much better visibility from their desks. “When a machine is not vPro technology-based PCs include KVM Remote Control, a unique
vPro, we’re really flying blind,” notes Nelson. hardware-based KVM capability built directly into the PC.3 Like
software-based KVM tools, it allows technicians to remotely
Remote diagnosis of hardware problems cuts repair times control the keyboard, video, and mouse on a customer’s PC. But
in half. By definition, a hardware repair can’t be done remotely. unlike software-based KVM tools, KVM Remote Control connects
But with Intel vPro technology-based PCs, TLC Tech can remotely easily, maintains the connection through reboot cycles, and gives
power up the PC to run diagnostics and determine what part needs the technician a “full GUI” view of the PC they are working on.
replacing. “We can do the diagnostic without rolling a truck to the
site or bothering the end user to attempt a diagnosis,” says Nelson.
Table 1. Delivering More to Customers Through Intel® vPro™ Technology
TLC Tech’s deployment of PCs based on Intel vPro technology yields better IT functionality and lower service delivery cost.4
Without Intel vPro With Intel vPro
Activity Technology Technology Improvement
Average time to resolve a hardware problem 2 hours 1 hour Reduced 50%
Average time to resolve an OS problem 2 hours ½ hour Reduced 75%
Average amount of downtime per PC per month 30 minutes 5 minutes Reduced 83%
Number of PCs that can be managed per technician 330 420 Increased 25%
Time to achieve 95% patch saturation 2 hours 1 hour Reduced 50%
Power cost savings per PC over 3-year life span $0 $428 TCO lowered by $428
2

3. Active and passive power management capabilities that
reduce energy costs by $142 per PC per year. With the ability Kaseya IT Automation Framework
to turn off groups of PCs after hours and then power them back The Kaseya IT Automation Framework provides a complete
up before the start of the next business day, TLC Tech can now and integrated view of IT environments from a centralized
save their customers money through lower energy usage, making Web-based management console, allowing managed
a substantial positive impact on their ROI. “The ability to save our service providers to remotely manage their customers’
customers 30 or 40 percent of the cost of the machine through
entire computing infrastructure with one powerful and
energy savings is a significant benefit,” says Nelson. “From our
integrated application. The Kaseya IT Automation Frame-
standpoint, it drives faster refresh of old PCs which both lowers
work leverages Intel® vPro™ technology to deliver more
overall maintenance costs and puts the customer in front of a
remote capabilities to MSPs.
better business tool. So this is truly a win-win.”
Built-in IT automation. Kaseya builds automation into the
system’s deployment and management process by mirroring
“The ability to save our customers 30 or 40 percent
best practices and automating repetitive work using
of the cost of the machine through energy savings machine-driven tasks and processes.
is a significant benefit. From our standpoint, it Designed to manage, not just monitor, the SMB IT
drives faster refresh of old PCs which both lowers environment. Kaseya focuses on managing the entire IT
overall maintenance costs and puts the customer infrastructure, so the IT services provided are proactive and
customers get deeper support for their business applications.
in front of a better business tool. So this is truly
Powerful, fully integrated, and easy to use. The combi-
a win-win.”
nation of Kaseya and Intel vPro technology provides a
– Michael Nelson, President, TLC Tech comprehensive, easy-to-use, and integrated Web-based
IT automation solution that can be deployed rapidly,
Fewer truck rolls save money and increase staff utilization.
efficiently, and effectively.
“With our flat-fee, recurring revenue model, any cost saved goes to
the bottom line,” explains Nelson. “So vPro becomes more and more Integrated Intel vPro technology. Kaseya has fully
critical to reducing our costs. Every truck roll we avoid reduces our integrated many of the powerful capabilities of Intel vPro
cost by $40 at a minimum. But in addition, vPro allows us to utilize technology to provide authorized technicians with remote
our staff more efficiently. vPro give us more flexibility in how we PC management virtually anytime, even when PC power is
deploy those resources.” off or the OS is unresponsive.
Improving security and lowering customers’ risk by acceler- For more information on the Kaseya IT Automation
ating patching. Because TLC Tech can reach machines that are Framework, visit www.kaseya.com.
powered off, security software updates are accomplished much
more quickly. Nelson estimates that vPro-based machines can be
patched in half the time of non-vPro systems—resulting in better
customer protection as well as lower cost to TLC Tech. “First Better customer experiences—including 83% less down-
and foremost, we need to ensure that customer data is secure,” time—improve customer satisfaction and account control.
says Nelson, “and faster patching means less vulnerability to a Because Intel vPro technology helps TLC Tech respond more quickly
number of threat vectors. Thankfully, more and more businesses to customer issues, customers’ productivity and satisfaction are
are becoming aware of just how debilitating a data breach can be. both increased. “vPro effectively reduces the distance between
Being able to use vPro to provide a higher level of security to our us and the customer,” explains Nelson. “We’re able to take better
customers is definitely a value-add.” Faster patching also means care of the customer, with over 80% less downtime and fewer
lower cost for TLC Tech and fewer interruptions for customers. interruptions—all of which mean they can be more productive.
“Better patching reduces the number of malware remediations we This is something that customers notice, and it’s huge from a
have to do,” he notes, “which is good for us and for our clients.” sales perspective.”
3

4. Delivering Competitive Advantage
and Increased Margins Overview of Intel® vPro™ Technology
For Michael Nelson and his team, there is no doubt that Intel vPro tech- Desktop, notebook, and tablet PCs based on Intel vPro tech-
nology-based PCs provide a competitive advantage. “By allowing us to nology, combined with a leading software management
prevent many customer issues, reduce interruptions, and repair problems application such as Kaseya, provide unprecedented capabilities.
more quickly, vPro helps us to be perceived as being there, rather than These advances allow you to deliver more value to your managed
just being an offsite tech support function,” says Nelson. “vPro allows services customers by helping them spend smarter, get more
us to be more proactive than our competitors.” According to Nelson, the done, and be more secure.
effect on TLC Tech’s margins is two-fold. “The cost reductions provided
• Remote diagnosis and repair reduce costly and time-consuming
by vPro go direct to our bottom line,” he says. “So from a cost-reduction
deskside and service depot visits by resolving problems and
standpoint it’s great. But the fact that vPro improves the quality of our
repairing PCs quickly from the console—even if the PC is
service also helps build revenue over time. Happier clients lead to refer-
powered off or in standby mode, is connected to a wireless
rals, which lead to new customers and revenue. We continually grow by
20 percent annually without advertising. vPro is another great tool to network, or has a disabled OS.2
support that dynamic.” • VM Remote Control connects easily, maintains the connection
K
through reboot cycles, and gives technicians a “full GUI” view of
“When you compare the cost adder of $20 or $30 for
“ PC they are working on.3
a vPro-based PC with the amount of time and money • Secure remote power up and power cycling allow you to
perform scheduled maintenance, backups, and monitoring
saved by both us and the client, it’s crazy to not install
after hours.2
a vPro machine.”
• Encrypted, remote security updates ensure that security
– Michael Nelson, President, TLC Tech
patches are up to date and speed the deployment of critical
patches, even to systems that are off or down.
For More Information
• Remote asset tracking eliminates time-consuming manual
For more information on the benefits of Intel vPro technology inventory of hardware and software with remote inventory
for small and midsize businesses, visit msp.intel.com. management, even if the system is off or down.
For more information on TLC Tech, visit www.tlctech.com.
For more information on Kaseya’s management console software,
visit www.kaseya.com.
Solution provided by:
1 Intel® vPro™ Technology is sophisticated and requires setup and activation. Availability of features and results will depend upon the setup and configuration of your hardware, software and IT environment. To learn more visit: http://www.intel.com/
technology/vpro.
2 PCs with Intel® vPro™ processor technology include Intel® Active Management Technology (Intel® AMT). Intel® Active Management Technology requires the computer system to have an Intel ® AMT-enabled chipset, network hardware and software,
as well as connection with a power source and a corporate network connection. Setup requires configuration by the purchaser and may require scripting with the management console or further integration into existing security frameworks to
enable certain functionality. It may also require modifications of implementation of new business processes. For more information, see http://www.intel.com/technology/manage/iamt/
3 KVM Remote Control (Keyboard, Video, Mouse) is only available with Intel® Core™ i5 vPro™ and Core™ i7 vPro™ processors with Intel® Active Management technology activated and configured and with integrated graphics active. Discrete graphics
are not supported.
4 Source: TLC Tech based on field testing performed during September 2011.
This document is for informational purposes only. Intel makes no warranties, express or implied, in this document.
Copyright © 2012 Intel Corporation. All rights reserved. Intel, the Intel logo, vPro, and Core inside are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.
*Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
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