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. “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, simplify, simplify—make our customers’ technology so simple that they can forget it and focus on their business.” That means anticipating needs, preventing problems, and accelerating repairs. To do this, TLC Tech is constantly looking for ways to improve their processes, both to streamline their customer’s experience and control their own costs.

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 console software, the company has been able to significantly cut the cost of delivering services while at the same time improving their customers’ IT experience.

“vPro-based Dell PCs allow us to do more maintenance and remediation activities remotely,” says Nelson. “Doing 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 vPro technology-based Dell PCs their standard platform. “When you compare the cost adder of $20 or $30 for 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 vPro machine,” notes Nelson.

“ By allowing us

to prevent many

customer issues,

reduce interruptions,

and repair problems

more quickly, vPro

helps us to be

perceived as being

there, rather than

just being an offsite

tech support function.

vPro allows us to be

more proactive than

our competitors.”

– Michael Nelson, President, TLC Tech

Case StudyIntel® vPro™ Technology

TLC Tech

When “Simplify” is the Value PropositionManaged 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%

Advanced Tools Improve Customer Service While Increasing Service ProfitabilityThe advanced manageability and security features of Intel vPro

technology allow TLC Tech to significantly streamline a number

of key PC management tasks within their existing management

console software. This both reduces their cost and helps elimi-

nate downtime and interruptions for PC users. The power of

this solution has three elements:

• Increased abilities to monitor, manage, and repair PCs remotely2— regardless of power state or operating system health—that greatly reduce maintenance and management costs and increase the utilization of TLC Tech’s personnel.

• Increased security capabilities that better protect the customer’s critical data while reducing downtime.

• A standardized, energy-efficient platform that can meet the developing demands of the customer’s business while significantly reducing total cost of ownership (TCO).

Remote remediation of OS problems lowers repair times by 75%. Intel vPro technology allows TLC Tech to diagnose and repair many software-related issues without a service visit. “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 needed—all remotely,” explains Nelson. “These capabilities really 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 saved is a big deal. vPro’s impact on virus remediation alone is worth the price of admission.” With vPro’s hardware-based KVM Remote Control (discussed below), TLC Tech’s technicians have much better visibility from their desks. “When a machine is not vPro, we’re really flying blind,” notes Nelson.

Remote diagnosis of hardware problems cuts repair times in half. By definition, a hardware repair can’t be done remotely. But with Intel vPro technology-based PCs, TLC Tech can remotely power up the PC to run diagnostics and determine what part needs replacing. “We can do the diagnostic without rolling a truck to the site or bothering the end user to attempt a diagnosis,” says Nelson.

“If a warranty service is required, we get it started faster. If we need to replace a part, we can take the right part out the first time. This cuts our average hardware repair time by 50%.”

“vPro effectively reduces the distance between us

and the customer. We’re able to take better care of

the customer, with over 80% less downtime and

fewer interruptions—all of which mean they can be

more productive. This is something that customers

notice, and it’s huge from a sales perspective.”– Michael Nelson, President, TLC Tech

New hardware-based KVM is a breakthrough. Today’s Intel vPro technology-based PCs include KVM Remote Control, a unique hardware-based KVM capability built directly into the PC.3 Like software-based KVM tools, it allows technicians to remotely control the keyboard, video, and mouse on a customer’s PC. But unlike software-based KVM tools, KVM Remote Control connects easily, maintains the connection through reboot cycles, and gives the technician a “full GUI” view of the PC they are working on.

Table 1. Delivering More to Customers Through Intel® vPro™ TechnologyTLC Tech’s deployment of PCs based on Intel vPro technology yields better IT functionality and lower service delivery cost.4

ActivityWithout Intel vPro Technology

With Intel vPro 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

Why Dell PCs with Intel® vPro™ technology

“Dell has been an excellent partner for us,” says Michael

Nelson, president of TLC Tech. “They actively reach out to

support us, and give us a number of channels to access

support. We’ve found that with Dell, you just get through the

clutter faster. Warranty replacement is very responsive and

turnarounds are quick whether we need to get a part or to

get a Dell technician onsite. And of course Dell’s vPro-based

systems are great, with excellent performance and stability.

Dell’s configuration options are very good—we can get the

machine spec-ed to our customers’ needs without hassle.”

2

Active and passive power management capabilities that reduce energy costs by $142 per PC per year. With the ability to turn off groups of PCs after hours and then power them back up before the start of the next business day, TLC Tech can now save their customers money through lower energy usage, making a substantial positive impact on their ROI. “The ability to save our customers 30 or 40 percent of the cost of the machine through energy savings is a significant benefit,” says Nelson. “From our standpoint, it drives faster refresh of old PCs which both lowers overall maintenance costs and puts the customer in front of a better business tool. So this is truly a win-win.”

“The ability to save our customers 30 or 40 percent

of the cost of the machine through energy savings

is a significant benefit. From our standpoint, it

drives faster refresh of old PCs which both lowers

overall maintenance costs and puts the customer

in front of a better business tool. So this is truly

a win-win.”– Michael Nelson, President, TLC Tech

Fewer truck rolls save money and increase staff utilization. “With our flat-fee, recurring revenue model, any cost saved goes to the bottom line,” explains Nelson. “So vPro becomes more and more critical to reducing our costs. Every truck roll we avoid reduces our cost by $40 at a minimum. But in addition, vPro allows us to utilize our staff more efficiently. vPro give us more flexibility in how we deploy those resources.”

Improving security and lowering customers’ risk by acceler-ating patching. Because TLC Tech can reach machines that are 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 and foremost, we need to ensure that customer data is secure,” says Nelson, “and faster patching means less vulnerability to a number of threat vectors. Thankfully, more and more businesses are becoming aware of just how debilitating a data breach can be. Being able to use vPro to provide a higher level of security to our customers is definitely a value-add.” Faster patching also means lower cost for TLC Tech and fewer interruptions for customers. “Better patching reduces the number of malware remediations we have to do,” he notes, “which is good for us and for our clients.”

Kaseya IT Automation Framework

The Kaseya IT Automation Framework provides a complete

and integrated view of IT environments from a centralized

Web-based management console, allowing managed

service providers to remotely manage their customers’

entire computing infrastructure with one powerful and

integrated application. The Kaseya IT Automation Frame-

work leverages Intel® vPro™ technology to deliver more

remote capabilities to MSPs.

Built-in IT automation. Kaseya builds automation into the

system’s deployment and management process by mirroring

best practices and automating repetitive work using

machine-driven tasks and processes.

Designed to manage, not just monitor, the SMB IT

environment. Kaseya focuses on managing the entire IT

infrastructure, so the IT services provided are proactive and

customers get deeper support for their business applications.

Powerful, fully integrated, and easy to use. The combi-

nation of Kaseya and Intel vPro technology provides a

comprehensive, easy-to-use, and integrated Web-based

IT automation solution that can be deployed rapidly,

efficiently, and effectively.

Integrated Intel vPro technology. Kaseya has fully

integrated many of the powerful capabilities of Intel vPro

technology to provide authorized technicians with remote

PC management virtually anytime, even when PC power is

off or the OS is unresponsive.

For more information on the Kaseya IT Automation

Framework, visit www.kaseya.com.

Better customer experiences—including 83% less down-time—improve customer satisfaction and account control. Because Intel vPro technology helps TLC Tech respond more quickly to customer issues, customers’ productivity and satisfaction are both increased. “vPro effectively reduces the distance between us and the customer,” explains Nelson. “We’re able to take better care of the customer, with over 80% less downtime and fewer interruptions—all of which mean they can be more productive. This is something that customers notice, and it’s huge from a sales perspective.”

3

Delivering Competitive Advantage and Increased Margins For Michael Nelson and his team, there is no doubt that Intel vPro tech-nology-based PCs provide a competitive advantage. “By allowing us to prevent many customer issues, reduce interruptions, and repair problems more quickly, vPro helps us to be perceived as being there, rather than just being an offsite tech support function,” says Nelson. “vPro allows us to be more proactive than our competitors.” According to Nelson, the effect on TLC Tech’s margins is two-fold. “The cost reductions provided by vPro go direct to our bottom line,” he says. “So from a cost-reduction standpoint it’s great. But the fact that vPro improves the quality of our service also helps build revenue over time. Happier clients lead to refer-rals, which lead to new customers and revenue. We continually grow by 20 percent annually without advertising. vPro is another great tool to support that dynamic.”

“ “When you compare the cost adder of $20 or $30 for

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 vPro machine.” – Michael Nelson, President, TLC Tech

For More InformationFor more information on the benefits of Intel vPro technology

for small and midsize businesses, visit msp.intel.com.

For more information on TLC Tech, visit www.tlctech.com.

For more information on Kaseya’s management console software, visit www.kaseya.com.

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. Printed in USA 0212/ET/OCG/XX/PDF Please Recycle 326828-001US

Solution provided by:

Overview of Intel® vPro™ Technology

Desktop, notebook, and tablet PCs based on Intel vPro tech-

nology, combined with a leading software management

application such as Kaseya, provide unprecedented capabilities.

These advances allow you to deliver more value to your managed

services customers by helping them spend smarter, get more

done, and be more secure.

• Remote diagnosis and repair reduce costly and time-consuming

deskside and service depot visits by resolving problems and

repairing PCs quickly from the console—even if the PC is

powered off or in standby mode, is connected to a wireless

network, or has a disabled OS.2

• KVM Remote Control connects easily, maintains the connection

through reboot cycles, and gives technicians a “full GUI” view of

PC they are working on.3

• Secure remote power up and power cycling allow you to

perform scheduled maintenance, backups, and monitoring

after hours.2

• Encrypted, remote security updates ensure that security

patches are up to date and speed the deployment of critical

patches, even to systems that are off or down.

• Remote asset tracking eliminates time-consuming manual

inventory of hardware and software with remote inventory

management, even if the system is off or down.