Buyers' Guide
How to activate AMT
Published: 11 Dec 2008, 05:01pm
Like the sound of Active Management Technology (AMT)? Here's how to get the benefits by bringing it into use.
If you've read our coverage of the benefits of AMT - the component of Intel's vPro which manages remote desktops, bringing down costs and increasing security - you may now be asking how to start using it.
We've explained the basics in the Cheat Sheet here and we've shown how others saved money with AMT, such as the University of Plymouth. We've also explained the all-important step of how to get the finance department on your side by calculating the ROI. Now all you need to know is how to actually do it.
The good news is it is easy to do and you probably have most of the necessary elements already to hand. But it is important to plan, to get the best results.
"AMT is not a complex product in itself, but it is important to have an integration plan, to take into account the fact that AMT works best when it is integrated with the rest of your IT infrastructure" says Chris Green, managing director of event and specialist IT services company etherLive.
You may already have it!
For a plan to succeed, you must know what you are trying to do, and how you intend to achieve it, and then break it into manageable steps.
So start with the features and benefits of AMT. Work out which you need, and which aren't important for your company. For instance, a small company may have less need of a heavyweight audit, as PCs are less likely to get lost, but it might be more concerned to reduce deskside visits by IT staff, as it has very few of these staff available. Work out how much these benefits will really save you.
Second, check out what you actually have already. You will be in for a pleasant surprise, as you probably have the elements of AMT in your infrastructure – 20 to 30 per cent of all business desktops sold have AMT built into their chipset. The Intel vPro brand is the sure sign of this but you should also check with the manufacturer on which version of the chipset you have.
Similarly, AMT will also work with most of the main management tools that you may be already using to control your desktops. Microsoft SMS and SCCM, LanDesk, Altiris and HP Openview all support and so do lesser known products like South Africa's Columbus and also managed services such as N-Able.
You will need to investigate further what level of integration your management tool offers for AMT and what exactly is involved in starting to use it. "You need to do an upfront assessment to ensure that the benefit of integration with these tools is comprehended," says Green.
For instance, Altiris users can refer to this checklist. HP Openview users might start with documentation of its Client Configuration Manager here.
It is important that you comprehend how the many security features of AMT will fit within your existing IT architecture. Whilst AMT is easy enough to integrate with your management console, up front planning and testing within your environment will ease your deployment further down the line.
At this stage, a pilot to prove the value is useful. Use your normal management tool and test how well it can manage clients using AMT, Capture the data and you will be able to calculate the benefits. You may need to invest in some training to carry out this properly, or the documentation and support from your vendor may be enough.
Two-pronged roll-out
Then you can start planning a wider roll-out. Activate AMT on your central tool, and make sure you have enough staff who understand how to operate it and perform the next stage: getting the PCs connected.
This part will probably be a two-pronged attack. You must activate the AMT-capable PCs you already have - a deskside visit which may be the last one the user sees for a long while.
At the same time make sure the new PCs coming in through your normal PC refresh cycle are AMT-capable. And make sure they are delivered to the users' desks, with AMT already working.
You then enter a period in which you are managing AMT and non-AMT PCs side-by-side. In large organisations, with a rolling desktop upgrade cycle, this may take two years.
However, it may be possible to reduce it. The benefits of AMT - and other features such as lower power demands or the ability to support newer software - may be so significant that it is worth speeding up the refresh cycle and getting new PCs in early.
There will be plenty of help along the way, from sites like Itopia and Intel's vPro Expert Center. Activating AMT should be a liberating experience not a chore, and you will find others ready to share their experiences.
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