Dell EMC Looks to Automate PC Configuration

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As IT organizations in increasingly larger numbers make the shift to Windows 10, many of them are rediscovering the trials and tribulations of having to configure large number of PCs and tablets at the same time. Aiming to automate as much of that process as possible, Dell EMC this week launched ProDeploy Client Suite, a series of services exposed via a portal that IT organizations can employ to load images on systems as they are manufactured by Dell EMC to outsource the entire deployment process.

John Moody, vice president for global support deployment services for Dell EMC, says most IT organizations have better things to do in terms of adding value to the business than configuring PCs. The ProDeploy Client suite provides three different options for making use of Dell EMC to either simply load images, provide a single point of contact, or support or manage the entire process on their behalf.

On average, Moody says, depending on the type of service invoked, Dell EMC charges anywhere from $137 to $228 per PC to deliver these services. The alternative, says Moody, is for the IT organization to perform these tasks itself or hire a third-party service provider to do it at a much higher cost.

Moody says Dell EMC has already installed 55,000 images a week on behalf of customers, which Moody says involves about 11 million PCs a year.

“We think we can increase that number by two or three times using these services,” says Moody.

Longer term, Moody says, Dell EMC is investigating the possibility of exposing application programming interfaces (APIs) that would enable IT organizations to use their existing systems management tools to automate the deployment process rather than having to access the Dell EMC TechDirect portal.

The degree to which service and support becomes a differentiator when it comes to selling PCs into the enterprise remains to be seen. But most IT professionals, given the option, would probably rather being doing almost anything else.

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