Intel also emphasized major performance increases over the last version of the platform, and how it far exceeds the capabilities of older machines, to provide a strong case for refresh.

Today, Intel has introduced the latest generation of their Intel vPro platform, which is powered by their 13th Gen Intel Core processors. Intel is emphasizing the significant increases in productivity over the last version of the platform. But in an uncertain market where many customers extending the life of their machines for another year to save money, Intel is also emphasizing how much better these devices are compared to ones sold three or four years go. Part of the story there is security, and the improved security is really the major message Intel is carrying to market with these products.

“Our core message with this announcement is that this is the most secure OS available today,” said Stephanie Hallford, Intel vice president and general manager of the Commercial Client Division. “That’s truly it. There is a lot of other value, but we are offering the highest out-of-the-box security grade in the market. We have invested a great deal in security, working with CrowdStrike and Microsoft Defender, which are our two largest footprints. We have quite a few more and are building by the day, including ESET, CheckPoint and Bytesatwork. Other EDR vendors partnered with Microsoft around this include Acronis, Trend Micro, Sequretek, Fidelis, ESET and Kingsoft.

“The world is changing with well funded cyberattacks, and we are trying to keep up with that,” Hallford stated. “It means a need for hybrid architecture and adding security without weighing down performance. We have really upped our software investments.”

Hallford identified four keys why Intel thinks vPro is the best technology investment for businesses today.

“Security is first and foremost the most important aspect of a business PC,” she said. “Businesses get the very best hardware and software right out of the box. These latest platforms reduce the attack surface by almost 70%, when compared with four year old devices. Older hardware just can’t keep up with today’s attacks.”

Customers will also have more choice with EDR vendors enabled with Intel Threat Detection Technology, bringing higher-efficacy detection of the latest threats.

“Intel has the only AI-based hardware threat detection,” Hallford said. “We have partnered with these EDR vendors to bring a higher efficacy to the level of detection, without compromising performance.

“Finally, our silicon-based virtualization security has taken virtualization-based security to a new level with Windows 11,” Hallford indicated. “Through AI, we have empowered vPro to detect ransomware cryptomining and other attacks with 93% efficacy, which is 24% better than software alone. Virtualization security has come a long way, with its ability to isolate credentials, workloads, and BIOS. Out of the box, vPro and Windows 11 reduce security breaches by 26% and provide an improvement of 17% to security team efficiencies. It’s incredibly strong data.”

Hallford noted as well that instead of having to go on site, IT admins can now manage and update devices from anywhere, even if the PC owner is asleep.

“Out of band device support also lets a security admin perform remote maintenance and recovery of PCs, even without a working OS,” she added.

Mike Nordquist, GM, Commercial Client Planning and Architecture at Intel, then laid out more detail as to why Intel thinks this new technology justifies a PC refresh.

“We don’t think it’s a luxury,” he said. “It’s something that’s a smart choice for you to do.”

The new vPro platform is based on the 13th Gen Intel Core processors, which have a hybrid architecture with new Performance-cores [P-Cores], and more Efficient-cores [E-Cores] on select offerings.

“The P-Cores have new architecture to take better advantage of the performance capability,” Nordquist said. “E-Cores] for multi-threading will result in lower power. You can switch between the two, and you don’ have to do it yourself because an Intel Thread Director does the classification. Intel Dynamic Tuning Technology also provides better energy efficiency. He also highlighted Intel WiFi 6E, Thunderbolt 4 and Intel Evo designs that include vPro as other features that you can’t get in a three-year old PC.

Nordquist also noted that this all translates into 14% lower cost of operations per PC, saving $934 per PC, and a 22% reduction in lost productivity costs. He then went through benchmarks which compared the new vPro platform to both the prior generation and to those on three year old machines. The desktop Intel Core i9 13900 on the SYSmark benchmark was 11% faster than the last generation, and was 15% faster on the UL Procyon benchmark. The mobile Intel Core i7 1370P was 11% faster on SYSmark, and 13% on Procyon.

In comparison with a 3 year old machine, the i9 ran 65% faster on SYSmark and 51% faster on UL Procyon. The results were even more dramatic on the i7 compared with the install base machines. It ran 2.3x faster on the SYSmark and 59% faster on the UL Procyon.

Hallford said this is big news for all types of Intel partners.

“One of the things I’m most proud of is our ecosystem engagement,” she indicated. “Our channel is more than a sales channel and also relies on our technology partners. When I came into this role four years ago, we redid our strategy to be partner first. In my team, we did a conscious business strategy change where we developed software with partners first in mind. Before, if a large company needed certain features or benefits, we accommodated them. Instead we switched to focusing on channel partners that add value, whether they be companies like Kaseya, Zones or Crowdstrike or Ivanti. We make sure that our software has APIs that they can hook into and integrate with. Accenture manages the vast majority of the corporate 500 networks around the world. We can add it to them as a value-added services offering. We also focus on he SMB with SMB service providers like Kaseya and Zones. My own personal strategic change has been to focus on the channel and it has worked incredibly well.

“We have 170 different technical integrations with security, manageability and collaboration partners, especially the Zooms and Teams and WebExs of the world,” Hallford added. “We have the biggest, broadest and most valuable ecosystem of any partner today. CISOs, IT operators and end users are our three audiences. You can’t deliver to them without channel partners for Go to Market and technical integration.”