Intel's War On Wires: New Unite Software Powers Secure, Connected Meeting Spaces

Intel aims to make workplaces more mobile with Intel Unite, new software to complement its vPro technology platform.

Intel Unite, software that powers secure, connected meeting spaces, is the latest addition to Intel's vPro technology, which is powered by fifth-generation Intel Core vPro processors to promote a wireless and increasingly mobile workplace.

"We want to transform traditional conference rooms to be smarter," Jason Kennedy, director of business marketing and product management at Intel, told CRN. "This technology allows users to have a secure means for people in multiple conference rooms to interact. When you look at vPro as a platform, we're trying to address workplace needs as employees embrace mobility."

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Customers can use the software as an application for seamless collaboration to see and interact with content, as well as share screens wirelessly.

Intel Unite supports multiple operating systems, including Windows and Mac OS X.

Intel also ramped up security measures with Intel Unite for workplace conferencing systems. The software encrypts data with 256-bit Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) to ensure it will stay in the conference network, and protects meeting access with a secure, rotating PIN code, said Kennedy.

Intel Unite is part of the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company's larger initiative to keep up with business landscapes that are transforming to mobile arenas and eliminate the annoying tangle of wires present in so many workplaces.

Intel Unite will soon be made available for partners, said Kennedy. Intel's fifth-generation vPro Core chips, unveiled in February, have already been widely adopted by partners, he added.

The chips, which target the high end of the mobile enterprise market, also drive security with enhanced features such as support for Trusted Execution Technology and the Trusted Platform Module specification.

CompuCom, a Dallas-based systems integrator and Intel partner, wraps Intel Core vPro processors into remote device management functions for clients, such as remote AMT provisioning, power managemen, and asset management.

"We saw the potential that vPro had to accelerate the value of the arrows in our quiver, and we began using it as an orchestration tool, allowing us to manage all the interactions of devices in the support chain of the enterprise," said Tom Vetterani, vice president of strategy and messaging at CompuCom.

"In your corporate office you have PCs, tablets, and smartphones, and they have to be plugged in. That entanglement of wires is a conundrum that everyone faces, and end users would love to get away from wires. Intel's taking the lead on that," he said.

Intel's next step into workplace transformation is the upcoming release of Skylake, Intel's sixth-generation 14nm microarchitecture platform, which the company said will support wireless charging, power, docking and connectivity.

Intel has not yet disclosed when Skylake will be released.

PUBLISHED JUNE 15, 2015