Annex launches demo centre to showcase advances in technology management

Annex Distribution, in conjunction with its international technology vendor partners, has established an in-house technology centre to better acquaint its reseller base with the finer points of optimised infrastructure management.

The centre has been initially furnished with technology from global vendors Intel and Microsoft. It is currently focused on the business development potential and feature-rich qualities derived from the combination of Intel vPro Technology and Microsoft System Center Essentials 2007.

Intel vPro Technology has emerged as a competitive offering within the growing business development technology market. It is engineered into the motherboard of the PC and thereby facilitates a higher level of desktop PC management, security, performance and application.

The technology represents a significant step forward in remote infrastructure management, which has, until recently, been largely restricted to the server environment. Now the introduction of Intel vPro signals a breakthrough in direct, online management of the PC and its applications.

It is for this reason that the technology holds appeal to the corporate sector at large. It has features that are relevant and beneficial to any sized organisation.

Intel vPro allows the business to leverage off advantages such as remote asset manageability, remote problem resolution, enhanced security, improved multitasking and energy-efficient performance. The technology also helps to position the company to easily upgrade to next generation desktop PC application.

Microsoft System Center Essentials 2007 is a management solution that was introduced as part of the company's System Centre family of IT systems management products.

The solution was designed to assist professionals within small to medium-sized operations effectively deal with infrastructure management issues. This could involve any number of management challenges, including troubleshooting and repairs.

"Changes can be made remotely, down to bios level," says Bill Gradwell, director at Annex Distribution. "The demo centre is networked with a system and technology infrastructure that can be manipulated to simulate various challenges. This provides a realistic platform that our resellers can use to showcase the benefits of technology. The idea is that our customers can simulate a number of scenarios that require administrative and specific intervention and remote management. This could be anything from an 'infected' unit right through to multiple PC/notebook crashes. The technology in place does what it is supposed to and the visitor to the centre is able to immediately see the advantages of their 'investment'."

Each Intel server is shipped with a Microsoft System Center Essentials 2007 licence.

"This hardware is shipped with this specific Microsoft software and the combination adds immense value," adds Gradwell. "We believe that this is really a win-win situation for the small to medium-sized bracket. On the one hand, we are in a position to demonstrate the potential of infrastructure that we have in stock for sale, on the other, the clientele of our reseller base is presented with proof of quality and performance of their potential investment."

Resellers can make bookings to utilise the demo centre and Annex Distribution representatives are also available for on-site training.

For more information, click through to www.annex.co.za or call (011) 542-2300.