Intel Corp. will be releasing this January the Intel Module Solution for the SMB market.
The product will be supported by Intel’s multi-flex technology, which creates virtual drives for storage and management capabilities.
Tom Rampone, vice-president of sales and marketing group and general manager of the channel platforms group at Intel, says the product is essentially like a business-in-a-box.
“The product is very easy to use, flexible and easy to configure,” Rampone said. “The product is designed to make it far easier for the over-worked SMB administrator to also manage and maintain the complete user interface [UI] environment.”
Jared Leavitt, product manager for module servers at Intel, says the solution has been designed to make it easy for IT administrators to mange the UI anytime, anywhere.
“With the capabilities we’ve built in, an IT manager can be at home and can make the necessary changes without having to go back to the office to solve the problem,” Leavitt said.
Rampone and Leavitt refused to provide any further details about the new product stressing that the Intel Module Solution is in its pre-announcement phase.
Rampone added that Intel want to let everyone know that this is coming. Both did say it will be a plug and play product that will come in a rack or pedestal form and will be ready for use right out of the box.
Rampone says the SMB space is a very lucrative market because it continues to grow at rates that are faster than general IT spending. The Intel Module Solution, he says, represents a huge opportunity for Intel’s channel community.
“The channel is a very important part of Intel and it’s a way for us to reach [customers] we would not be able to reach any other way,” Rampone said. “It represents an opportunity for our channel partners to meet the needs of their SMB customers.”
Leavitt also assures that although the product is geared towards a certain market segment, Intel will not discourage anyone who wants to buy this product.
“We have no preference who will buy this,” Leavitt said. “We’ll sell this to OEMs and to the channel and to anyone else who’s willing to push it. If you’re a company with just one server, then this is probably not a good product for you. But for anyone who needs help with two, three servers, or more, then this product will be ideal for them.”
Presently, Leavitt says Intel is working with a select group of ISVs so that when the product does launch next year, resellers can start putting together solutions for SMBs very quickly. Training is also currently being provided to them from both a marketing and technical side and Leavitt says all partners will be provided with the necessary marketing tools once the product is rolled out.
“The SMB market is growing quickly and we’re looking at companies who can use a rack or pedestal product,” Leavitt said. “We’re extremely excited about this new solution because we believe it’s going to be very successful.”