HP, LANDesk Team Up For Smoother PC Remote Management

Hewlett-Packard is teaming up with LANDesk Software to make HP PCs and hardware devices easier to manage and administer remotely.

Under the partnership, announced Monday, HP will resell LANDesk software products to its business customers. Over the next three quarters, LANDesk will work with HP to deepen integration between its flagship LANDesk Management Suite and HP PCs to allow remote configuration and management to function more smoothly.

"Using LANDesk's management software means that IT can just deliver the PC directly to the end user and manage the PC remotely from that point forward by deploying the image to the box," Brad Winston, global alliance manager in HP's Personal Systems Group, said in an interview.

Organizations can save on shipping costs because IT departments can set up and configure new PCs remotely instead of on-site, according to Winston. "We want to offer the capability to solve problems in environments where manageability software can help cut costs," he said.

By the end of March, LANDesk Management Suite will be able to remotely acquire and install HP drivers and hardware/firmware updates, as well as modify firmware settings and receive health alerts from HP PCs, Winston said.

For HP's retail customers, Winston said, LANDesk will also be able to manage HP retail devices and systems, and report on the health of bar code scanners and receipt printers.

In Q2, LANDesk will be integrated with HP Power Assistant for energy consumption and utilization reports, and HP Connection Manager for managing wired and wireless connections.

In Q3, LANDesk will be able to manage HP thin clients with ThinPro, Wes07 and Wes09 operating systems, Winston said.