Dell streamlines Windows 10 and PC deployments with PCaaS

Dell has extended its PC as a Service (PCaaS) offering, enabling businesses to deploy, manage and service PCs, peripherals and software in use within an organisation, from one single place.

New additions include PCaaS Services Delivery Manager, which acts as a single point of contact for companies for the devices in their IT estate, from the initial deployment to the end of lifecycle for software and equipment in use. It integrates with deployment, support, Dell Financial Services and asset recovery to provide an entire overview of a business's equipment and services.

Dell PCaaS also supports more software options including Dell Endpoint Security Suite Enterprise, VMWare AirWatch and Absolute Data and Device Security, alongside the ProDeploy Client Suite.

The PCaaS service provides a single price per seat on a per month basis, which means businesses will know exactly how much they can expect to spend for budgeting purposes, the company said, claiming customers could save up to 25% compared to lifecycle management without PCaaS.

"With digital and workforce transformation, the way people work is changing," said John Moody, vice president, Client Solutions Services Product Group, Dell.

"To respond to this shift, IT needs a simpler solution to provide end users with the most relevant and secure technology, and manage it throughout the entire PC lifecycle. They need flexibility in how they purchase manage and retire PCs responsibly with one point of contact throughout and we deliver that with PCaaS."

For businesses using Windows 10 PCs that don't need the full array of services available under PCaaS, Dell is offering Windows 10 Provisioning by AirWatch. This service simplifies the deployment of new Dell PCs running Windows 10 for both users and the IT department, the company claimed. It integrates with Dell Client Command Suite too, so settings can be administered with as much ease as possible, it said.

"What's different about what we've been able to jointly engineer with AirWatch and Dell Client Command Suite is you can now manage all devices from one console and manage them at the firmware level in addition to the OS," said Brett Hansen, vice president of client software and general manager of data security at Dell.

"Now, IT can optimize power management for peak and off-peak times, get reports on battery and system health to reduce user downtime and data loss, and remotely manage the BIOS settings for increased security. Dell is the only PC manufacturer with this depth of visibility into PC health and status both above and below the OS."