Intel IT: Recent Episodes
Intel Corporation
The Intel IT podcast channel is a resource of audio, video and IT whitepaper (PDFs) that enable IT professionals to engage with their peers in the Intel IT organization—and with thousands of other IT professionals—so they can gain insights into the tools, methods, strategies and IT best practices that are proving most successful in addressing today's tough IT challenges. Topics include: IT Best Practices, IT Competitive Advantage, IT Business Value, IT Business Agility, IT Continuity, IT Cloud Computing, IT Business Efficiency, Green IT, IT Sustainability, IT Data Center, IT Employee Productivity, IT Information Security, IT Client Technology, IT Efficiency, and IT Innovation.
IT Best Practices: As Intel’s business grows, demand for data center network capacity has increased by more than 25% annually. Additionally, business pressures require new capacity to be brought into production within 24 hours. As far back as 2014, we recognized the potential of software-defined networking (SDN) to help meet these challenges. After evaluating SN […]
IT Best Practices: Large-scale, Agile transformations are extremely challenging for digital enterprises. Every organization’s path is unique and more often than not, failure is part of the process. Intel IT’s Agile journey is no different-attimes oscillating between challenging to downright discouraging over the course of a decade-before finally turning the corner and delivering sustained improvements […]
IT Best Practices: Master data is defined by Garner as “the consistent and uniform set of identifiers and extended attributes that describes the core entities of the enterprise.” Intel uses vast amounts of master data every day for many reasons, spanning transactions, reporting and advanced analytics. But often, Intel’s master data exists in silos, presenting […]
Intel has long been at the forefront of radical innovations that have revolutionized the way we live and work – beginning with the development of the first microprocessor, transforming the world as we knew it by making a new era of computing possible. Over the next 50+ years, Intel has continued to transform industries, driving […]
In this third episode of Intel’s Path to Cloud series, Phil Vokins, Cloud Services Director with Intel Americas is joined by experts Chandra Chitneni, Networks Principal Engineer and Sridhar Mahankali, Networks Security Principal Engineer to discuss the differences between and considerations for adopting private vs. hybrid vs. multi-cloud options. In this video, the team demystifies […]
IT Best Practices: Intel IT operates 56 data center modules at 16 data center sites. These sites have a total capacity of 103 megawatts, housing more than 360,000 servers that underpin the computing needs of 116,000 employees. Intel IT has four main segments of operation: Design, Office, Manufacturing and Enterprise. This paper focuses on only […]
IT Best Practices: Intel employees expect easy-to-use, seamless and effective printing. Intel IT has the responsibility to find the most cost-effective, secure and technically viable solution. Marrying these two goals is an art, and Intel IT’s best practices can demystify this process, provide insights about the selection of devices, help evaluate different modes of ownership […]
Intel IT is using artificial intelligence (AI) to accelerate yield ramp by clustering and classifying manufacturing failure patterns. Expert yield analysis engineers have always performed end-of-line yield analysis at Intel’s silicon wafer factories (fabs). But as the number of products and volume grow in Intel’s manufacturing environment, a manual detection approach to yield analysis poses […]
IT Best Practices: Intel IT tests Wi-Fi 6 in an actual office environment during COVID lockdown, proving enhanced performance under challenging, real-world scenarios and delivering important insights for successful deployments. Wi-Fi 6 may be the ideal gateway toward realization of an enterprise-wide wireless infrastructure. With many of our office spaces temporarily vacated due to the […]
IT Best Practices: Intel IT runs Intel data center services like a factory, affecting change in a disciplined manner and applying breakthrough technologies, solutions and processes. This enables us to optimally meet Intel’s business requirements while providing our internal customers with effective data center infrastructure capabilities and innovative business services. Building on previous investments and […]
IT Best Practices: In this second video of the Path to Cloud series Phil Vokins, Cloud Services Director, Intel Americas, is joined by Shachaf Levi, Intel IT Cloud Security Architect and Sridhar Mahankali, Intel IT Principal Engineer, Network Security where they shed light on the biggest concern for companies moving to the cloud – security. […]
IT Best Practices: Intel IT has a large AI group that works across Intel to transform critical work, optimize processes, eliminate scalability bottlenecks and generate significant business value (more than USD 1.5B return on investment in 2020). Our efforts unlock the power of data to make Intel’s business processes smarter, faster and more innovative, from […]
IT Best Practices: Intel’s innovative disaggregated server architecture and data center facilities design and operation reduce e-waste and increase energy efficiency—helping to protect the environment and produce significant cost savings. Do what’s right for the business and what’s right for the environment. That is the dual goal behind many of Intel IT’s data center transformation […]
IT Best Practices: In several proofs of concept, fuel cell technology has proved to be a reliable, stable, efficient and sustainable source of electricity for Intel’s data centers. Intel IT joined forces with Intel’s Corporate Services and Global Supply Chain groups to enable fuel cells to meet Intel’s redundancy and capacity expectations. For some of […]
IT Best Practices: Intel IT Principal Engineers Craig Chvatal and Subbarao Mantha talk to Phil Vokins, Cloud Services Director at Intel Americas, outlining Intel’s best practices businesses should consider when moving to the cloud. In this first edition of our new series, Phil and guests provide practical advice for companies of all sizes that are […]
As one of the world’s largest semiconductor chip makers, Intel’s vision is to be the performance leader that unleashes the potential of data. In this era of rapid change and distributed intelligence, we see artificial intelligence (AI), 5G network transformation and the intelligent, autonomous edge as the fastest growing opportunities for Intel and our customers. […]
IT Best Practices: Best-in-class organizations continuously strive to innovate and improve IT assets. This transformation is critical for business organizations to perform operations without disruption. IT transformation also enhances business units’ ability to meet objectives through deeper IT asset insights and improved total cost of ownership (TCO), all while running leaner and more efficiently. Application […]
IT Best Practices: Intel IT has replaced many of our third-party security solutions with native cloud security controls. We made this significant change to our multicloud strategy because of three reasons: • Technology: Cloud service provider (CSP) integrated security controls have matured to the point where many of them meet our stringent security requirements. • […]
IT Best Practices: As businesses grow, meeting the needs of new markets, customers, and partners can be challenging. Sales and marketing organizations are constantly under pressure to effectively cover accounts and rapidly respond to customers’ changing needs while maintaining—or even reducing—operational costs. Intel’s Sales and Marketing Group faces similar challenges while growing in new markets […]
IT Best Practices: Intel IT is responsible for managing all of Intel’s endpoint devices—at 147 sites spread across 56 countries. Managing endpoints can be time-consuming and expensive, often requiring a technician to physically visit the devices to troubleshoot them. Examples of these devices include the following: The deployment of Intel Unite software to more than […]
IT Best Practices: When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, it propelled Intel’s global workforce of over 100,000 employees, along with contingent workers and ecosystem partners, to begin working remotely practically overnight. Virtual private network (VPN) connections would be needed for all of these workers, but Intel’s global VPN capacity was a fraction of what would be […]
IT Best Practices: Intel IT is enabling business transformation on Intel campuses around the world by standardizing on Wi?Fi for wireless LAN (WLAN) access. Our exclusive use of a wireless infrastructure helps to improve employee mobility, job satisfaction, and productivity—as well as deliver network access in new construction faster and at lower cost. Today, about […]
IT Best Practices: Advanced cyber threats continue to increase in frequency and sophistication, threatening computing environments and impacting businesses’ ability to grow. More than ever, large enterprises must invest in effective information security, using technologies that improve detection and response times. At Intel, we are transforming from our legacy cybersecurity systems to a modern, scalable […]
IT Best Practices: Intel Manufacturing factories rely on advanced technology for smooth 24/7 operation. Each factory includes two data centers with hundreds of servers to manage materials, equipment automation, process control, inventory, analytics, and more. Manufacturing IT recently built a separate and completely virtual integration environment for Intel’s Non-volatile Memory Solution Group (NSG) factory. This […]
IT Best Practices: Intel IT runs Intel data center services like a factory, affecting change in a disciplined manner and applying breakthrough technologies, solutions, and processes. This enables us to optimally meet Intel’s business requirements while providing our internal customers with effective data center infrastructure capabilities and innovative business services. Building on previous investments and […]
IT Best Practices: Intel IT is using Intel Silicon Photonics to affordably increase network bandwidth in Intel’s data centers. Intel’s demand for network bandwidth grows 30 to 40 percent a year. As a result, a key component of Intel IT’s data center strategy is network innovation. Intel IT is increasing deployment of 100 gigabits per […]
IT Best Practices: Intel factories are using the Intel Distribution of OpenVINO toolkit to streamline deep-learning integration with the factories’ computer vision automatic defect-classification systems. Intel factories have been using computer vision for over a decade to automate defect detection and classification. The factories use TensorFlow as the core open source library to help develop […]
IT Best Practices: A robust merger and acquisition (M&A) process (which also applies to divestures) is a growing aspect of Intel’s business. But there is nothing simple about evaluating and integrating technologies and business capabilities or supporting incoming employees. IT organizations must use their experience to focus on the following areas: Security and privacy. Cybersecurity […]
IT Best Practices: Intel IT has formed an Agile Program Management Office (PMO), as a part of Intel IT’s transformation and modernization. We have adopted Agile methodologies to deliver ongoing value to our customers. Instead of long release cycles with massive changes and enhancements, we are organized in small, focused Agile Persistent Teams (APTs) that […]
IT Best Practices: Optimizing PC refresh is a priority for Intel IT. It is imperative that Intel employees have up-to-date technology and devices that let them perform their jobs efficiently. Intel IT historically updated on-sta? engineers’ devices every three years; other direct hire, full-time employees every four years; and waterfalled older machines to contingent workers. […]
IT Best Practices: Intel IT is building a multi-cloud-ready enterprise network that can meet Intel’s constantly-changing network requirements. Increasing adoption of public cloud services, enormous data and network bandwidth demand growth, an increasingly complex cybersecurity landscape, and new business models and product lines are shaping a new approach to both our data center networks and […]
IT Best Practices: Construction of smart buildings at scale isn’t easy. For decades, enterprises have included smart technologies in their buildings to gain operational efficiencies, save maintenance costs, and make their offices more user-friendly. While these companies may have experienced incremental gains from taking individual measures like installing smart temperature controls, the main value of […]
IT Best Practices: Intel IT is improving Intel’s security posture with data intelligence–deploying a new Cyber Intelligence Platform (CIP) based on leading-edge technologies, including Splunk Enterprise and Apache Kafka. The new platform ingests data from hundreds of sources and security tools, providing context-rich visibility and a common language and work surface around the data. It […]
IT Best Practices: Intel IT’s integrated enterprise security architecture has achieved greater business flexibility by collaborating with business units and providing clear security guidelines, applying a “trust-but-verify” model; improved business enablement by removing many interdependencies to make security easier and more consumable; and reduced technical debt with a framework for applications to adopt modern integration […]
IT Best Practices: Like many companies, Intel is being transformed by next-gen analytics and the data that fuels them. The analytics engines required at scale are a major investment, and architectural decisions have multi-year, multi-million-dollar implications. Intel is digitally transforming from a PC-centric to a data-centric company so increasing the speed to insights is imperative […]
IT Best Practices: Facing a complex environment of docking solutions, some of which do not meet the needs of our new workplace transformation requirements, Intel IT conducted multiple rounds of Thunderbolt 3 technology testing. The results of these tests indicate that Thunderbolt 3 technology benefits Intel employees as well as Intel IT. Based on our […]
IT Best Practices: Episode 107 – The job of securing the enterprise has changed dramatically in a short period of time. The number of cyberattacks, and the sophistication of the attackers, requires a new approach to security. No one knows this new reality better than Brent Conran, Chief Information Security Officer at Intel. In this […]
IT@Intel Brief: Learn how Intel IT is protecting the enterprise against advanced persistent threats (APTs), using machine learning with pattern analysis and other advanced cybersecurity techniques such as honeypots, sinkholes, and Layer 7 monitoring.
IT Best Practices: Intel optimized operations and reduced costs by virtualizing industrial PCs in front of individual production tools. The solution combines servers equipped with Intel CPUs, enterprise-level Intel Solid State Drives (Intel SSDs), virtualized storage, and virtualized servers that host all the industrial PCs (IPCs) that previously were next to each tool on the […]
IT Best Practices: Enterprise architecture (EA) has become essential for corporations to be successful in addressing and supporting digital transformation and business growth at a much faster pace in an ever-changing environment. At Intel, we define EA as applying technology advancements across the entire architecture ecosystem to radically change how we operate, compete, and grow […]
IT Best Practices: Dan McKeon, Intel IT VP and IT Infrastructure GM, explains how Intel IT is focusing on the business by using a multi-cloud strategy that allows Intel to get the right workload in the right location.
IT Best Practices: Aziz Safa, Intel IT VP and Chief Data Officer explains how the Corporate Data Office is using data and AI to provide greater insights for Intel.
IT Best Practices: Large organizations gradually accumulate technical debt for various reasons. Intel largely runs its business with enterprise platform solutions that comprise a mix of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) and custom applications. Over time, the number of platforms and applications delivering enterprise capabilities has grown significantly, leading to duplication of solutions, overlap of capabilities across […]
IT Best Practices: Intel IT plays a crucial role in providing the solutions and services that drive Intel’s digital transformation, leading to enhanced business outcomes for Intel. Uniquely positioned to help transform Intel into a digital powerhouse, Intel IT brings a wealth of expertise in the latest technology practices, works with business partners to execute […]
IT Best Practices: The availability of new software applications, coupled with easy access to cloud computing, has allowed businesses to optimize their workloads for faster time-to-market (TTM). But without a clear plan, IT organizations can find themselves playing catch-up with shadow IT. When business groups engage solution providers directly, they often face common challenges and […]
IT Best Practices: To truly drive digital transformation, data must be integrated into every aspect of the company. Amy Warner, VP & GM, IT Digital Business Solutions at Intel, discusses Intel’s transformation from a PC-centric company to a data-centric company. Learn about how the company looks at four components of transformation, including workforce productivity, customer […]
IT Best Practices: The supply chain is a critical asset for Intel. Digital transformation can help ensure alignment of the customer experience throughout their journey. Steve Sciarappo, VP & GM, IT Enterprise Business Solutions, explains how Intel is using technology, data and AI to simplify and connect processes that allow the company to operate in […]
To better meet Intel’s business requirements while providing internal customers with optimal data center infrastructure capabilities and innovative business services, Intel IT has overhauled its data center strategy. Its data center transformation strategy is to run Intel data center services like a factory, affecting change in a disciplined manner and applying breakthrough technologies, solutions, and […]
IT Best Practices: Automated defect classification (ADC) using machine vision (MV) and machine learning (ML) can improve speed, consistency, and efficiency in manufacturing processes.
IT Best Practices: Intel IT’s multi-cloud strategy focuses on abstracting the application stack from the infrastructure to enable anything-as-a-service (XaaS) capabilities. This approach helps to accelerate innovation and allow application developers to focus on writing code, not rounding up compute, storage, and network resources, while IT handles workload placement. However, information security is still paramount […]
IT Best Practices: On manufacturing floors, OT dominates due to its exceptional reliability, but IT excels at aggregating data for analysis and action. Manufacturing efficiency could greatly benefit from IT practices, but a range of issues inhibit adoption, including a general lack of open solutions in OT. Tied to this, wired sensor technologies dominate OT […]
IT Best Practices: Microsoft Windows 10 works synergistically with laptops based on 6th, 7th, and 8th generation Intel Core vPro processors, resulting in up to 10 hours of battery life and a new, intuitive user experience. These capabilities provide increased performance when multiple applications are running on a user’s machine as well as features such […]
IT Best Practices: Intel IT is in a unique position to lead Intel’s digital transformation. We have the experience needed to solve complex business challenges and deliver new value to the company. We are using our highly connected datasets and artificial intelligence (AI) expertise to improve our business processes. We are also working closely with […]
IT Best Practices: Through data standardization, partnering with industry experts, and setting measurable goals, our FFU IIoT solution has allowed us to develop a foundation for edge-to-cloud IIoT computing that can scale to other processes and tools in the factory.
IT Best Practices: As technology evolves, Intel’s worldwide factories have experienced growing complexity in products and processes. We use data analysis and sensors to improve product quality, reduce capital costs, and speed time to market. Often a single tool is equipped with multiple sensors, each collecting specific, unique data. We also use Internet of Things […]
IT Best Practices: Episode 106 – We have talked quite a bit in this podcast series about the rapidly changing threat landscape, and the corresponding changes to the IT organization’s approach to security. The evolution of cyber threats means IT needs to work at embedding security awareness into the enterprise’s overall security culture. In this […]
IT Best Practices: Sensor data and analytics, powered by a robust Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) solution can help manufacturers gain actionable insights into the behavior and performance of their tools in real time. With earlier and more accurate information, maintaining tool health becomes easier, which leads to better product yield, higher quality, and lower […]
IT Best Practices: Intel’s silicon design engineers need significant increases in computing capacity—both on their workstations and on data center servers—to deliver each new generation of silicon chips. To meet those requirements, Intel IT conducts ongoing throughput performance tests, using the Intel silicon design workloads, to analyze the benefits of introducing compute servers based on […]
IT Best Practices: To increase business velocity and cost efficiency, Intel IT designed and deployed database-as-a-service (DBaaS) capabilities on Intel’s enterprise infrastructure. The solution is unique in many ways. For example, we were the first IT department to incorporate the commercial database technologies in use at Intel into a DBaaS system. Unlike many DBaaS solutions […]
IT Best Practices: Anyone who has worked in a large company knows what it is like to wait a half-day for a new computer from the IT department while the IT technician reloads all the applications and settings onto that new computer. Intel IT has changed all that. Intel employees can now get a new […]
IT Best Practices: Maximize the business value of the cloud. That simple statement underlies a three-year initiative to transform Intel IT’s cloud strategy: • Modernize our application stack by abstracting it from the infrastructure. • Focus on business and application needs not on infrastructure. • Determine optimal workload placement balancing cost with capability requirements. • […]
IT Best Practices: Managing PC health in any organization takes sustained focus and a well-defined process. At Intel, we have experienced fatal errors, such as the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD), due to driver and other hardware issues. In 2009, we developed a proactive problem-management process to address these issues and improve the user experience, […]
IT Best Practices: Advances in modern client computing have brought broader features and capabilities to enterprises, helping them develop new markets, innovate new products, and improve communication. But these advancements have also brought new challenges. Solution providers are releasing updates faster and more frequently, and not every update is required for every environment. Microsoft Windows […]
IT Best Practices: Intel IT’s disaggregated server architecture allows independent refresh of the CPU/DRAM and NIC/Drives modules, without replacing other server components such as fans or power supplies. Annual estimated CAPEX savings is at least 44%.
IT Best Practices: Business focus is changing from data management to intelligent action. Artificial intelligence (AI) can add significant power and effectiveness to human processes by recognizing patterns across massive amounts of historical data. The Intel Inside Program (IIP), a co-branding members-based marketing program designed to help consumers identify which products use Intel technology, receives […]
IT Best Practices: Intel’s factories rely on thousands of PCs for manufacturing automation; keeping these PCs up and running can prevent expensive downtime. To manage these systems, Intel IT is using the Intel vPro platform’s hardware-based feature, Intel Active Management Technology (Intel AMT), to help reduce production downtime caused by PC incidents by 87.5 percent. […]
IT Best Practices: In today’s fast-paced business world, making rapid, data-driven decisions is crucial to maintaining a competitive edge. These decisions are especially important for Intel’s supply chain, which spans order taking, resource procurement, manufacturing, testing, and final delivery of products. Intel IT is transforming our legacy supply chain into a modern “glass pipeline” that […]
IT Best Practices: IT departments everywhere face what appears to be conflicting business needs: the need to take advantage of the agility and technology provided by the public cloud and the need to keep proprietary information secure. Recently, Intel IT has developed a public cloud infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) security strategy, which also encompasses platform-as-a-service (PaaS) security. […]
IT Best Practices: Episode 104 – Intel IT has recently released its 2016-2017 IT Annual Performance Report, or APR. Here at Inside IT that means our annual check-in with the Intel Chief Information Officer. This year we welcome new CIO Paula Tolliver, who has been in that role for less than a year – but […]
IT Best Practices: As Intel IT releases their 2016-2017 IT Annual Performance Report, Paula Tolliver discusses what drove her to join Intel, the future she sees for Information Technology and her plans to accelerate the pace of business through IT innovation. Download the 2016-2017 IT Annual Performance Report
IT Best Practices: The Intel Unite solution is modernizing Intel’s collaboration spaces, transforming them into smart, connected spaces where employees both inside and outside the room can collaborate more productively.
Intel IT Annual Performance Report: Intel IT plays a pivotal role in providing the solutions and services that are accelerating Intel’s digital transformation. In this report, Intel IT describes transforming how Intel’s businesses run and grow, advancing Intel’s products and services in the market, increasing workforce productivity, strengthening Intel’s security culture, and promoting an engaged and innovative workforce. We […]
IT Best Practices: Episode 103 – With an increased use of the cloud in the enterprise comes an increased need for advanced security. In this podcast we hear from Shachaf Levi, Cloud Security Architect at Intel IT. Levi tells us how working with the cloud is like working with DNA, how Software Defined Infrastructure replaces […]
IT Best Practices: Episode 102 – We’ve discussed Intel’s role at the forefront of the transformation of the data center in previous episodes of this podcast. Intel Rack Scale Design is a flexible computing, storage, and network backbone that will usher in an age of truly agile digital infrastructure in the data center. In this […]
IT Best Practices: Episode 101 – One clear sign of the technological change we’ve all regularly adapted to is the number of operating systems we’ve worked with in our personal and professional lives. Historically, IT has had to evaluate and deploy operating systems every few years. The drumbeat of technological change has been beating faster […]
IT Best Practices: Intel IT, in partnership with Intel s sales and marketing organizations and business units, has unified the digital experience for Intel s business-to-business (B2B) customers by eliminating unnecessary business processes and technical debt. Our efforts resulted in a streamlined, consistent end-to-end customer experience and increased revenue. In 2015, we began the transformation […]
IT Best Practices: Internet of Things (IoT) solution providers will see enormous opportunities for enterprise IoT solutions in the coming years. By 2020, 25 billion enterprise-owned Internet-connected things across the globe stand to generate up to USD 2 trillion in economic benefit according to Gartner Research. But these are not consumer devices, such as smartphones […]
IT Best Practices: Intel IT supports a variety of provisional and external workers and contractors who access Intel resources for collaboration and productivity. Providing Intel-deployed PCs is not always an ideal option. Some of these workers require higher levels of security access than these PCs allow, and most of these workers already have their own […]
IT Best Practices: You ever join your coworkers in a conference room and have difficulty sharing material on screen? At Intel, we’re deploying an Intel Unite solution to help resolve this problem. Here’s how it works… I’ve entered a room that has Intel Unite and I walk up and see that there are simple instructions […]
IT Best Practices: Protecting data is one of Intel IT’s most important duties to the enterprise. And the practice of protecting data includes not only data that is actively being used, but also data that needs to be erased when repurposing or disposing of PCs. Intel IT uses secure erase because it is the most […]
IT Best Practices: Intel IT’s enterprise private cloud has seen reduced total cost of ownership (TCO) annually and maintains a goal of absorbing private cloud growth while reducing absolute spending. To achieve this aggressive goal, continuous improvements in infrastructure efficiency and performance are required. In the second half of 2015, Intel IT evaluated two use […]
IT Best Practices: Data mining using machine learning enables businesses and organizations to discover fresh insights previously hidden within their data. Whether exploring oil reserves, improving the safety of automobiles, or mapping genomes, machine-learning algorithms are at the heart of these studies. At Intel, we are quickly moving machine learning from an academic pursuit to […]
IT Best Practices: Episode 100 – Technology has evolved in amazing ways, and Intel’s factories have been at the forefront of that evolution. This means those factories have grown in complexity. This also means an equivalent growth in the amount and type of data associated with the manufacturing process. Steve Chadwick has a unique perspective […]
IT Best Practices: Over the past few years, the variety of client devices in use at Intel has grown significantly. While we still find that a 2- to 4-year refresh cycle offers the best total cost of ownership, some of our client device fleet management practices have also evolved. Improvements in security have enabled Intel […]
IT Best Practices: In order to increase user productivity and reduce IT costs, Intel IT plans to make getting a new laptop or switching from one device to another as easy as getting a new smartphone. Historically, our users spend, on average, several days reestablishing their workspace (corporate and personal content, applications, and user personalization) […]
IT Best Practices: As part of our effort to strategically transform data centers and accelerate application delivery, Intel IT used design best practices to create a cloud application platform. This platform—more specifically, platform as a service (PaaS)—makes it easy to create, deploy, and manage web and mobile applications. The platform provides a highly available and […]
IT Best Practices: Energy costs are the fastest-rising expense for today’s data centers. Naturally, power consumption is a top concern for managers of data center, enterprise, and cloud environments. Moreover, there are multiple proprietary power measurement and control protocols supported by various solution providers, making it challenging to have a single solution for power management […]
IT Best Practices: Episode 99 – As clients have come to rely more and more on the private cloud in the enterprise, Intel IT has worked to simplify capacity management for its private cloud. The result has been an increase in the number of virtual machines, while at the same time a reduction in the […]
IT Best Practices: Intel employees have come to expect a certain level of convenience from their devices, and Intel IT must meet this expectation without compromising security and manageability. After evaluating a variety of mobile computing devices, Intel IT began offering enterprise Ultrabook devices as part of our standard hardware refresh program in 2012. Of […]
IT Best Practices: Episode 98 – The data center at Intel is the backbone of the company, critical to every aspect of business. To better meet Intel’s business requirements while providing internal customers with optimal capabilities and innovative business services, Intel IT has overhauled its data center strategy. In this podcast we’ll hear from Shesha […]
IT Best Practices: To drive down cost and increase host utilization in Intel’s Office and Enterprise private cloud, Intel IT has simplified private cloud capacity management by transitioning from allocation-based capacity management to performance-based capacity management. Focusing on host and application performance in conjunction with optimizing our private cloud host server configuration has significantly increased […]
IT Best Practices: Episode 97 – Big data and advanced analytics have become increasingly important to Intel. More and more people and business groups rely on Intel’s big data capabilities to maximize productivity. A recent step in the evolution of big data at the company was the move last year from the Intel Distribution for […]
IT Best Practices: Intel IT values open-source-based, big data processing using Apache Hadoop software. Last year we migrated from the Intel Distribution for Apache Hadoop software to the Cloudier Enterprise software. Based on our original experience with Apache Hadoop software, Intel IT identified new opportunities to reduce IT costs and extend our business intelligence capabilities. […]
IT Best Practices: Episode 96 – We’ve all been there – waiting in a conference room as a presenter fumbles with cables, trying to get a laptop connected to a monitor or projector. Or someone is trying to join a meeting remotely, but they can’t even see a presentation, let alone drive one. With a […]
IT Best Practices: Intel’s smart factories use highly specialized Internet of Things (IoT) data specifications that make it possible to bring new factories online quickly and reliably by replicating identical processes from one facility to another. Imagine being able to do the same thing with other buildings, such as offices and airports. These buildings present […]
IT Best Practices: In the rapidly changing business and technology environment, manufacturers are striving to stay competitive, now and into the future, by increasing productivity and lowering costs. Like many companies, Intel has evolved over the decades to provide competitive advantages through sophisticated automation—smart manufacturing—which has helped its factories increase product yields and quality, reduced […]
IT Best Practices: The 2015-2016 Intel IT Annual Performance Report highlights technology trends driving rapid innovation across our enterprise. This edition showcases how Intel IT capitalizes on new technology to create business value and become a catalyst for organizational transformation. Aligning to business goals, Intel IT delivers operational excellence and provides thought leadership on strategic […]
IT Best Practices: Intel IT set a goal of defining and implementing a single user experience framework as a standard for all enterprise solutions. We developed a holistic understanding of the enterprise experience and then provided a model for other IT teams to emulate when developing products and tools. The framework is a conceptual map […]
IT Best Practices: Intel uses social community forums to engage publicly with customers, developers, and industry experts. It is an important part of fostering discussions, ideas, and knowledge sharing that often lead to industry-wide solutions. In spring 2015 Intel experienced a significant escalation in spam attacks on its public community forums—as many as ten thousand […]
IT Best Practices: Imagine a computing environment where PCs fix themselves, even before employees know there’s a problem. Or where employees are proactively notified of issues, including self-service answers without having to know a lot of technical lingo or infrastructure details. This vision, consistent with our history of self-service solutions, inspired Intel IT to create […]
IT Best Practices: Even with the proliferation of device types, Intel IT continues to adhere to the fundamentals of our PC Refresh Strategy. Listen to John Mahvi explain what we believed in the past and what we believe now.
IT Best Practices: Real-time data supports a supply chain that can instantly respond to change. We’ll be able to build on what we learn with the supply chain implementation, applying real-time data in innovative ways in many other areas of the enterprise.
IT Best Practices: Intel IT implemented several IoT sensor technology solutions. As a result, the collected sensor data helps employees more effectively perform many tasks. Our set of best practices can guide the planning, design, and integration of this technology.
IT Best Practices: Intel IT has used design best practices to create high-density energy-efficient data centers: a 1,100 W/square-foot cooling density and a 1,300 W/square-foot electrical density (10 times the industry average).
IT Best Practices: Intel IT is responsible for fueling Intel’s business transformation with information technology, which includes providing employees with the ability to effectively communicate and collaborate. While email is pervasive in most businesses today, it can siphon time, productivity, and creativity from the workforce. Intel IT decided to explore the correlation between productivity and email. We conducted a study to determine email usage, while complying with Intel’s policies regarding employee privacy rights.
To conduct the study of the impact of email on business, we created a custom architecture using Apache Hadoop, Hive, Impala, Pig, and Sqoop. Based on four months of data collection, we were able to identify the highest email users at Intel by region, Intel site, and business unit. We were also able to determine a baseline email volume, recognize trends, and identify usage patterns and the main sources of email.
We plan to coach groups with the heaviest email use about proven methods for managing and reducing the time spent on email, thus enabling them to focus on higher-value activities. We will also work with the business units to determine whether the use of collaboration tools or corporate web portals might be more effective for teamwork and communication.
IT Best Practices: Our HPC environment, currently based on the Intel Xeon processor E7-4800 and 8800 v2 & v3 product families, has supported a 90.21x increase in compute demand with a 64.4x increase in stability. Tape-out time was reduced from 25 days to 10 days.
IT Best Practices: As part of managing the more than 100,000 PCs in use at Intel, Intel IT spends a significant amount of time and effort managing operating system deployment. Historically, new OS versions have been released every few years. Today, the industry is transitioning to an OS-as-a-service model, with updates and new features delivered on a continual basis.
This shift in delivery method requires us to develop some new best practices and modify others. For example, we need to create a permanent testing environment and layer applications and configurations on the platform so that frequent changes to the underlying OS do not disrupt employee productivity.
As the industry evolves toward OS as a service, we must understand and accommodate the continuous delivery model. The changes we are making to our operating system deployment best practices will improve our flexibility and agility, enabling us to continue providing top-quality support to the enterprise.