Compaq Reduces Cost of Ownership

Dave Andrews

The typical PC network costs about $2800 annually to manage per PC, according to the Gartner Group (Stamford, CT). The Desktop Management Task Force, a group of companies formed to help standardize and simplify PC network management, has raised awareness of this issue. Last year the DMTF released its DMI (Desktop Management Interface), but important elements are missing. Service layers, the intermediate software layers that manage access to the Management Information Files that hold software and hardware component data are available for DOS, Windows, and OS/2, but because they aren't embedded in the operating systems, they aren't ubiquitous. Also missing: a standard protocol to collect management information over the network and lots of DMI applications.

Compaq (Houston, TX (800 ) 345-1518) is making it easier for LAN management software vendors. The company implemented APIs in the ROM of its new Deskpros so that management applications can easily manage and troubleshoot the new PCs, their hard drives, and the latest Compaq monitors. Now numerous PC LAN management vendors can monitor the new PCs and access manufacturer, make, and serial number of compliant components. "The DMI service layer will become a great source of information for us once it is widely distributed," says Anne Gunn, vice president of Tally Systems (Hanover, NH (800) 262-3877), a vendor of asset management products and one of Compaq's many partners. "But Compaq is giving us a way to access its PCs now."