AMD Joins Microsoft System Center Alliance

Development continues on DASH plug-in for Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager to enable secure, remote out-of-band management for business PCs —

Microsoft Management Summit, LAS VEGAS -- April 28, 2009 --Today AMD announced its membership in the Microsoft System Center Alliance and its ongoing commitment to support the Microsoft ecosystem of partners by jointly developing and sharing technologies to advance the development of Microsoft System Center. AMD also continues to develop and support a software plug-in to enable Desktop and Mobile Architecture for System Hardware (DASH) support for desktop and notebook PCs running Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007, Microsoft’s premiere management tool for software deployment and configuration management of business PCs and servers.

DASH is a robust and secure open industry standard that defines a common solution to manage and support remote, multi-vendor commercial desktop and notebook PCs, even when powered off (out-of-band) or out-of-service. With the AMD plug-in, IT professionals will be able to take advantage of System Center Configuration Manager 2007 for out-of-band management of systems that conform to the DASH standard, developed by the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF).

“Our participation in the Microsoft System Center Alliance demonstrates AMD’s commitment to supporting our partners with efficient system management tools,” said Earl Stahl, vice president of Software Development, AMD. “Our promise to deliver a DASH plug-in builds on the value of AMD Business Class technology to deliver the essential manageability, security, energy efficiency and stability that IT professionals require to accomplish tasks quickly, easily and cost-effectively.”

“As part of the Microsoft System Center suite, Configuration Manager 2007 delivers a more efficient IT infrastructure with comprehensive tools for deploying, managing and updating servers and client PCs, across both physical and virtual networks,” said Larry Orecklin, general manager, System Center and Virtualization Marketing, Microsoft. “The DASH plug-in from AMD will extend our Configuration Manager 2007 capabilities, helping to provide IT pros the power to enhance the remote management of their DASH-enabled and non-DASH client PCs for a more stable, secure and manageable computing environment.”

AMD, along with its development partner GNHSoft, will be showing the DASH plug-in for Microsoft System Center Manager 2007 on the show floor (Booth # 517) at the Microsoft Management Summit in Las Vegas April 27 – May 1, 2009, demonstrating its key benefits including a remote wake on DASH secure power on, capability to diagnose and troubleshoot system problems even when the Operating System is unavailable and capability to remotely apply critical patches even to system that are powered off.

Source: AMD Press Release