Road warriors get office PC power-on tool

Organisations could power-on an entire fleet of Windows PCs ready to receive updates from a central console

Systems management vendor 1E has updated its 1E WakeUp tool to let remote workers securely power-on their office PC via a web interface.

Available now, 1E WakeUp 5.5 is also designed to let organisations power-on an entire fleet of Windows PCs ready to receive updates from a central management console.

This enables IT departments to hit software delivery success rates of 100 per cent, according to the firm, and recoup their investment within six months.

WakeUp 5.5 integrates with Intel's vPro technology, detecting and powering up vPro machines first, which in turn send Wake-on-LAN messages to other machines on the network.

A new Computer Health feature continuously monitors the state of each system on which it is deployed, enabling early detection of developing problems such as a hard drive showing signs of impending failure.

Also new is Web WakeUp which allows users to check the availability of their office PC via a web interface and initiate a remote power-up if it is turned off.

This enables users to reach their computer using remote access tools such as LogMeIn or GoToMyPC without having to leave the system powered on all the time.

WakeUp is designed to complement 1E's NightWatchman tool, which enables organisations to apply power-saving settings and automatically power down PCs according to a centrally controlled policy.

This can save energy by ensuring that systems are not left running overnight, for example. The two can be purchased together as the 1E Power & Patch Management Pack.

1E WakeUp has Agent support for Windows Vista, XP and 2000 client systems, while the server runs on Windows Server 2008 or 2003. The software is sold with a minimum 500-seat licence.