IBM adds online diagnostic tools to its PCs

From...

by Michael Meehan

(IDG) -- IBM announced plans Wednesday to equip its new PCs with online diagnostic tools designed to create an automated help desk for users of the machines.

The computer giant is teaming with Redwood City, Calif.-based software vendor Support.com to create the online support service. IBM officials said users of the company's PCs will be able to access support and service via an online portal that can run diagnostics applications after an individual user inputs his or her name.

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Once problems are found, IBM added, the online system will locate appropriate software patches or bug fixes and offer them to users for downloading. David Hume, director of services development for IBM's Personal Systems Group, said the new approach expands on a point-and-click online support model that the company currently offers to users.

Analysts said the technology being promised by IBM addresses a major user complaint, but they added that it's uncertain how well the automated service system will work. "People need stuff like this," said Roger Kay, an analyst at IDC in Framingham, Mass. "Even if it's not perfected, it's still good."

Rob Enderle, an analyst at Giga Information Group in Cambridge, Mass., said Microsoft has begun targeting much the same capability for its Windows 2000 operating system. Automated service is likely to be one of the main technical advances for PC users this year, he added.

But such offerings by different vendors need "to be handled consistently," Enderle warned. "Otherwise, the complexity of the tools gets in the way of their adoption."

Hume said IBM chose Support.com because it had built its service network with a focus on software and databases, rather than around hardware. "About 85 percent of the calls we get are software and applications problems, and that stuff is universal in many cases," Hume said, adding that IBM will connect users to live support workers via a chat window when hardware problems arise.

The online support technology will be added to IBM ThinkPad, NetVista, Intellistation and eServer xSeries products starting in the second quarter. Hume said customers who buy those products beforehand will be able to download the "self-healing" technology around the same time.

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Help lines in need of help
(IDG.net)
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(ITWorld.com)
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(PCWorld.com)
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