The “Intel” on Intel is we do software!

Are you surprised? I start off most of my presentations/ conferences with the following question:

How many of you know that Intel ‘does’ Software?

Very few hands usually go up, and that is exactly the challenge I have today in getting the word out about other exciting developments that people wouldn’t normally associate with this technology juggernaut. And while the Silicon Valley behemoth often conjures up images of powering a plethora of devices (including phones too!), it’s Application Security & Identity Products division (ASIP), my unit, is quickly escaping the formidable shadow of the “mother ship” as it gains prominence in the world at large with Cloud, Application security, Identity and Tokenization software now being “top of mind”. Intel ASIP group is on the cutting edge of innovation in a myriad of ways with some very advanced technologies such as Cloud SSO, Cloud based Identity services, Identity Manager, OTP (One Time Password), Big Data, Analytics, API Gateway, Cloud Service Broker, Security Gateway, Mobile middleware and Security as a Service.

Every Intel commercial you see on TV, or through other media channels, usually promotes Intel chips as that is a core strength of ours. But I want you to be aware that we are far more than just chips. We are a leading edge technology company that constantly renews itself as well as its raison d’être. We hold more patents than almost anyone else in almost every field that we are in. And we employ an army of engineers in some of the largest research efforts in the world, with one of the largest research budgets.

There was a great article in Forbes not too long ago, about how Intel is one of the largest software companies in the world, that you’ve never heard about. Lead by our fearless leader, Renee James – SVP of Intel Software group, Intel recently announced Security as our third pillar. Our CEO Paul Otellini didn’t just stop there; he showed the world he meant it by acquiring McAfee soon after. However, we’ve also made some very key strategic acquisitions in software security and identity areas to strengthen our position. Those include, but are not limited to: McAfee, Nordic Edge, Sarvega, WindRiver… (a complete list can be seen on the Forbes link below or at Intel.com). This is consistent with our strategy. We continue to acquire and develop a lot more software/ security solutions with unwavering commitment.

You might be surprised to learn the following:

• Intel turbo-charges the Linux community by putting hundreds of full-time engineers to work on the free operating system.
• Intel’s tools helped Apple’s engineers move its Macintosh computers to Intel processors.
• Intel helped Google move into the Smartphone business.
• Maybe the company’s biggest software triumph has been its push into high-performance computing. Five of the ten fastest supercomputers in the world now run Intel’s chips.
• Intel has a solution that helps companies Tokenize their sensitive data.
• Intel’s Cloud Service Broker (CSB) and API Gateway solutions help companies seamlessly move their enterprise applications to the cloud.

Along these lines, Intel has been a pivotal partner on many projects that have helped to move the “proverbial needle” by developing tools, frameworks and enhancements – all of which often have gone unrecognized since the efforts are not branded with any kind of Intel logo.

With the acquisition of security software vendor McAfee last year, Intel became one of the world’s 10 largest software companies. – Forbes May 2012.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/briancaulfield/2012/05/09/intel-is-the-biggest-software-company-youve-never-heard-of/.

If you have time, I suggest you give our annual report a read. You’ll get a first-hand look at the contributions of the software division. They are impressive. Just from the numbers alone, we could easily be considered one of the largest software vendors in the world.

We, the software group of Intel, get access to information coming from advanced security labs of McAfee and extreme performance labs from Intel. This allows our software unit to understand what is coming down the road and architect solutions for the future. That is why when you choose Intel for any of the aforementioned products, the performance comparison numbers against our direct competitors our numbers are truly outstanding. If you have any questions about this, please give me a shout and I will demonstrate to you how awesome we really are.

A very familiar AllState commercial states “Are you in good hands?”, With Intel I can guarantee you are.

Our SaaS CloudSSO – Sassy

Essentially that is what it is– Sassy!. Recently we announced our Force.com based Cloud SSO solution. What is unique about this is that we are the first (and as of now the ONLY) solution that will allow Force.com user identities to be federated not only across Force.com applications, but also across other cloud providers as well.

We provide Identity for the cloud in the cloud – now that is different, isn’t it?

I know, I know… there are about half of a dozen vendors that claim to provide a Cloud SSO solution. So why are we different or better than others?

We provide a fusion, bringing together the best of McAfee and Intel. We bring years of advanced security research , our multi-tenant offering cloud security suite from McAfee, coupled with Intel’s Identity offering that includes SSO, hardened provisioning/de-provisioning and an escalated authentication (OTP) solution. Even more important, and a big cost saver, is the provisioning and de-provisioning to manage accounts in many applications by seamlessly automating it behind the scenes giving you the comfort and confidence that accounts are consistently and securely managed on build up and teardown tasks for each user.

Everyone knows that salesforce.com is all about the cloud and SaaS, right?. But once you set up your users/ identities in the Force.com platform it can be only used there. If you need to setup another SaaS application then your administrator needs to setup the user base all over again. Even though there are tools available to make this process easier, it is still a chore. Imagine if you could have the power to set up the identities and policies once and run forever. If your users have to remember only ONE password then you could enforce the passwords to be very strong. This would not only reduce the security risk (imagine a SaaS application having a weak password… what can be more dangerous than that) but it could also help with eliminating a lot of help desk password reset calls from frustrated users.

One pivotal and unspoken benefit is the increase in productivity where a user can seamlessly navigate between applications.