Should provisioning and activation be an "opt-in" option?

[Terry_C_Intel]

Before you answer the question - let me provide some background.

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First - to realize the value of vPro the system must be provisioned in some manner - Basic, Standard, or Advanced. I'm not saying don't use the technology - I'm pointing out that a dedicated provisionserver and up front effort may not be needed. What I'm suggesting is the technology should be already configured in a Basic or Standard mode when the unit is unboxed.

Second - I highly recommend you read the blog post on maintaining the configuration when a provisionserver does not exist - p-11520 http://communities.intel.com/openport/blogs/proexpert/2008/09/15/what-if-provisionserver-is-not-available-how-can-i-configure-and-manage-systems-without-it or http://juice.altiris.com/node/5659 .

If you're managing a lab, doing training, setting up a staging area, looking to utilize the functions of vPro with multiple client mgmt systems, or related items - do you really need to fully unprovisioning Intel vPro every time, followed by a provisioning sequence? (okay - if you're using SCCM, perhaps. BUT - if you're using other solutions, or want to cohost, do you really need to redo the whole provisioning event to just use the technology? Hint: the answer is likely no)*

Third - We enjoy a world where computers come with and are able to do something out of the box, right? Why can't vPro\AMT be like that? If you want to change the configuration to your taste - just like building\managing\deploying an image for the system - shouldn't the vPro\AMT configuration be the same? (again, read the linked article above to understand what I'm getting at... and NO - I'm not saying avoid the whole Provisioning process)*

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NOW reply to this question\discussion

[Terry_C_Intel]

After posting the question, a number of "offline" discussions have occurred.

Some additional thoughts and insights:

- Could a staging area be setup to do the initial provisioning, and then manage via other consoles? Yes. One example - http://communities.intel.com/openport/message/4147

- This idea is essentially SMB (i.e. basic) provisioning, right? Yes and no. If a staging or pre-deployment environment were setup, it might be helpful to use the enterprise provisioning sequence that Intel SCS provides. Since the AMT firmware doesn't come in a provisioned state... today... something has to be done to initialize the sequence

Anxious to hear more from the community...