Costa Sunglasses Has a Clear View of PCs Thanks to Intel® vPro™ Technology

The IT department at Costa reduces repair time by 75% after implementing Intel vPro technology-based PCsIn 1983, a group of hardcore fishermen who spent their days exploring the globe and battling extreme elements came to realize that the sunglasses they were relying on weren’t as hardcore as their adventures. Seeing the world in absolute clarity and protecting their eyes was a must. So when they couldn’t find worthy sunglasses, they decided to build their own. And Costa was born.

In a little more than 30 years, Costa has grown to become the second largest sunglasses manufacturer in the US. With two offices in Florida, one Colorado, and 50 salespeople out in the field, the IT department at Costa has their hands full trying to see and manage the 250 PCs on their network. “We started very small. Originally there were just two of us in the IT department,” says Patrick Yeager, the systems administrator at Costa. “But we grew very, very quickly. Now we have a help desk, and a help desk admin who routes workflow.”

In addition, the IT team at Costa began deploying Intel® vPro™ technology1-based PCs. The devices enable them to make hardware and software repairs remotely so that the team can stay efficient and productive—and so can their clients.

Yeager first implemented Intel vPro technology-based PCs in Costa’s network by using the Intel vPro Navigator. “Honestly, I might have never taken advantage of vPro if it wasn’t for the vPro Navigator. Before that, we’d heard of vPro, but it seemed challenging to implement and we weren’t entirely certain of all of the capabilities in Intel vPro. But, the Navigator makes it easy, explains all the features and benefits of vPro, and walked us through implementation.”

For more information on the benefits of Intel® vPro technology for small and midsize businesses, visit msp.intel.com/case-studies

“There isn’t a reason to go to the user anymore. We can sit at a desk with 3 monitors and manage multiple issues all at once because the PCs are vPro enabled. Think about it, if I spend 20 minutes walking to your desk and back and some user has a 5 minute issue—in the space of the time it took me to walk there and back I could handle 4 issues.”

Patrick Yeager, Systems Administrator

You can’t put a price on the value of BIOS level repairIntel vPro technology with Spiceworks PC management software allows Costa to do more remotely and to remediate problems faster—which not only makes their clients happy, but also improves staff utilization. “If you can take control of a PC remotely instead of leaving my desk and walking to your desk, a 20 minute issue becomes a 3-minute issue,” says Yeager.

Yeager, in particular, likes that he can quickly remediate challenging repairs—especially because they often required a time-consuming deskside visits—or worse, the Costa employee would have to overnight their systems to Costa IT.

“If someone had a BIOS issue, we could only talk them through the troubleshooting to a certain point. Then, we’d wind up at their desk—or they’d have to mail us their device. With vPro technology, we can reboot and get into the BIOS and do it ourselves. You can’t put a price on that.”

Reducing repair time by 75%. The staff at Costa often spent long days running between customers and locations.

“Before we had vPro installed, almost every single issue required a deskside visit. Now 90% of the time we manage and remediate problems remotely,” says Yeager.

In fact, he says that in the time it used to take him to manage one deskside visit, he can now handle four repairs. “There isn’t a reason to go to the user anymore. We can sit at a desk with 3 monitors and manage multiple issues all at once because the PCs are vPro enabled. Think about it, if I spend 20 minutes walking to your desk and back and some user has a 5-minute issue—in the space of the time it took me to walk there and back I could handle 4 issues.”

Small issues stay small. The advanced manageability features of Intel vPro technology-based PCs let the Costa team diagnose and repair many software-related issues without a service visit. “If someone calls and needs multithreading for an application, I can turn it on remotely. Or, when users have issues with our ERP software or our internal CRM, vPro lets us take remote control of the machine and manage the software problems. With vPro technology, a small issue can now stay a small issue. It’s as if you have virtually put the physical machine in front of me and I’m able to work on it,” Yeager says.

Improving energy efficiency with active power management. With the ability to turn off groups of PCs after hours and then power them back up before the start of the next business day, Costa can now save money through lower energy usage, making a substantial positive impact on their commitment to environmental stewardship.

“Our company is very focused on trying to be green and energy conscious. It’s not about the money, it’s about the impact on the environment. Now we have an easy way to shut down systems on a Friday night and then fire them back up at 4 am on Monday morning. The user comes in, her computer is on and she doesn’t know the difference, but we’ve saved hours of energy use,” says Yeager.

A reliable product that “just works”Costa relies on Dell for their hardware.  Patrick Yeager says,

“We’ve found that Dell has the best support for us. Not that we need Gold level support all the time, but when we do we go straight to premium support.  It’s a productivity saver because we don’t have to escalate our way through the tiers of support. Depending on the problem, the streamlined support saves us a lot of time and can cut troubleshooting in half.

“Part of the reason that Dell works so well for us is that they have great product design in the first place.  We don’t have that many problems, but when we do they’re easy to fix. We rarely ever have an issue because Dell makes a reliable product that just works.”

For More InformationFor more information on the benefits of Intel vPro technology for small and midsize businesses, visit msp.intel.com/case-studies

For more information on Costa visit costadelmar.com or call 1-800-447-3700.

“Before we had vPro installed, almost every single issue required a deskside visit. Now 90% of the time we manage and remediate problems remotely.”

Patrick Yeager, Systems Administrator

About CostaAs the leading manufacturer of the world’s clearest polarized performance sunglasses, Costa offers superior lens technology and unparalleled fit and durability. Still handcrafted today in Florida, Costa has created the highest quality, best performing sunglasses and prescription sunglasses (Rx) for outdoor enthusiasts since 1983.

1. Intel® technologies may require enabled hardware, specific software, or services activation. Check with your system manufacturer or retailer.

Copyright ® 2015, Intel Corporation. All rights reserved. Intel, the Intel logo, the Intel. Experience What’s Inside logo, Intel. Experience What’s Inside, and Intel vPro are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.

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