The hystorical BIOS brand Phoenix Technologies announced in January that it’s shaping hardware virtualization technologies to power a new generation of platforms dubbed PC 3.0.
This new system will have as foundation a hypervisor called HyperCore, able to run instant-on, single-purpose virtual machines (for web browsing for example) along with Microsoft Windows virtual machines, to address the multiple needs of daily computer usage.
A couple of weeks ago virtualization.info published a company’s flash demo which presents the architecture of HyperCore and reveals a third virtual machine, called ManageSpace, which will be used to transparently manage the entire PC even when the main Windows environment is compromised.
Today Phoenix announces the first partner, SupportSoft, that may use the ManageSpace virtual machine to centralize troubleshooting of million of computers in the world:
Phoenix Technologies Ltd., the global leader in core systems firmware, and SupportSoft, a leader in technology problem resolution, today announced a strategic partnership to deliver the industry’s first remote PC management solution that allows users to continue running key productivity applications while the Windows operating system is being remotely diagnosed and repaired. The new solution will be built on Phoenix Technology’s new HyperSpace platform which hosts instant-on applications or appliances before, during and after Windows Vista boots up and shuts down.
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“Our partnership with Phoenix Technologies will further our mission of 24/7 remote management servicing and provisioning,” said Josh Pickus, President and CEO of SupportSoft. “When a PC crashes due to malicious programs or other reasons, the system is inaccessible making it impossible to diagnose the failure’s cause and often making data stored on the disk drive inaccessible. As a result, the PC is unavailable when it’s needed most and sometimes requires an onsite visit by skilled technicians. Now we will be able to provide remote maintenance services even when Windows is down and run diagnostic programs while the user continues uninterrupted.”…
The Phoenix strategy is very interesting: the company is trying to build an ecosystem on its hypervisor providing a new, almost invisble spot for 3rd party paid services. And this happens without having to play the time and money consuming role of the general-purpose-virtualization-platform-vendor like VMware and others.
Despite that, in this particular case, Phoenix will have to be ready to answer privacy concerns that customers may raise thinking about a system which includes agents they never required.