Lenovo participates in the DoCoMo Intel collaboration agreement. Aiming to popularize PCs with mobile communication functions among the three companies --- Joint press briefing session for the three companies

NTT DoCoMo, Intel, and Lenovo will work together to promote the business use of LTE / 5G-equipped notebook PCs "Connected Modern PC (CMPC)." Lenovo will participate in the cooperation agreement signed between DoCoMo and Intel in April 2021, and the actual PC makers will participate in the agreement to further strengthen the efforts. First, we will issue a white paper for the introduction of CMPC, and accelerate efforts to expand its use.

In the last few years of Korona-ka, the introduction of remote work by companies is progressing. However, the introduction of small and medium-sized enterprises has not progressed compared to large enterprises. According to a survey by the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the introduction rate of remote work by small and medium-sized enterprises initially exceeded 60%, but by September 2021, it had dropped to less than half. However, 80% of the employees who have experienced telework once want to continue. It is said that the desire of employees of the child-rearing generation was particularly high because it was easy to control the time.

According to DoCoMo's survey of companies, there are concerns that the introduction cost is high, paper media processing is essential and it is necessary to go to work, security is a concern, the environment of the employee's home network is different, etc. The current situation was highlighted.

DoCoMo has accumulated various know-how since "We have been promoting SIM-embedded PCs for companies since 2012" (NTT DoCoMo Corporate Business Headquarters DX Solution Department Manager Naoshi Machida). In particular, on the security side, we have provided services that enhance security such as remote wipe by introducing MDM, remote kitting and maintenance by system administrators, and direct connection from Docomo Network to AWS (Amazon Web Services) and Microsoft Azure.

Mr. Machida pointed out that there are three patterns of needs for CMPC from corporations, assuming large companies, medium-sized companies, and small and medium-sized companies. For large companies, we customize and provide a wide range of services such as closed connection and MDM that directly connect the above DoCoMo network. It is preparing for mid-sized companies, assuming that it will provide services such as remote support and kitting as a package.

For needs such as small and medium size and SMB that you want to minimize the operation, by providing a "dataless PC" that data is uploaded to the cloud and deleted from the terminal when the PC is closed after use. , We have prepared a monthly service that can be easily used while ensuring safety.

"The important point for CMPC is how to realize that you can work anywhere with a PC," said Hideaki Toki, executive officer and managing director of Intel's Second Technology Division. As PCs have changed from desktops to notebooks, wired LANs have become wireless LANs, and mobile lines have become widespread, Intel has been working to improve its performance by strengthening its mobile platform.

As a result, the installation of mobile communication functions in mobile PCs is steadily expanding globally. Especially in the enterprise and SMB areas, it is growing significantly. However, the growth is dominated by the EMEA markets of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and it has not yet grown so much in each region of Japan, the United States, China, and APAC.

Intel is developing the same kind of efforts globally as this collaboration with DoCoMo, but in the future, it is expected to expand even in each region where the market share is low, so it intends to emphasize the efforts to expand CMPC.

Lenovo, which newly participated in the collaboration promoted by both Intel and Docomo, inherits the "ThinkPad" originally created by the Yamato Research Institute of IBM Japan (at that time) in 1992. "Working style reform began here," said Minoru Yasuda, executive vice president of Lenovo, but as a result, ThinkPad has remained a perennial favorite as a notebook PC for corporations.

Since launching the first 3G-compatible ThinkPad in Japan in 2007, Lenovo has already provided 21 series mobile communication-equipped PCs (CMPCs) and accumulated know-how. The company intends to work on solving the problems in introducing CMPC.

Currently, only about 11% use CMPC as a telework network method. In the first place, the implementation rate of telework is about 20 to 30%, and it is still a small market.

There are several obstacles to the introduction of CMPC. The first is that the existence of PCs with built-in mobile communication such as CMPC is not known in the first place, and we plan to solve this with white papers. The second point is that the burden will increase in areas unknown to the IT department, and we will try to reduce the burden by providing troubleshooting.

Thirdly, it may not be possible to know how much communication will be performed by CMPC and how much the burden on the company will be. For those who do not know which rate plan to choose, the actual measurement value is measured by a field test and the information is provided as a reference value.

According to Lenovo, when a 5G compatible ThinkPad was connected to DoCoMo's 5G and measured with a stable downlink of 80 Mbps and uplink of 10 Mbps or more, it took 1 minute for an online conference with 720p resolution (using Microsoft Teams). The traffic was about 50MB, 5GB in about 1.8 hours, 7GB in about 2.5 hours, and 20GB in about 7.2 hours.

Since such data consumption fluctuates depending on communication conditions and screen sharing, "estimated value close to the maximum value" (Mr. Yasuda), but the published white paper also prepares a trial balance of estimated communication volume for each use case. Allowed user companies to estimate costs.

Mr. Machida of DoCoMo says that unlimited is good when using a large amount of data such as CAD, but in a general telework environment, even if there is a difference between each person, it will be about the average if it becomes several tens of people. indicate. At first, he proposes an operation method of measuring the average value with an unlimited plan and changing to the optimum plan.

In the future, the three companies will hold seminars and events to promote CMPC, and also encourage the participation of PC makers other than Lenovo, aiming to spread CMPC throughout the industry.