Among other things, IA Labs employees are focused on solving logistical problems surrounding client and network management. For instance, the group recently released a technology, dubbed Boot Integrity Services, that is designed to ensure that client PCs are authorized to receive corporate software over a network. The software provides two-way authentication. "The server will know that the client is authentic, and vice versa," says Ryan. Intel recently licensed Boot Integrity Services to PC management vendor Altiris, which will include it in the upcoming release of its Express 4.1 product. Says Ryan: "It's all about increasing the level of assistance that the computing enterprise can provide to the productivity worker in terms of getting their jobs done."

Much of IA Lab's efforts are also centered on the networking and communications infrastructure itself. "While we started with a focus on the PC, we are now looking at end-to-end enterprise systems," Ryan says. With that in mind, the group is developing policy-based networking using the emerging Common Open Policy Services protocol and IP telephony technology that will add PBX functionality into IP telephony services.

Beyond the business world, IA Labs is developing next-generation technologies for the home. "We want to accelerate the evolution of the Internet experience from text and GIFs to an experience that is rich and lifelike and real time and interactive," Ryan says. Part of that effort involves developing standards and protocols for the development of residential DSL, he says. "We're focused on the Internetification of the home."