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Intel aims to be a software leader

Although Intel is primarily known for its hardware architecture, the tech giant is aiming to position itself as a software leader as well.
Written by Rachel King, Contributor

Intel is reaffirming its commitment to promoting software and wants to be seen as more than a hardware-centric player.

Speaking at Intel's Software Media Day in San Francisco on Thursday morning, Doug Fisher, Intel's vice president and general manager of systems software and integrated software platform divisions, acknowledged that Intel is well known for being a hardware company, but the objective now is to get people to recognize Intel as a software company as well.

"Software companies are reshaping the industry today," said Fisher.

Fisher reminded the audience that Intel has actually been involved in software development for the last 30 years. Most of this has come about because of acquisitions -- namely Havok in 2007, Wind River in 2009 and, what could be argued as the most important purchase, McAfee in 2011.

McAfee represents a new third pillar of focus for Intel: security. This fits in with three elements of software that Fisher outlined that are core to Intel's efforts.

  • Choices: Intel affirms that it has close relationships with other industry partners for optimization for everything from the server space down to mobile devices so that those operating systems (i.e. Android, Windows, etc.) can take full advantage of Intel's architecture.
  • Applications and Ecosystem support: Fisher argued that these two elements go hand-in-hand. The primary focus here is on support for developers worldwide with developer tools, workshops, conferences and training.

"The one thing that is unique about Intel is the consistency of our architecture," Fisher posited, adding that the combination of Intel's architecture and the critical elements like operating systems and applications produced from its community of partners will bring more innovation and a better experience to end users.

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