TrustRadius: an HG Insights company

Apple Remote Desktop vs. Cisco Webex Support (discontinued)

Save this comparison

Save this comparison

Add Product

Recommended Comparisons

    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Apple Remote Desktop

    Score6.4 out of 10
    N/AApple Remote Desktop (ARD), from Apple, is a remote administration tool for managing Apple computers running OS X across a network.

    $79.99

    one-time fee

    Cisco Webex Support

    Score8.8 out of 10
    N/ACisco Webex Support was a remote access and support tool that has been discontinued and is no longer available.N/A
    Pricing
    Apple Remote DesktopCisco Webex Support
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Apple Remote DesktopCisco Webex Support
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Apple Remote DesktopCisco Webex Support
    Considered Both Products
    Apple
    No answer on this topic
    Cisco
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    89%
    Would buy again
    8 Answers
    67%
    Would buy again
    4 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    8 Answers
    83%
    Delivers good value for the price
    5 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    67%
    Happy with the feature set
    6 Answers
    83%
    Happy with the feature set
    5 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    83%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    5 Answers
    67%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    4 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    6 Answers
    67%
    Implementation went as expected
    4 Answers
    Features
    Apple Remote DesktopCisco Webex Support
    Remote Administration
    Comparison of Remote Administration features of Apple Remote Desktop and Cisco Webex Support (discontinued)
    Feature
    Apple Remote Desktop
    8.0
    25 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Cisco Webex Support (discontinued)
    6.8
    9 Ratings
    18% below category average
    Screen sharing8.925 Ratings8.99 Ratings
    File transfer9.024 Ratings8.99 Ratings
    Instant message9.320 Ratings7.17 Ratings
    Secure remote access with Smart Card authentication8.53 Ratings9.05 Ratings
    Access to sleeping/powered-off computers7.219 Ratings6.05 Ratings
    Over-the-Internet remote session9.019 Ratings8.99 Ratings
    Initiate remote control from mobile7.06 Ratings1.36 Ratings
    Remote management of servers & workstations8.421 Ratings2.05 Ratings
    Remote Active Directory® management7.08 Ratings7.95 Ratings
    Centralized management dashboard8.516 Ratings8.87 Ratings
    Session record7.39 Ratings8.67 Ratings
    Annotations7.05 Ratings7.07 Ratings
    Monitoring and Alerts8.312 Ratings8.95 Ratings
    Multi-platform remote control6.37 Ratings1.57 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Apple Remote DesktopCisco Webex Support
    Small Businesses
    N-able Take Control
    Score8.6 out of 10
    N-able Take Control
    Score8.6 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Remote Desktop Manager
    Score9 out of 10
    Remote Desktop Manager
    Score9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    BeyondTrust Privileged Remote Access
    Score8.9 out of 10
    BeyondTrust Privileged Remote Access
    Score8.9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Apple Remote DesktopCisco Webex Support
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.4
    (25 ratings)
    9.7
    (11 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    9.1
    (3 ratings)
    Usability
    9.0
    (4 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    10.0
    (4 ratings)
    1.0
    (3 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Apple Remote DesktopCisco Webex Support
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Apple
    I would rate this higher if I was confident that Apple is continuing to develop this utility. It has only received minor updates for quite a long time, and is not featured much in any of Apple's online material. It really is a useful utility, but it is starting to show its age and is fraying a bit around the edges in some respects. It could be very useful when integrated with the various MDM solutions (in our case, Jamf Pro) especially when an engineer needs to force something immediately and can't wait for a check-in, and also can't depend on the end user being able to (for instance) do a sudo jamf policy or sudo jamf recon.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    We use WebEx Support Center in the IT department to support users as well as work with vendors remotely. This applies to physical desktops, laptops, and Virtual Desktops. We have around 200 employees. Most employees work in one of our offices, but we do have at least 5-10 users who are more frequently remote than they are in the office. It helps us remotely access machines we wouldn't otherwise have access to, due to lack of physical access. It's excellent for troubleshooting access problems from users' personal machines, as well.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Apple
    • Automator Actions: This is a very cool feature and cost saving as it reduces human effort by automating the workflow of tasks.
    • Curtain Mode: This lets you block your local user's view of the desktop while performing administrative tasks.
    • Spotlight Search: It can perform lightning fast searches on machines using the spotlight search feature of OS X and thus saves a lot of time.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    • Simple Remote Access - WebEx Support Center works with either a permanent install or temporary executable, so you don't have to worry about users being particularly comfortable or knowledgeable about software installation. It also doesn't matter if the user is on an account without admin rights, you can still connect and see what's going on using the temporary executable.
    • Robust Access Options - You can take see the user's screen, take control of their screen, send files, and retrieve files. It's a great tool for troubleshooting issues that users might be experiencing and doesn't depend on them being able to find the files that you need to properly troubleshoot their issues.
    • Great performance - Even when users don't have a particularly great internet connection, you can still typically get good results and help them quickly. You're not going to do it over dial-up (if that even still exists for anyone), but it works acceptably well even over very modest DSL or satellite internet connections.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Apple
    • I would like to see more included Unix scrips that can be pushed to clients.
    • Inclusion of a way to remote control or screen share with Windows machines would be useful, as I manage a handful of Windows machines. While this would be possible using VNC on the Windows machines, including the ability to connect using Windows terminal connections would be awesome, for me.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    • During initial setups it can be a little confusing.
    • The look and feel is a little rigid. It feels like it is in need of a smoother UI update.
    • When a new user is introduced to webex and they are asked to share their desktop, it maybe a little difficult for the user to navigate to the correct buttons.
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Apple
    It is a fairly unique tool in the level of integration it has with Apple Desktop products. It definitely needs some engineering attention, and it should be expanded to the iOS arena. It is not perfect, but it is very useful and fills an otherwise fairly empty niche in the support toolkit realm. The built-in screen sharing app in macOS handles the direct screen control or viewing function fairly well, but it does not have all of the other mass control features that Apple Remote Desktop supplies.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    The Enterprise package we purchased (Event Center, Remote Support, Meeting Center, and Training Center) for 100 users is the same annual price as GoToMeeting for 25 users. We will renew as it is a package deal. If it were just WebEx Remote Support, we would not renew at all.
    Read full review
    Usability
    Apple
    Once it is set up, it is quite straightforward to use. However, currently, it requires both a script to run to set up permissions and controls, AND a command from the MDM to authorize it to be active. The MDM management command is manual. This is not conducive to an automated workflow, and sometimes gets forgotten. Then, the endpoint is not contactable until someone realizes that the MDM command was not sent or was not successful.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    Honestly, there are people available. But none of them will help you with your issues. They just keep assigning new service engineers who are often clueless.
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Apple
    When i have needed support it was for Hardware not the software itself
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    The support team is highly incompetent. The only thing that they are able to do flawlessly is register an issue and open the case. But this case related to the issue is never resolved. They will forward the case or assign a new service engineer. But the case will never be resolved. At least not soon. They take weeks to resolve issues.
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Apple
    Very quick and easy install with no real issues
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Apple
    I would feel much more comfortable having one of these alternative solutions as our Remote Desktop management tools. Each has their drawbacks and expenses associated with them, but we simply have too large of a deployment to not be considering alternatives. If it is the only solution you can afford, it is OK to start here. I could see where this would have a return on investment, but it is really only suitable for a very small and localized scale. If employees are at all mobile, the duct taping of products necessary (VPN, distribution points, script repositories) would be very cumbersome.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    I would say that Cisco Webex Support stacks up pretty evenly in capability, but in some regards (video clarity, toll-free access, etc.) they were even better. Where they did provide a better solution for toll-free access on audio bridges, their audio quality was worse for those that wanted to use VoIP for the audio conference bridge.
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Apple
    • Apple Remote Desktop has a positive return on investment because for the expense to the school, the value it brings to teachers is important. The return on improved student performance is very difficult to measure financially, but there is a definite return.
    • The overall objective of education is to increase student learning, ARD does that phenomenally. Parents see the tool used and are impressed at what the capabilities of the tool can do and how it impacts how active their students are as well as how well they can learn.
    • One negative impact is that teachers rely too much on this tool rather than on actually teaching sometimes.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    • WebEx Support Center works pretty excellently for us as we are a small shop. We are experienced and have pretty good skill sets. WebEx Support Center is an excellent product for our use cases with our users and client to troubleshoot issues.
    • WebEx Support Center is more expensive than our previous product MXIE or Logmein. It has a more user-friendly UI, and overall performance is better and reliable.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots