Goverlan Reach vs. Remote Desktop Services

Inexpensive but full featured solution for IT Operations teams that need good tools.

Incentivized

Remote Desktop Services provides access to work environments from any device. This allows us to ensure business continuity in case of disaster. It provides admins more control over access and security. Remote Desktop Services simplifies software updates and compliance management by reducing the need to act on end users devices.

• Good configurable dashboard that can be personalized per audience
• Built in packages for monitoring standard applications that can be personalized easily
• Simple, easy to use update deployment configuration.

Incentivized

• Relative ease of setup: in comparison to some of the other solutions on the market (Citrix, etc.), Remote Desktop Services is rather easy to set up and get configured in your environment.
• Feature set: Microsoft offers a good deal of the same features many competitors offer in the same space including a mobile app and the ability to have a "native" app feel for a remote application.
• Inexpensive Licensing: in comparison to other solutions on the market Remote Desktop Services is inexpensive.
• Move LOB applications closer to their server counterparts: this goes for all remote solutions, but if you have a line of business application that makes a great deal of calls across the network to your data center, your remote office users will likely benefit from the performance and stability side by moving those client side applications into the data center.

Incentivized

• Machines must be online for actions to be performed, scopes allow you to rerun them against failed objects only but really a much better option would be for client agent to check in at power on for open jobs.
• Newest version of Reach is glitchy on Windows 10 requiring the occasional restart of the application.

Incentivized

• Advanced configuration is required.
• Off-site access from a different network is very insecure unless a VPN can be used.
• It's complicated and relatively costly for multi-user environments, as each user or device requires a CAL on top of the server licensing.
• Incredibly complicated licensing strategy from Microsoft.

Incentivized

Once set up it works well and is extremely easy for users. Getting it right can be difficult, it is easy to setup insecurely. Maintenance can be difficult with only a single broker and with manual switchover required for redundant gateways. Troubleshooting access issues can also be difficult

Incentivized

There are some third party tools available that allow you to manage multiple connections.

Incentivized

As with any Microsoft Server product, support for Remote Desktop Services requires a paid support package. These are license-based and very costly, on top of the already costly product licensing. Microsoft's licensing is complicated to begin with, so setting up licensing alone essentially requires a licensing expert's counsel. There is community documentation and support available on Microsoft websites, as well as community websites.

Incentivized

Goverlan was a better overall value providing licensing flexibility, more features and consistent quality for a lower price point. There are many products that provide remote capabilities but this product goes well above and beyond most of them allowing remote installs and reporting features.

Incentivized

We used RDS on-site primarily because of how easy it is for users to transition from their own desktop to a remote desktop. However, from off-site, there are VPN and other security considerations to take into account, and the process gets a little more complex. In this situation, especially if you're trying to support a user who is outside the local network, it can be easier to use something like Chrome Remote Desktop or TeamViewer. However, the Windows functionality of RDS is totally unmatched.

Incentivized

• With a product like this it is entirely possible that you will see large increase in Help Desk efficiency for those who are willing to take the time to fully explore its possibilities.
• Much more robust that any other remote support product I have used while still extremely cheap compared to competing products. This can bring enterprise level support options to those that may normally not be able to afford it.
• Reporting features are invaluable to anyone wanting to truly know what is happening on their network.

Incentivized

• Remote Desktop Services has had a major positive ROI impact at our firm. There were a number of times when our staff was traveling abroad to business meetings with a laptop that had missing presentations. But once they had internet access, a Remote Desktop Services connection is established, and presentation data can now be shown directly from their laptops as if theyr'e sitting in our office.
• Remote Desktop Services has made it possible for Mac staff users to use their computing devices to access our network system to run Windows applications and access all our network data.
• Remote Desktop Services has made it possible for our staff to successfully work remotely from outside the office. There were many occasions when emergencies came up which prevented staff from coming into the office to work. But as long as they have a computer with an internet connection, they used Remote Desktop Services to connect to our terminal server and successfully ran the programs to modify data files on the network without losing a beat.

Incentivized