Parallels RAS Reviews & Insights

Score6.9 out of 10

263 Reviews and Ratings

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Parallels RAS

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Community insights

TrustRadius Insights for Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, third party data sources.

Pros

Flexibility in User Management: Users have appreciated the system's ease of adding and removing users for project assignments, making transitions between projects smooth and efficient. The flexibility allows for seamless adjustments to team compositions and roles as needed.

Security Effectiveness: Customers have commended the system for its effectiveness in protecting organizational information, providing a secure environment for data. This robust security measure instills confidence in users regarding the safety of sensitive company data.

Enhanced Operational Efficiency: Reviewers highlighted the straightforward infrastructure scaling process as user-friendly, improving overall operational efficiency. The simplified scaling procedures contribute to a more streamlined and productive workflow within organizations.

Parallels RAS Reviews

27 Reviews

Enterprises (1,001+ employees)

A Solid Remote Desktop Services Alternative for User and Admin Quality of Life

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

April 28, 2025

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Parallels Remote Application Server to allow organizational access to traditional and legacy Win32 style applications. This would include legacy ERP software, older Microsoft Access front ends, and more. Generally, as Remote Desktop Services environment, with significant quality of life enhancements over Microsoft's basic implementation, such as web-based administration and easier delegation of administrative tasks.

Pros

High Visibility of Users, Sessions and Performance
Client is Easy to Install and Configure
Good HA Options, or Active Standy-by HA Option
Functionally Equivalent Web Interface for Management

Cons

Support beyond email is hard to get - typically it's sending log after log when a remote session would have solved it much faster
Need to perform a full Version Update every 18 months
iOS app does not support kerberos

Likelihood to Recommend

Lots of administrative quality of life improvements over Microsoft Remote Desktop Services. If you still need to run Win32 apps, or have an old RDS deployment, Parallels is probably for you.

My favorite quality of life improvement is the highly functional Web Admin Console. Additionally, there are good monitoring and history if you configure those servers. You also get a active/standby HA option that requires no deployment of HA appliances or HA backend databases.

Dennis Peabody

Senior Network and Systems Engineer in Information Technology at PAC Worldwide (Packaging & Containers, 1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

3 years of experience

Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) Review

Rating: 8 out of 10

Incentivized

July 3, 2024

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use this for our Macs to use a couple programs that are windows based. This allows our reporters to use just one computer since they need a Mac to use Final Cut Pro and Compressor, which are available only for Mac users.

Pros

Our vendor program works well with this.
Its easy to manage.

Cons

Sometimes its hard to disconnect users that are having problems.
Sometimes the font is small on the programs when using Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS).

Likelihood to Recommend

Its well suited for a program that only runs in Windows OS. That said, sometimes the specific program doesn't want to work well with Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS). However, that could be because of the program, not Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS).

Verified User

Professional in Information Technology (Broadcast Media company, 1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

20 years of experience

Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) pros and cons

Rating: 8 out of 10

Incentivized

July 2, 2024

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Reducing the number of licenses required for various applications.

Teams that span multiple continents dont use the same license simultaneously and Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) reduces such costs drasticlly.

Pros

Manage multiple product licenses
Roll out additional servers very easily (for capacity)
End user interface friendliness

Cons

Connection interface could be simpler or a way to hide/skip it (Some non-IT staff don't need to see or known any of the connection details)
A way to kill old sessions/open apps, with active directory specifically there's issues with some sub-windows sometime staying open and creating multiple active sessions. (Logging out/disconnecting does not always resolve the issue)

Likelihood to Recommend

Suited for:
- Reducing required licenses for various apps
- For controlling access to certain apps
- Easier set-up of new accounts within the organization by creating profiles of apps for various business units
- Reducing the need for powerfull hardware given to every employee as application is virtualized on the server itself

Verified User

Engineer in Information Technology (Civil Engineering company, 1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

5 years of experience

Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) @ [...]

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

June 28, 2024

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) to optimize our AWS resources. Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) allows us to use a frontend that is much more user-friendly than the native one provided by AWS itself. Furthermore, Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) allows us to optimize the usage time for our users without having to implement these policies in AWS.

Pros

Native client application
Browser usibility
AWS as provider

Cons

Right Management on VDI level
Possibility to use multiple AWS Provider in same farm
Possibility to use Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) in offline mode in non-productive environment

Likelihood to Recommend

Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) can be installed and configured quickly. The documentation is very well described, and the ability to connect to many infrastructures such as Azure, AWS, VMware, and Hyper-V offers great flexibility in choosing one's own favorites. Furthermore, there are good videos and know-how articles available on the internet. So far, we are very satisfied.

Verified User

Employee in Research & Development (Industrial Automation company, 10,001+ employees)

Vetted Review

1 year of experience

Our Conversion to Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS)

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

June 27, 2024

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) as the central hub of our business. Our main application resides in our headquarters Datacenter and we have 100+ plants and offices that connect back to headquarters to run the software. The software does not scale out well for multiple users and also has problems working over WAN links. Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) allows us to copy out from a template and easily replicate the servers to handle our worker capacity (fixing a software issue with virtual hardware). It also handles the WAN link problem by just sending the screen changes across the WAN (which it does very well) while allowing all of the processing to remain locally in our datacenter.

Another problem Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) allows us to solve is what to do about remote workers. We do not open up our network to VPN clients, so we allow our users to connect into the office through Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) to remotely access those apps when outside the office. In point of fact, our users are also accessing many of our applications from within the company via Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) as well. The user experience remains consistent and the maintenance for upgrades and patching is greatly simplified as all of the software is maintained on our servers rather than across the breadth of our user PCs and laptops.

Pros

Remote Access
Scaling of resources
Ease of use
Software is quick and responsive
Easy to manage

Cons

Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) continually improves the product but has broken some features recently. For example the web management portal lost the ability to manage user sessions after a major update. That issue was fixed in a later release
Multi-monitor support beyond 4 monitors (It does handle up to 4 -1080 monitors well)
More options around connection security and MFA. current options are sufficient but limited
We've noticed some performance issues with Windows Server 2019 and 2022. I'd like to see more robust support for remote applications running from those platforms.

Likelihood to Recommend

Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) has worked very well for our company in our distributed user environment. We have 300 people in the system daily, and the system typically just hums along. We also use the Parallels Remote PC feature for remote access into specfic machines which has greatly improved our remote access experience from an IT support perspective.

Verified User

Engineer in Information Technology (Building Materials company, 1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

2 years of experience

Make it simple, use Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS)!

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

June 27, 2024

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Published remotely applications for manufacturing purpose is always a challenge. By providing latest update (functionalities, security patch,...) quickly to all users at once. With other plateforme it requires strong IT skills to manage the "behind the scene" engine. Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) solved all that.

Pros

ease of management with Central plateform
Simple licensing offer
Strong support and availability
Listen client enhancements

Cons

Improve performance of scheduled update over night

Likelihood to Recommend

Deploy quickly Fix-update-patch to enduser solution quickly all at once. Doing it for remote manufacturing facilities

Dany Briard

IT Director , I&Ops, Security in Information Technology at Groupe Novatech Inc (Glass, Ceramics & Concrete, 1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

1 year of experience

View profile

A good fit for legacy applications

Rating: 7 out of 10

Incentivized

September 2, 2023

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We have a large number of old legacy application (client server). We use Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) installed as IAAS on GCP cloud platform to provide application usage to a large number of users (1500). The connection is allowed in office or remote user. Security is guaranteed through the use of MFA to access. We also use it on our mobile handled device in the warehouses.

Pros

application access
file share
printing

Cons

stability
reports

Likelihood to Recommend

Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) is well suited for access to legacy application (client / server). Is cheaper respect to Citrix and have a lot of features that the simple microsoft RAS do not have. This is a very well fit for us. also VDI is a great use of the application. Less appropriate in my opinion on web based applications

Verified User

Director in Information Technology (Transportation/Trucking/Railroad company, 1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

2 years of experience

Robust remote desktop and connection.

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

May 1, 2023

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

The Parallels RAS allows us to work from home efficiently and effectively through remote desktops that are completely secured and with great speed which enables our employees to work at their greatest potential. This helps our organization to expand IT infrastructure and provide and restrict access of proprietary softwares at any time.

Pros

Remote desktops
Virtual connection

Cons

Occasionally lags due to fluctuation in internet connection

Likelihood to Recommend

We are able to setup virtual desktops with Parallels RAS. It's quick, easy to setup, swift deployment and good to use for remotely accessing desktop.

Verified User

Manager in Information Technology (Information Technology & Services company, 1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

1 year of experience

A solid product for a good price, but support is mediocre

Rating: 8 out of 10

Incentivized

August 17, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

At first it was used as a Call Center application suite, so that our call center users could connect to their apps via thin clients, which worked very well and cut down the maintenance overhead for our support team. As we migrated more and more servers to AWS, we needed a way for some departments to run their apps at the proper speed, as the network connection between us and AWS was too slow to support the programs locally. Parallels became the go to for any apps that required heavy network traffic, as the Parallels app could be run in the same AWS region as the one hosting the app server, basically creating a local network in a remote location.

Pros

Very easy to set up
Works well with profile redirection
Easy to switch servers in and out of service, for easy maintenance.

Cons

In switching servers in and out of service, it would be nice if Parallels migrated the user session immediately to an available server. As it is, you need to wait for them to close their apps before they are out of the old server, or kick them out, which ends their session. (Note : I am still on version 16, so this may be a thing now)
I've found that Parallels needs to be set up with the HTTPS cert directly on the app in order to host secure traffic for the HTML5 site. Would be nice if it allowed HTTPS traffic to be sent to it via the load balancer, so the cert can be managed there instead.

Likelihood to Recommend

Well suited for remote work or working with thin clients (Call centers, work from home, etc).

Does not work so well internationally. We have had vendors requiring access from India (we are in Canada) and the connection reliability was spotty, likely due to network connection timeouts.

Verified User

Administrator in Information Technology (Airlines/Aviation company, 5001-10,000 employees)

Vetted Review

6 years of experience

In our organization Parallels RAS allows users to access sensitive data with 2FA worldwide

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

August 17, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Parallels RAS is in use in our company for several years. It is used together with DeenNeet DualShield Authentication server to provide 2FA secure access to those corporate servers which should not be exposed directly to the Internet due to sensitive data stored there.
Users are able to access the sensitive data from any point. Parallels's comprehensive server/feature management allows our IT department to be very flexible.

Pros

Centralized servers status view (memory, disk, CPU)
Flexible permissions (users, groups)
Possibility to customize the corporate WWW portal view

Cons

It would be great to have the option for temporary license. For example 10 licenses for 1 month, instead of yearly subscription.

Likelihood to Recommend

It was required to provide ad-hock access for about 50 new users (not all simultaneously) to some internal server.
With Parallels RAS it was done very fast. Very flexible permissions definition allowed us to separate users according to our needs.

Pavel Gavronsky

Information Technology Engineer in ESA (European Space Agency) in Information Technology at Altec SPA Germany (Aviation & Aerospace, 1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

3 years of experience

View profile

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Our Conversion to Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS)

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

June 27, 2024

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Pros

Remote Access
Scaling of resources
Ease of use
Software is quick and responsive
Easy to manage

Cons

Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) continually improves the product but has broken some features recently. For example the web management portal lost the ability to manage user sessions after a major update. That issue was fixed in a later release
Multi-monitor support beyond 4 monitors (It does handle up to 4 -1080 monitors well)
More options around connection security and MFA. current options are sufficient but limited
We've noticed some performance issues with Windows Server 2019 and 2022. I'd like to see more robust support for remote applications running from those platforms.

Likelihood to Recommend

Verified User

Engineer in Information Technology (Building Materials company, 1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

2 years of experience