Okay, so we are agreed then.
Okay, so we are agreed then. Remote support is hard. So much so in fact as to be a whole series of articles, polls and investigations by El Reg and Freeform Dynamics over the last little while.
Official Comenttard Request time:
Don't give up now!
I want polls on what technologies that my fellow Commenttards use to overcome these issues. What works, what doesn't, what a small business can afford. I am not above admitting that my existing solutions could use some polish, and I would love to learn from the experience of others. The Intel dude gave us some VPro propaganda in the one article, and that's fantastic, it's one area to think about. (Especially since I have slowly been converting all of our systems to vPro-based devices over the past year.) There are so many other companies out there with competing solutions, many of which I am sure would love to have a propaganda droid type up an e-mail.
More than that, I’m hoping my fellow commenttards can offer up more examples of “how it is done.” We solved our problem with VDI. (Okay, we have a SINGLE hanger-on to the VPN way of doing things, but only because he’s high-up in the company and so resistant to change it borders on a force of nature.) We went the VDI route because it was cheap and simple, and was such low maintenance for the IT staff. (Honestly there’s no time for mucking about with remote users and VPNs. I’m already working an average of 16 hours a day. I’m dying here.) If others out there have a better, or some BIG GLARING WARNINGS about what to avoid…please, fellow commenttards, pass this along. The meat of what you learn when articles like this come out is to be had in the comments!
I would be deeply disappointed if all the articles so far culminated only in the conclusion “remote support is hard.”
Either way, there have been some excellent comments by fellow commenttards so far in these articles, and thank you very much to all of you. (The Original Steve’s description of his environment sounds enticing enough that I’ve got a sticky on my desk reminding me it’s been a few years since I really checked out what Citrix has to offer, and this might just solve some problems…)
So for my part of the above deal, other than saying “VDI is a good thing, and saves me many problems,” I will contribute my GLARING WARNING: stay away from Microsoft’s ISA Server. (They call it forefront somethingorother now.) I could do a very long rant about the dos and don’t there, (it does have some significant advantages,) but if you try to use it as a VPN gateway to your network, it will kill your dreams.
What about you guys?
Beer, because it's Friday, and it's pub o'clock somewhere in the world.