Apple Remote Desktop vs. BeyondTrust Privileged Remote Access

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

BeyondTrust Privileged Remote Access is well suited to grand monitored privileged access to resources. It works in a proxy mode so end-users don't have direct access to servers. This can help prevent attacks on servers from users' machines since all the traffic to the servers goes through the Privileged Remote Access server which performs auth according to the policies. In cases where direct access to the servers/service from the end-user's machine is required, it is a little bit complicated to set up that kind of connection using protocol tunneling.

• 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

• It's comprehensive, intelligent and easy to use.
• It has lots of features i.e. it allows special commands to be used whereas the other programs don't allow them.
• This tool is effective in allowing you to access all your applications through a single sign-on page.
• Actively manage the ongoing operational use of network devices, hardware, and application access via Secure App.
• Bomgar Privileged Access deploys on-premises via a hardened physical or virtual appliance, or through the Bomgar Secure Cloud.

Incentivized

• 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

• One way to use it is by using a machine as an access proxy, this machine being Linux, has limitations such as copy and paste and does not allow access to more than one web access.
• Improve the desktop application view.

Incentivized

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

This review was originally written partially in Portuguese and those parts have been translated into English using a third-party translation tool. While we strive for accuracy, some nuances or meanings may not be perfectly captured.

Incentivized

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

It accomplishes all of our remote access needs, our users require little to no training when being setup for remote access for the first time.

Incentivized

When i have needed support it was for Hardware not the software itself

Incentivized

Very quick and easy install with no real issues

Incentivized

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

The main factor is the ease of implementation and also its use in everyday life.

Incentivized

• 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

• Improve security by improving the management of external remote access
• Help us meet Remote Access Compliance Requirements by creating audit trails, session forensics, and giving access monitoring and reporting data
• Simplify employee access and workflows by giving employees the exact amount of privileged access to systems and applications they need, without hindering productivity or overwhelming the service desk