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.
LogMeIn Pro is very well suited for small-to-medium sized organisations. The pricing is affordable and the implementation is easier. There are some concerns related to data privacy and security, hence I would not advise this to be used when your session handles PHI and PII kind of data, just to be compliant.
LogMeIn Pro by GoTo offers unattended remote access that’s reliable and always available. You can securely log in to a client’s device (Windows or macOS) from anywhere, even without them present.....as long as their machine is on.
You can transfer files during a session without disrupting work. I've also transferred some pretty large files at times without issues.
I like the dashboard as it makes it easy to manage and organize multiple devices across our client base. You can see online/offline status, access machines instantly, and share access with your team all in one easy to view place
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.
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.
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.
I will give a Rating of 10 for LogMeIn Pro by GoTo's overall usability because it has a centralized Dashboard to access all machines and servers and a very user-friendly User Interface. Also, the remote connectivity is very smooth and reliable as if you are working on your local desktop or laptop.
My calls and e-mails to tech support have been few and far between, but those rare interactions were always pleasant and handled professionally. Most support can be accessed electronically, but when the need arises to actually speak to a human being, LogMeIn's customer service reps are clearly well-trained and knowledgeable. Another plus: there isn't the language barrier that I've experienced with other technology companies' support centers.
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.
LogMeIn works well for small number of devices that need unattended remote access. For cost, LogMeIn in similar to GoToMyPC - works about the same - has similar features for about same cost
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.
Great to allow workers to work from home. They have remote access easily and can do quick fixes without driving to the office.
Hard for supervisors to control work hours. Supervisors do not know when the workers are really working.
Being able to even access remotely via smartphone has been impactful to trouble shooting. Your main go to person is traveling and no access to a PC or internet. They can use their smartphone to remote back to the office and fix a quick issue.
