For a small deployment of macOS, I can see where Apple Remote Desktop could suffice. I can see where a company that is strapped for cash could benefit from a knowledgeable employee using it to automate some tasks. I am not comfortable giving an estimate number-wise. For a large deployment of macOS or iOS, this would be a very inappropriate tool. There are far too many obstacles for an app like Apple Remote Desktop to successfully manage a large fleet of macOS computers or really any number of iOS devices. You simply need an MDM solution in this day and age. This will become increasingly necessary, even in small numbers, but MDM providers have started to provide solutions for customers in these situations.
Well suited to environments where IT staff need to access multiple servers/systems at the same time, cutting down on time wasted opening multiple windows. Not so useful for users that only need to access one system remotely, as most of its functions are largely unused in that case.
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.
The user interface for configuration is a little basic, and not obvious for a new user to set up connections. It could be a bit clearer how to do that.
It does not seem to automatically update itself to new versions - though older ones work fine, you can miss out on some new functions if you don't check for updates manually.
I use TeamViewer with users who are having trouble connecting to the VPN. I think TeamViewer is a good alternative when ARD isn't working. However supporting the number of users we support, TeamViewer can come with a pretty hefty price tag.
Every now and then I do look to see if there is any other software that can bring together multiple remote access protocols in a single interface that can contain multiple connections to remote devices with image scaling to mage use of a windowed interface and have yet to find an alternative that does all that but doesn't cost a huge amount. Don't get me wrong I would happily pay for an alternative that could provide an overall better, more convenient experience, but I have yet to find one that has made me think it's worth jumping ship from mRemoteNG.
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.
