Remote Desktop Services vs. SecureLink Enterprise Access

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Remote Desktop Services
Score 7.7 out of 10
N/A
Remote Desktop Services from Microsoft is virtual desktop and remote user session technology.N/A
SecureLink Enterprise Access
Score 9.2 out of 10
N/A
SecureLink is a platform for remote support in regulated industries. Enterprise software vendors use SecureLink to deliver remote support and services. Hospitals, banks, casinos and other regulated entities use SecureLink to authenticate, control and audit remote access for their vendors, business associates and other 3rd parties.N/A
Pricing
Remote Desktop ServicesSecureLink Enterprise Access
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Remote Desktop ServicesSecureLink Enterprise Access
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Remote Desktop ServicesSecureLink Enterprise Access
Considered Both Products
Remote Desktop Services
Chose Remote Desktop Services
Overall, remote desktop is so much easier to use if you are OK with the limited tools that it offers. If you're just looking to simply connect to another computer and make some quick changes, it is the way to go and the fastest way to do it. It is very simple and no frills!
Chose Remote Desktop Services
Remote Desktop Services is close to free, it is native and performs far better from a user experience point of view with almost no lag and excellent integration to the normal desktop environment. Even if another product is used Remote Desktop Services still forms part of the …
Chose Remote Desktop Services
Mainly licensing optimization, as Remote Desktop Services CALs are needed anyway for other products.
Chose Remote Desktop Services
Because it is a built-in, free solution for a small set of managed computers. No extra licenses required. No budget. Setup and configuration is instanteneous.
Chose Remote Desktop Services
TeamViewer and Splashtop
Chose Remote Desktop Services
Same functionality but RDP is already installed on Windows so no client to install and it's cheaper.
Chose Remote Desktop Services
All remote desktop or desktop virtualization services are quite costly and very complicated to set up. Microsoft's Remote Desktop Services has the advantage of being very available for many years, meaning practically any device can be used as a workstation. Tablets, …
Chose Remote Desktop Services
Remote Desktop is great for onsite or point-to-point connections without having to have a mediator type server.
Chose Remote Desktop Services
We used RDS on-site primarily because of how easy it is for users to transition from their own desktop to a remote desktop. However, from off-site, there are VPN and other security considerations to take into account, and the process gets a little more complex. In this …
Chose Remote Desktop Services
Solutions can be expensive and often offer more options than you need/want. Paying those extra dollars is tough when you have a budget. RDS in many cases works well and is cost effective.
Chose Remote Desktop Services
I use Remote Desktop Services only and have never used other services to replace it.
Chose Remote Desktop Services
Since Remote Desktop Services comes with the Windows OS, there's no need to install any additional software or agent for it to function. Even on the Mac, there's a client that can be installed for this to run properly. Unfortunately, unlike TeamViewer or Ultra VNC, Remote …
Chose Remote Desktop Services
Among all the reasons I've previously listed the main reason for choosing RDS is for the reliability and fast connection.
Chose Remote Desktop Services
Remote Desktop Services is an initiation from Microsoft in my view. The rest all are adapters for this and have a considerably inovated feature base.
Chose Remote Desktop Services
We have reviewed Citrix Xen Desktop and VMware's VDI solutions. For the cost, when compared to what Remote Desktop Services can provide us there was no contest. Remote Desktop Services can provide us all the features we require with little to no cost since we are an EA customer …
Chose Remote Desktop Services
I also used 2x Client and Citrix in the past. Both worked nice. Citrix is a little more complex and once with Windows updates damaged a Citrix installation causing all ICA traffic to not accept connections. 2x Client was simple and free for 3 connections (or used to be). Both …
Chose Remote Desktop Services
We selected Remote Desktop Services based upon price alone. Other solutions on the market are significantly more expensive, but if your company can foot the bill you should seriously consider products that have been on the market for longer. The lack of an ability to easily …
SecureLink Enterprise Access
Chose SecureLink Enterprise Access
I've used WebEx and a few other products like that, but never as an enterprise class solution. Securelink is one of those systems that just seems to make sense when you look at it. Honestly, I stopped my research after i saw this product.
Chose SecureLink Enterprise Access
Securelink seems to work better than LogMein for a large enterprise group. Our company has over 10,000 different connections and securelink manages them well.
Features
Remote Desktop ServicesSecureLink Enterprise Access
Remote Administration
Comparison of Remote Administration features of Product A and Product B
Remote Desktop Services
4.5
Ratings
55% below category average
SecureLink Enterprise Access
-
Ratings
Screen sharing7.90 Ratings00 Ratings
File transfer4.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Instant message1.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Secure remote access with Smart Card authentication6.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Access to sleeping/powered-off computers1.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Over-the-Internet remote session6.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Initiate remote control from mobile3.40 Ratings00 Ratings
Remote management of servers & workstations7.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Remote Active Directory® management8.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Centralized management dashboard2.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Session record2.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Monitoring and Alerts3.20 Ratings00 Ratings
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Remote Desktop ServicesSecureLink Enterprise Access
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User Ratings
Remote Desktop ServicesSecureLink Enterprise Access
Likelihood to Recommend
7.8
(0 ratings)
8.3
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
6.0
(0 ratings)
8.6
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.2
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
5.0
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
3.0
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
5.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Remote Desktop ServicesSecureLink Enterprise Access
Likelihood to Recommend
Remote Desktop Services provides access to work environments from any device. This allows us to ensure business continuity in case of disaster. It provides admins more control over access and security. Remote Desktop Services simplifies software updates and compliance management by reducing the need to act on end users devices.
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If you need to connect to other servers and PC's then securelink will give you the access you need.
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Pros
  • Remote Desktop Services does an excellent job in providing a way for our staff to be working outside the office as if they're actually sitting inside the office. As long as the staff has an internet connection and a computer, he can use Remote Desktop Services to access files on our network.
  • Remote Desktop Services also eliminates a need to have a very fast internet connection to access files on the company network. Once a Remote Desktop Service session is established, the only bandwidth it takes up is the transfer of images you see on the display. It's like surfing on the web because you are using the company server as the resource to run the applications.
  • Remote Desktop Services provides a way for users to transfer files back & forth to/from staff's offsite laptop to/from the company network . There would be times when staff forget to copy a particular file onto the laptop for a presentation. So the way to retrieve the data from the network is to establish a Remote Desktop Session and then using Windows standar copy & paste feature to transfer the file from the network onto their laptop for use.
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  • Intuitive. It's been so easy to use and set up. I can set up a vendor, they get the email on how to log in with a link to the site, and they can figure out what to do, for the most part.
  • I like the fact that they are still relatively small as an organization. I have strong communication channels with the support staff and they are extremely responsive to any questions I have.
  • It's a well thought of product.
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Cons
  • No centralized management: unlike other products on the market, Remote Desktop Services in 2008r2 provides no single management console. Users are managed through a console on the connection broker, web apps are managed on a per server basis (even when those servers belong to a farm).
  • Image Management: because no use of an agent like PNTools is made, bringing up servers and adding them to the farm is inconvenient. Static IPs are a must and round-robin load balancing is really your only option with the connection broker. Updating a farm of 5+ servers becomes a chore, but still easier than updating 2000+ machines.
  • Still a very green product: while Microsoft offers a lot of the same features as the big guys, it's obvious that Remote Desktop Services is still in it's infancy and has a lot of room for growth. I have discovered and requested fixes for a number of bugs in the mobile app alone - something about the QA process for these apps seems to be lacking.
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  • JAVA updates can sometimes break the securelink connection. Securelink needs to do a better job of updating the product to work with new JAVA updates.
  • Internet Explorer updates can sometimes break the securelink connection. Securelink needs to do a better job of updating the product to work with new versions of IE.
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Likelihood to Renew
No answers on this topic
The only thing that keeps this from being a 10 is that I'm not the sole decision maker. If I was, it would be a 10. Who knows if Oracle is going to produce an overpriced option that does not work well that I'll be forced to move to
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Usability
The initial setup for Remote Desktop Services is complex, and licensing is costly. Each user connects to their virtual desktop hosted by a single server or group of servers, so a change or issue with servers quickly impacts every single user at the same time. Aside from that, users appreciate seeing their same personal desktop from any device or geographical location.
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No answers on this topic
Performance
There are some third party tools available that allow you to manage multiple connections.
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No answers on this topic
Support Rating
As with any Microsoft Server product, support for Remote Desktop Services requires a paid support package. These are license-based and very costly, on top of the already costly product licensing. Microsoft's licensing is complicated to begin with, so setting up licensing alone essentially requires a licensing expert's counsel. There is community documentation and support available on Microsoft websites, as well as community websites.
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The employees at Securelink have always been responsive and seem to be invested in the success of my company. They truly understand what their product means to us so if there is a problem, they are always willing to help. In the rare event that something is found on their end, they will be proactive and reach out to someone to help and get something on calendar for a fix
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Alternatives Considered
Overall, remote desktop is so much easier to use if you are OK with the limited tools that it offers. If you're just looking to simply connect to another computer and make some quick changes, it is the way to go and the fastest way to do it. It is very simple and no frills!
Read full review
I've used WebEx and a few other products like that, but never as an enterprise class solution. Securelink is one of those systems that just seems to make sense when you look at it. Honestly, I stopped my research after i saw this product
Read full review
Return on Investment
  • Overall RDS has helped us provide services and programs to our users with relative ease.
  • The only "negative" impact is that users can have a bit of difficulty understanding how RDS works and what it means to access a remote desktop, but that isn't any fault of the program, it just takes a little extra training for users.
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  • Better customer service
  • Increased employee efficiency in connecting to client servers
  • Any securelink problems cause us to be unable to help our clients with issues and we are at a standstill until Securelink is repaired
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ScreenShots