In my last post I talked about the cloud based systems management software from Meraki. This week I plan to talk about, you guessed it, system management software. Why? Because that is what I do. So question is, has been, and always will be: How does this make the life of an IT professional easier?

The challenge for those in the remote or even onsite systems management business is that for the most part you are not in front of the afflicted computer(s). This can make troubleshooting difficult to say the least. However, GoToManage, the cloud managed offering from Citrix, has a number of features they believe can make the process less a of a headache.

Background
Earlier this year Citrix Online purchased Paglo, a company that specialized in remote manangement software MSPs and SMBs. GoToManage conisists of two different modules: GoToManage Remote Support and GotoManage Monitoring. The former delivers live end-user support and allows remote control; the latter allows administrators to inventory, monitor and manage PCs, and Macs, servers and networks with automatic discovery. Upgrades and maintenance operations can also be automated.

How it Works
After configuring your online account, the next step is to download the  open source“data crawler” and start collecting data. The crawler has as you might have guessed has a good deal of customizable options. The crawler will report back detailed information on everything from cpu usage to a list of open/closed ports on each device. And unlike the Meraki software this is possible without having to install an agent on every machine you want to monitor. For those looking for an added level of detail there are over 24 plugins available provided by Citrix.  The only problem seems to be how you are going to sort through the mountain of data being reported back to you. And it is cool to have software that will allow you to manage your Citrix deployments in addition to the rest of your network

Conclusion
Overall, with features like two-way screen sharing, file sharing between sessions, support most platforms(except Android), off-LAN Data Collection, and log mangement make it a pretty solid offering.