What is our primary use case?
The help desk utilizes it for basic end-user support to make sure they can get something installed or just walk through an issue with an end-user. I use it a lot for helping other admins to fix servers. Our RPA team also uses it. They basically have virtual desktops that have a script running on them constantly to move data from one location to another manually. They get in, and they use it to manage 50 different desktops for that team. So, three team members manage those 50 clients just to make sure that they're processing all the data correctly throughout the day. We have a cloud solution. The virtual server is in the cloud, and then it installs the client down to all of our desktops. From there, the ones that utilize it install the admin client on their machines. We have 20 accounts in there that are utilizing the solution, but not all of them are active at the same time. Throughout the day, all 20 of those may go in. They do what they need to do and then drop out of it to free up a license.
How has it helped my organization?
It provides us the ability to get an end-user back up and running and keep them running efficiently. We can fix something usually within hours, instead of a half a day to three days. They don't have to pack their stuff up, come into the office, and hand it to us to work on it. We're able to truly just sit there with them and help them get their issues resolved. It keeps our business moving. It saves time. Without it, the RPA team would need all of those desktops in a physical format sitting in their office, and they would have to be on them 100%. Their time savings alone probably is man-days. They are not just saving hours per week. For the RPA team, I can't even begin to give the time and the amount of work this product saves. For the help desk and the rest of the tier-two support, it probably saves 2 hours a day for each member. There are roughly 10 of us, which is 20 hours a day of time savings of workload. It is important for us that it does not require a VPN. Now that half of our people are remote, our data lives on OneDrive or Microsoft SharePoint. They don't need to be remoted into us through a VPN to be able to get everything. When we remote in, it is nice to not have to worry about whether they are on a VPN because for any number of reasons, they might not be able to get into the VPN, such as our VPN is down or the Dallas office is messing up. So, this flexibility gives us more options, and we like that. Its security is very tight. I'm the one who manages who can use the software to remote into other machines. In my opinion, it is more powerful than what we need, and I am glad that it is because it gives me room to grow our teams to allow them to do more if they need to or restrict some to only do certain things if they don't need as many privileges whenever they go in. It is available in multiple formats: as a physical and virtual appliance, or as SaaS. It is very important to have it accessible in multiple ways, whether it be on-prem or SaaS. It allows me to know that if my solution goes down, in a short period of time, I can get somebody to help me get something back up and running.
What is most valuable?
We can truly elevate our admin rights while we're in there to fully take control of a system and manage it as if it was sitting right here on our desk. Most of the organization has gone to remote work or work from home. With that being the case, this solution allows us to be able to still work with our end-users, even though they're not always sitting on our network.
What needs improvement?
Its management is through two different portals, and you can't get from one portal to the other. I have to literally open up another website and go into it a different way. There are no inner links between the two. They should interlink the actual virtual server and the appliance. In general, there should be one interface for management for admins.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for close to seven or eight years. I have used it in two different companies. In my current company, we've been using it for a good long time. I don't remember when they originally started using the product. It was before I came on board, but I have been using it here for four years, and I've been the admin on it for a year. The previous admin left the company. So, I took over because I had the most experience.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It doesn't go down. The only time it goes down is whenever I tell it to go down. When I need to do some updates, it requires scheduling and taking it down, but the updates are user-friendly. It is time-consuming, and I can't schedule it. The way it is set up currently, I'm not able to just say, "Hey, do this at this time," and know that it is going to get done. I have to actually be involved with it. I am not sure if it is because of our setup or BeyondTrust. I haven't had enough training to know for sure if that's possible or not.
How are customer service and support?
I have used their support. Every time I've used it, they have been very useful and beneficial. It has not been one of those things where I've felt I needed to spend the resources to see if they could walk me through setting it up. I used their support only a handful of times in both companies. In the past four years, I've only used them three times because the product is solid. I would rate their support a 10 out of 10.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have used another solution. There is a night and day difference. Whenever BeyondTrust is installed, it works, whereas the other one didn't work half the time. The BeyondTrust solution is absolutely reliable. If anybody ever asks me for remote access software for corporate-wide usage, this is what I'd tell them to go with.
How was the initial setup?
I have not been a part of its deployment. In both organizations, it had already been deployed, but I know it was pretty straightforward. I've talked to the admins for both companies because I've always enjoyed this product. I just always wanted to know more about it, and both of them said, "It was one of the easiest." Working with BeyondTrust or Bomgar was super intuitive, user-friendly, and streamlined whenever they were setting up the product.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I wish it was a little bit cheaper, but when a product is as solid as this, I understand what the cost does. It helps them to make sure it stays that way. If you want a reliable, solid product, you're going to pay more.
What other advice do I have?
I am testing the Vault for service account management, but the problem with it is that the admin credentials on local machines are randomly generated on a randomly generated timeframe. So, the Vault password can't be saved. Every machine is different, and the only way to get that password is to go into another portal, which is frustrating. It is not Bomgar's or BeyondTrust's issue. It is the way we chose to manage that particular account. I'm one of the only ones who utilize it, and I utilize it mainly for testing. If we had a full PAM or our PAM was truly integrated and was BeyondTrust's PAM solution, it would elevate our use of the Vault more, but I am glad that it is there. It allows me to save some passwords that I don't utilize on a regular basis. I don't have to remember those, and I don't have to keep them at multiple different locations. I can just put them there, and I don't have to worry about it. They're safe. They're secure, and they're easy to just have. The system pushes them through. So, I don't even see them anymore. So, it is double secure in my opinion because I don't have to even see the password to remember to type that in somewhere. It just puts it in for me. I appreciate that from the security side. It hasn't had an effect on our network security outside of we had to open a couple of ports when remote happened so that the software gets installed correctly. It wasn't something concerning. It is truly a benefit in the long run. When compared with some competitive products that are add-ons to PAM solutions, it is important that PRA stands on its own as a full solution. It needs to be its own solution but also interlink with other solutions. We don't use the solution to provide access to third-party vendors. It also offers SSO authentication, but I wish it worked with our solution. I know we can do session auditing and monitoring of third-party and remote-worker access, but we just haven't used the capability. We have also not used audio integration during a remote session. I would rate it a 10 out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
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