Virtual Desktop Strategies, Virtual Server Management
businesswire | August 09, 2023
Workspot, the intelligent VDI platform built for the multi-cloud era, announced today that Workspot Trends™ is available to its customers. Through this new offering, the company enables organizations to make data-driven decisions that help deliver outstanding performance to end users.
Historically, virtual desktop adoption has been hindered by poor end-user satisfaction. Workspot’s cloud-native VDI platform solves performance problems associated with latency and takes performance monitoring, troubleshooting, and optimization to new levels.
Workspot Trends collects key performance metrics, including direct, in-product, end-user survey results for every session, and user. IT teams can view the summary performance ratings, and begin to drill down into virtual desktop pools that show weaker end-user satisfaction ratings and compare them with pools that have higher ratings. This comparison yields insights into the specific conditions, whether that is CPU or memory usage, network conditions, round-trip time, and more, so IT teams can resolve the issue at the individual or pool level quickly.
Building upon comprehensive observability features inherent in the platform, including continuous collection and real-time analysis of millions of data points across endpoints, gateways, virtual desktop agents, enterprise connectors, and multiple clouds, Workspot Trends adds current and historical end-user satisfaction feedback to its performance analysis algorithm. Through this new solution, IT teams obtain actionable insights into the end-user experience over time.
“There is tremendous value in connecting performance data to the end-user experience,” said Richard Binning, Vice President, Technology at Nelson Worldwide. “With Trends, we’ll be able to have quicker insight into any issues people may be experiencing and resolve them faster. Additionally, our helpdesk and infrastructure teams can leverage these insights to proactively create ideal environments enabling the best possible performance for our teammates.”
“For too long, IT teams have been forced to trade off end-user satisfaction to achieve the security and flexibility benefits virtual desktops can deliver. We believe that understanding the end-user experience is critically important for delivering a working environment that supports maximum productivity and makes end users happy,” said Jimmy Chang, Chief Product Officer at Workspot. “With Workspot Trends, that tradeoff is no longer necessary. IT teams can gain deep visibility into how end users are experiencing their virtual desktops and apps, take action to fine-tune the overall virtual desktop estate, and deliver the best possible performance globally – while achieving the benefits of stronger security and greater business agility.”
About Workspot
Workspot is the only cloud-native, unified VDI platform that delivers enterprise-class virtual desktops and apps from multiple clouds and on-premises data centers to any device. This innovative service lets IT securely stream the right compute capabilities for each end user, to any device, anywhere they want to work. As the only cloud-native VDI solution that operates across all the major public clouds – Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, and Google Cloud – as well as on-premises data centers, Workspot is uniquely positioned to address today’s remote work challenges by providing a highly-customizable approach to end-user computing. Enterprises can expect simplicity without compromises as they deploy, manage, and scale their virtual desktop and app estate globally. End users benefit from a seamless work experience - featuring outstanding performance for even the most graphics-intensive workloads - that boosts productivity and overall work satisfaction.
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Virtual Desktop Tools, Virtual Server Infrastructure
businesswire | July 13, 2023
MacStadium, the industry-leading Mac private cloud and software-as-a-service provider enabling macOS workloads, today announced it has secured two patents: one for injection molded “helmets” providing keyboard, video and mouse (KVM) and precise power button control remotely, and one for a new rack shelving design with optimizing server density along with the KVM system.
MacStadium’s helmets, which sit atop a Mac mini or Mac Studio, are specifically designed to retrofit the company’s current shelving offering. Leveraging 3D printing technology to rapidly prototype and refine the design, this innovation dramatically reduces time-to-market and yields very low cost per unit.
While the helmets remain compatible with former shelving solutions, the new shelf design offers six times the server density of older Mac Pro racks and 50% more server density than existing Mac mini racks. Additionally, each Mac server is provisioned with an Apple-focused KVM device providing significant capabilities and advantages while slashing rack shelving costs by 50% or more.
“These patents offer an exciting glimpse into how much we have grown and evolved our technology to better service our customers with scalability on-demand and faster deployment made possible via our enterprise hardware program,” said Paul Benati, MacStadium’s senior vice president and COO. “MacStadium has been and remains at the forefront of Apple enterprise innovation. As the first to market with new Apple servers, we continue to innovate, prioritizing reduced system friction, increased customer ease and satisfaction and decreased costs.”
MacStadium’s proprietary helmet - which is currently in production - houses a temperature probe, LED light, OLED display and a servo, which allows for granular remote control of Apple devices’ power button. These KVM devices can remotely control the Apple devices to which they are connected, eliminating the need for customers to request server control and for IT teams to physically go to data centers to correct issues. With these remote control and self-service features, customers unlock new capabilities, including the ability to dynamically define the purpose of the Apple device, access to network storage and the long-awaited ability to run FileVault. The KVM system is securely accessed via SSL, SSO integration and authentication and authorization via lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP).
The shelving system, which will soon begin production, is designed to hold 24 Mac minis and 24 Apple-focused KVM devices, increasing the capacity of a standard rack to 144 Mac minis. In addition to increased operational efficiencies and secure server access from anywhere in the world, the shelving design offers tremendous cost savings due to its injection molded manufacturing. Not only is this manufacturing offered globally by a multitude of vendors, but it also allows for reduced shipping costs and more server density per square foot due to the product’s reduced bulk and weight.
These innovations provide a clear competitive advantage for customers and are just some of the foundational elements of MacStadium's offering, aimed at driving Mac compute to customers via self-service.
The patents come after MacStadium announced Orka Workspace with Pulse, designed to enable high-definition audio and visual streaming on virtual Mac desktops via any HTML5-supported browser. In addition, the company recently made public its Orka Small Teams edition, a self-service purchase option, giving MacDevOps teams immediate access to the industry’s leading enterprise-grade macOS virtualization and orchestration tool. As tech companies look to streamline operations and maximize their resources, this automation is critical to remain competitive.
About MacStadium
Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Atlanta, MacStadium is a private Mac cloud provider delivering scalable and secure enterprise cloud solutions exclusively for macOS. The company’s suite of advanced software-enabled infrastructure, combined with its innovative technology, delivers the security, performance, reliability and flexibility its MacDevOps customers require for successful app development on Apple devices. Powered by MacStadium, Orka® (Orchestration with Kubernetes on Apple) Platform is the only virtualization layer available for Mac build infrastructure based on popular Docker and Kubernetes technology. MacStadium is a Summit Partners portfolio company with multi-site operations in the U.S. and EU.
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Virtual Desktop Strategies, Backup and Disaster Recovery
businesswire | August 04, 2023
Kinetic Business, a leading network technology provider, has launched a new cybersecurity product, Managed Detection and Response (MDR), designed exclusively for business customers. The all-in-one security solution protects business data, network, applications, and users from evolving and sophisticated cyber threats.
As cyberattacks become more frequent and complex, companies of all sizes are struggling to keep up with the ever-changing threat landscape. Kinetic MDR unifies stand-alone services, including firewalls, content filtering, and a 24/7 Security Operations Center (SOC) into one robust threat management system, making network security easy and accessible for businesses.
Kinetic MDR provides a proactive approach to cybersecurity by continuously monitoring and analyzing network activity, detecting and responding to potential threats, and providing remediation strategies. It takes the burden of security management off a business by integrating a firewall, intrusion prevention, and continuous monitoring. This offers the reporting and compliance posture businesses need.
“In today’s digital world, data security has to be a top priority for companies, no matter their size, industry, or location,” said Marc Dyman, executive vice president of Kinetic Business and Kinetic Wholesale. “We know cyberattacks are on the rise and that it’s not a question of if an attack will happen, but when. Companies need to have sufficient security measures, but they don’t have to go it alone. We’re proud to offer a comprehensive solution backed by global leaders in the security sector.”
Kinetic MDR features an award-winning firewall and a dedicated Security Operations Center (SOC) from silversky,a leader in the cyber defense space.
Kinetic Business customers can benefit from:
Monitoring: Complete visibility and control over cyber threats, backed by a dedicated team of experts (SOC) available 24/7/365
Management: Upgrades and patch management for hardware, weekly reporting, and a user-friendly customer portal
Response: An intrusion prevention system, security information and event management, as well as web content filtering for malware and bad actors
Automated security services (anti-virus) to stop advanced threats and disruptions
“The consequences of a data breach can be devastating for a small business, including loss of revenue, damage to reputation, and legal liability,” said Cary Conrad, president of SilverSky. “Kinetic’s offering not only secures data and reduces the risk of hacks and breaches; it also reduces the daily burdens and activities of a company’s IT team.”
About Kinetic Business
Kinetic by Windstream is a business unit of Windstream, a privately held communications and software company. Kinetic provides premium broadband, entertainment and security services through an enhanced fiber network to consumers and businesses primarily in rural areas in 18 states. The company also offers managed communications services, including SD-WAN and UCaaS, and high-capacity bandwidth and transport services to businesses across the U.S. Additional information is available at KineticBusiness.com.
About SilverSky
Today’s organizations are playing catch-up, chasing alerts with a scarcity of experienced people, time, and budget. It’s time to change the rules of engagement with SilverSky, the world’s leading Managed Detection and Response platform for threat detection, log management, and response. SilverSky gives our customers enhanced Vision, Velocity, and Vigilance. The Vision to be an advanced technology company, developing the depth and complexity of analysis to shield them from cyber risk, regardless of their size or journey. The Velocity to attack cyber risk at light speed, constantly ramping up our rate of learning, and slashing the time to detect and respond. The Vigilance to combine deep human experience, military-grade behavioral tracking, and machine learning, to protect our customers’ attack surface as vigorously as their bottom lines. By delivering consistently on these values, our SOC teams’ customer satisfaction rating is over 98% globally.
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VPN
globenewswire | September 21, 2023
Automox, the leader in AI-powered IT automation, is proud to announce two new capabilities, FixNow and PowerShell Signing. Combined, these new features further extend Automox’s industry-leading automation, speed, and security to enable organizations to act immediately to enforce and audit configuration, remediate vulnerabilities, install or remove software, query devices, and more.
According to a 2019 IT Outage Impact Study, human error was the #1 cause of IT outages in the United States and Canada, and the #3 cause globally. Using FixNow for immediate testing and validation enables IT professionals to confidently automate configuration changes at scale and to minimize the potential for human error.
FixNow runs Automox WorkletsTM immediately at scale across IT environments without a VPN or servers. With a catalog of over 300 automations that span Windows, macOS, and Linux systems, FixNow runs securely in real-time on the devices you choose.
Early-access Automox customers are already confirming the value of FixNow. Matthew Rehm, Director of Information Systems at Methodist Theological School in Ohio said, “[FixNow] made updating some machines so much easier than having to schedule.” And David Thomson, IT Manager, St Andrew's First Aid in the UK said, “I use FixNow when evaluating new Worklets. The capability to execute instantly allows me to see instant results without cluttering up my existing policies.”
“The value of immediate and secure action at scale cannot be overstated. We know time is of the essence, and FixNow lets our users remediate fast,” said Tim Lucas, CEO of Automox. “FixNow is the fastest and most secure way to audit and fix hundreds or even thousands of devices immediately.”
According to a 2020 study by Cisco, PowerShell accounted for more than 33% of critical threats detected on endpoints. Automox PowerShell Signing will ensure script integrity and adherence to security best practices by enabling remote or all script signing to further reduce potential attack surfaces. Whether you automate or immediately execute PowerShell with FixNow, tasks like configuration, software deployment, and patching will be signed.
To ensure the integrity of scripts from Automox and enable IT teams to adhere to security best practices, all PowerShell commands and automations will be self-signed by Automox. Once enabled, organizations can enhance their security posture by disallowing unsigned and potentially malicious PowerShell from running in their environment.
“All Automox customers will be able to opt-in to sign every PowerShell command sent through Automox, so they can be confident that critical endpoint management tasks like configuration updates were unchanged in transit to managed devices,” said Jason Kikta, Automox CISO. “This is a major advance in security for IT teams. Dual-use and fileless PowerShell scripts comprise nearly half of the critical security threats on endpoints.”
FixNow is available to Automox customers today as a free preview, Secure Signing will be made available to all Automox customers shortly.
About Automox
Automox is the IT automation platform for modern organizations. It makes it easy to keep Windows, macOS, and Linux endpoints patched, configured, controlled, and secured – without servers or VPNs. Using AI-powered automation, IT professionals can fix critical vulnerabilities faster, slash cost and complexity, and win back hours in their days. Join thousands of companies transforming IT operations into a strategic business driver with Automox.
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