Bomgar Cloud for Remote Support review

Bomgar could be the perfect choice if remote access security is your biggest worry. With physical, virtual or cloud appliance options, it's designed to provide businesses with a completely secure environment and unbeatable control over what staff are allowed to do.

We reviewed Bomgar Cloud for Remote Support, which allowed us to log in to our cloud-hosted VMware appliance through a dedicated URL. Once inside, we could create new users or "representatives" from its administrative interface. This made it immediately obvious just how security-focused Bomgar is.

The wide range of user controlslet you specify what each member ofa support department can and can't do during a session. Along with access restrictions to the appliance, we could also block access to specific end-user input devices, control file transfers, permit support staff to share their sessions with other representatives, and run presentations. The full list of features is enormous.

Session policies let you control which support tools are available during a session, and which prompts those receiving remote support should see, such as requests to cede control of their machines. You can also define group policies for multiple representatives, which have hundreds of available settings and controls.

Every representative has their own, separate console app, andtheir login credentials determine what support features are available. The app is well designed and provides separate panes for viewing support requests and message queues, other group members, clients and systems.

Users needing assistance will send a request through a web portal, which places them in a queue. Depending on your security requirements, you can show a list of available representatives so that clicking on one initiates a download of the Bomgar Jump Client and opens an instant connection to that user's support console.

At the end of a session, the Jump Client is completely removed from the remote machine, but you can install it permanently if you want to maintain persistent connections to the support console. Custom clients are created from the appliance's admin console and available for all versions of Windows, OS X (including El Capitan) and Linux.

Users aren't required to configure the Jump Client, which will only connect to the appliance URL provided when the installation file was created. Systems with Jump Clients installed are displayed in the support portal, where support representatives can initiate a remote session by clicking them.

Policy settings control whetherthe remote user must permit the connection request, which can also be set for file transfer, screen sharing and full control. All remote connections are encrypted with 256-bit AESand the console loads a new tab for the remote system. This includes a screen view and access to other tools, including a command shell, Registry editor and power or reboot controls.

The console can have open connections to multiple systems,and we found swapping between them easy. Meanwhile, sessions can be recorded, transferred to other representatives or shared with them, and presentations can run to multiple users through screen sharing.

If permitted, users can end support sessions at any time simply by closing the client's message window. At this point Bomgar will present them with a survey to gauge their satisfaction with the support session, which is a neat touch.

It took a while to get to grips with the myriad security policies but, once we were over this hurdle, we found that BomgarCloud for Remote Support wasthe best at putting teamwork into support services. It offers an amazing range of features for the price and should be a serious contender for those businesses where security is paramount.

Verdict

It offers an amazing range of features for the price and should be a serious contender for those businesses where security

is paramount.

Console/Client: Windows XP/2000 upwards

OSX Snow Leopard (10.6) upwards

Linux

Blackberry OS5 upward

Android 2.3+ upwards

iOS7 upwards