Carestream Dental, a company that develops and supports practice management software and digital radiography equipment for oral health professionals, was facing challenges with its remote support system. The company was using pcAnywhere, but the system was unreliable and difficult to use, causing issues with connection and hindering the provision of remote support to clients. The company needed a more reliable and user-friendly solution that could replace the first-generation remote support tools and enable support representatives to easily diagnose, control, and fix remote attended and unattended computers and mobile devices.

Eide Bailly, a top 25 accounting firm in the US, performs audits for a number of banks and financial institutions. As part of their audit process, they often look beyond the balance sheet to assess if computing systems are up-to-date and meet industry regulations. This is where Eide Bailly’s technology consulting division steps in. They work with clients to improve performance and profitability, but before they can do that, they need to address security. For those in the financial sector, this isn’t just a business issue but a regulatory one. External vulnerability assessments are required in order to comply with regulations. The challenge was to find a comprehensive vulnerability scanning solution to serve as the foundation for penetration testing services.

Cargotec, a leading provider of cargo handling integrated solutions and services, had a scattered approach to remote support and realized the need to standardize on a single solution. The company had approximately 30 IT support desk representatives and 90 local IT personnel located around the globe to serve more than 7,500 users in its many local branches. Prior to obtaining Bomgar, the organisation used a number of different remote support solutions. The type of issues fielded by Cargotec’s IT support team include helping users who have trouble connecting to the corporate network or are experiencing problems using its Citrix applications.

Locknet, a company providing IT security and compliance services, was facing a challenge with their vulnerability assessment process. The process was time-consuming and required technicians to travel to each customer site, which was not cost-effective. The company intended to use vulnerability assessments as a foundation for offering other security services, but the assessments themselves were taking up too much time. Technicians were spending six hours per day in their cars, resulting in lost hours for both the company and its clients. As a result, Locknet was losing money on each vulnerability assessment and was unable to scale its security service offerings.

Central Michigan University (CMU) was facing a challenge in providing effective and flexible support to its geographically dispersed students and prospects. The university's off-campus and online enrollment was expanding, and the traditional methods of support, including on-site visits, were no longer feasible or cost-effective. The Office of IT at CMU recognized that failing to meet the expectations of the new generation of tech-savvy students, who require a fast, convenient, and highly successful process for technical support, could negatively impact student enrollment and the success of CMU’s online education programs. As part of the university’s strategic initiative to provide sufficient infrastructure and resources to advance the institutional mission and priorities, the Office of IT launched a search for Remote Support Automation.

Micro Plastics, a major plastic fastener manufacturer, was facing the challenge of maintaining the security of its computer network. With over 300 users and 10 servers, the company found it increasingly difficult to monitor potential vulnerabilities and address issues arising from hacker or virus attacks. The company needed a tool that could proactively identify vulnerabilities before they became problems. The company's IT Manager, Reed Kimble, was confident about the security of the network but wanted to verify his instincts. The company was looking for a solution that could identify any potential threats in their operating environment that could be exploited by hackers or viruses, potentially hindering business operations.

Cheshire and Merseyside Commissioning Support Unit (CMCSU) was formed through the merger of several previous organisations. It provides support for over 20,000 NHS staff across the region, including clinical staff at 12 CCG organisations, two area teams for the National Commissioning Board and a range of social care, public health and community care professionals. Overall, it is responsible for supporting 11,000 devices in 218 different locations. These mergers provided a great opportunity to re-evaluate approaches and strategies for support and service delivery. The CMCSU team decided to move over to a hybrid model for support where calls could be handled in volume while the amount of time spent on resolution could also be improved. This meant a change in approach, and a more strategic role for remote support. This involved commissioning a new remote support product as part of the change.

SICREDI, a credit union in Brazil, was facing a challenge in maintaining its network security. Despite having robust perimeter security, the credit union lacked advanced security tools. They needed to gain insight into specific security incidents, assess network and endpoint vulnerabilities, and determine which incidents and vulnerabilities were the most risky. They also needed to develop a deeper understanding of their changing network and the security needed to protect it. The credit union's internal network had grown from a few servers and workstations to a sprawling environment that IT had lost control over. They needed a solution that could help them regain control and automate some of the cumbersome IT tasks contributing to network sprawl, increasing vulnerabilities, and security blind spots.

When Gene Glekel joined Cresa as National Director of Infrastructure, he wanted to improve security and the user experience throughout the company when it came to remote support. At that time, the company’s support representatives were using a cloud-based remote support tool. Glekel saw a number of disadvantages with this tool for both the support reps and the end users. The existing tool required installing a resident agent on the user’s machine before providing remote support. The support reps experienced difficulty managing the computer’s administrative rights to enable remote support. Establishing the remote support session required end users to perform a sequence of time-consuming tasks on their machine. Latency and instability in the connection were also frequent problems. Additionally, if a machine needed rebooting, the cumbersome process of working with the end user to establish a connection had to be performed all over again. Security was another concern. The resident agent used by the SaaS solution lacked adequate security because it was constantly in ‘listening mode’ and therefore vulnerable to brute force and social engineering attacks.

Bishop Verot Catholic High School in Fort Myers, Florida provides students with a number of PCs that they can use to complete home work or conduct research. The trouble is that even in the controlled environments of the library and computer labs, students’ online activities can’t be that closely supervised. There aren’t an unlimited number of teachers to watch over their shoulders, after all. At the beginning of each year, students have to sign an acceptable use agreement, which says that they’ll only use computing resources for school purposes. But teens will be teens, and they’ll do their best to challenge authority. Antivirus and Web filtering software give the school some protection and control, but students are savvy and would prefer to have unfettered access to the Internet. “After we installed Web filtering, students began using proxies,” said Jason Castaldo, Bishop Verot’s systems administrator. “ We needed more sophisticated security just to keep up with their workarounds.” Bishop Verot also had to protect the network from malware. No matter how much security training you offer, every IT person knows that end users are still the weakest link in the security chain.

CSC, a global leader in providing technology-enabled business solutions and services, faced several challenges in its help desk operations. The company's clients are geographically dispersed, leading to language and cultural barriers. The company also had to support multiple platforms and comply with various federal security and privacy regulations due to its clients being in highly-regulated industries such as government, healthcare, and banking. Previously, CSC used a combination of applications to access certain client desktops. However, many of these tools did not provide the required encryption needed to connect securely, and they either did not have sufficient logging and reporting capabilities for auditing or created disconnected silos of reporting data.

The Central Florida Educators Federal Credit Union (CFE) was having problems with its endpoint security. Their existing endpoint security from Symantec was causing problems. First, CFE end users noticed that their machines were increasingly slow. A quick check of the Task Manager showed high CPU usage tied to Symantec. Next, when the software was updated, old installations often failed to uninstall and created software conflicts, with many unrelated applications failing to work. Finally, Symantec burdened end users with alerts and false alarms. For a small IT staff, these constant problems took too much time away from other IT projects. For instance, CFE is in the process of rolling out a desktop virtualization effort. At one of CFE’s smaller branches, they have already installed dumb terminals connected back to hosted desktops, but constant security troubleshooting has kept them from being as far along on this project as they would like.

Comprehensive Computer Solutions, Inc. (CCS) provides computing solutions for industrial applications, with a significant customer segment in the energy sector. After the 9/11 attacks, CCS was asked by its customers to evaluate security. Prior to this, most of their customers relied solely on perimeter security and proprietary communications channels, which were deemed insufficient post 9/11. CCS's main offering for the energy sector is software that controls the various systems and equipment that generate and deliver electricity. They needed to find a security solution that they could package with their own offerings. The solution needed to be flexible enough to work with Human-Machine Interfaces (HMIs), cost-effective, easy to use, and have a customizable front-end to match the specific needs of power plant IT personnel.

Eat’n Park Hospitality Group, a franchise with 75 locations and operating in 150 locations with approximately 10,000 employees, was seeking a solution to improve IT support for users and address growing concerns about data security in the payment card industry (PCI). The company wanted to centralize support for the company’s users, provide high level security with multiple authentication mechanisms and enable the IT support team to establish connections with and monitor devices 24 hours a day. The company also wanted a solution that would integrate within the company’s data center and network infrastructure.

Mobile Knowledge was in search of a new security solution that could provide comprehensive protection without breaking the bank. They were dissatisfied with large security suites, such as those from McAfee and Symantec, as they found them to be more focused on profit than privacy. These suites often segmented different types of protection and sold them separately, forcing users to purchase multiple products to ensure complete protection. This was not only costly but also forced companies to prioritize their risks and protect against only the most immediate threats. The company was also looking for a solution that offered superior protection against zero-day attacks.

Emporos Systems’ support team faced a dual challenge. Firstly, they required a remote support system that could provide the highest level of security. As a technology vendor to pharmacies and other healthcare sites, Emporos’ support infrastructure had to be fully compliant with patient privacy regulations like HIPAA and credit card data regulations (e.g. PCI DSS). Their previous remote support solution and many of the solutions they evaluated only offered static password capabilities. This wasn’t acceptable as a majority of Emporos’ support is delivered while client business transactions are happening. To meet security standards, Emporos needed a solution that could support its RSA security technology, which updated passwords every minute. Secondly, the Emporos Systems support team required a solution that would provide access to support systems from home or work, as well as the ability to manage multiple support sessions. With a team supporting multiple time zones and receiving dozens of support calls a day, this level of flexibility was required to keep support costs low and service levels high.

The Sallie B. Howard School for the Arts and Education (SBH) was struggling to keep up with the integration of technology in education. As students relied more heavily on computers and the Internet, teachers and administrators noticed much of the activity wasn’t school-related. The existing security was not keeping in lock step with the way students were using the Internet. Viruses had slipped through, and non-education related sites were seeing heavy traffic. Even with URL blocking in place, a supposedly trusted site could be compromised and contain malicious code. A new and inappropriate site could fall through the cracks, not yet blacklisted. Technically-savvy students had already found ways to bypass the school’s defenses.

Fidessa, a provider of trading and investment technology and services, was facing challenges in supporting its global customers. The company's support technicians had to rely on the user's description of the issue and screen shots of the user's computer screen to diagnose and solve issues. This process was often cumbersome and could lead to extended support calls due to the complex nature of Fidessa’s trading platforms. The company was in need of a solution that could introduce efficiency and improve customer experience while ensuring total platform security.

The Washington Savings Bank (TWSB) was facing challenges with its endpoint security. The bank, with five branches and approximately 130 employees, was using Symantec Enterprise Antivirus. However, the renewal price for the license was steadily increasing, leading the bank to consider other options. Additionally, the bank was required to meet stringent compliance standards, including the use of an intrusion prevention system to guard against malicious internal network activity. The hardware-based IPS systems offered by other companies were beyond the bank's budget. The bank also had multiple layers of security, none of which were integrated. The end-user PCs had separate antivirus and antispyware, while they lacked other features such as endpoint firewalls, intrusion prevention, and policy control. The bank had a perimeter firewall, but more and more employees wanted to work from home or as they travelled.

Fiserv, a Fortune 500 company providing technology solutions for the banking industry, had a team of 50-100 employees dedicated to providing remote support. However, staff often spent up to two weeks a month traveling to client sites for training and software installation. The company started offering 'vTrips' (virtual trips) to clients for software upgrades, which were well-received and identified as a potential new service channel. However, for this service to be effective, Fiserv needed a solution that could 'virtualize' its staff and ensure greater productivity. The solution also needed to meet the stringent security and audit needs of both Fiserv and its clients. The company's previous solution had a 'pay by the drink' licensing structure, which became costly as the use of clientless remote support expanded.

The Iowa Department for the Blind had its main website defaced several years ago, disrupting its services to the blind and visually impaired citizens. The department realized the need for a security solution that could protect against both known and unknown threats. Additionally, the solution had to ensure high performance of the department's range of web applications without causing intrusive security that could undermine the department's goal of accessibility. The department serves approximately 7,000 blind or visually impaired Iowans, offering a variety of services, including library, vocational rehabilitation, independent living services and public education, as well as adjustment and orientation services for the newly blind. Therefore, any disruption to these services was unacceptable.

Flinders University, a well-established institution in Adelaide, South Australia, was facing challenges with its IT support system. The university's multiple IT departments were using a variety of remote support solutions, depending on the type of device or operating system the user had. This required the support technicians to be familiar with all these tools and to ask users several questions to determine which remote support tool to use to solve the problem. The technical support teams also operated in a siloed fashion, resulting in inefficiencies and slower response times to users. Additionally, there was no tracking or reporting for remote support activities. The university needed a solution that would consolidate their remote support system, improve efficiency, and enhance collaboration.

RWE Supply & Trading, a leading energy trading house and a key player in the European energy sector, was facing a challenge of reducing the attack surface while meeting budgetary and regulatory constraints. The European energy sector is undergoing fundamental changes, with subsidised expansion of renewables causing margins and utilisation of conventional power stations to decline, thereby requiring energy providers to reduce costs. But against this cost reduction, energy providers such as RWE Supply & Trading cannot sacrifice security. As the IT Security Architect for RWE Supply & Trading, Loucas Parikos needed to protect the infrastructure while meeting these cost and regulatory constraints. “We wanted to reduce the attack surface and minimise our chances of being exploited.” In taking a phased approach, RWE addressed individual problems separately and then brought the solutions together under a common reporting and management platform.

Hoosier Energy, a generation and transmission cooperative providing wholesale electric power and services, was using an antiquated remote support solution to connect to and fix employees’ computers. The existing solution had very limited capabilities and was difficult to use. It could only connect to computers if they were turned on and there were a number of steps that needed to be completed before the connection could be made to provide remote support. The success rate of connecting to a computer was only fifty percent as it depended on many factors. The help desk lead, Monty Dine, found it easier to drive thirty minutes to fix issues on-site than trying to use the existing tool. The company needed a better way to provide remote support.

ICE Systems, a systems integrator based in Sydney, Australia, was facing several challenges. They needed an additional customer support channel other than phone and a robust audit trail to meet customer requirements. They also required a remote support solution that allowed access to unattended remote systems due to data center monitoring services for many customers. With a limited five-person support staff, ICE Systems needed to provide support to their customers without traveling on-site, while still being able to support multiple platforms. Many of their customers are in highly regulated industries with strict audit requirements, so ICE Systems needed to be able to trace the path of individual reps and their actions during remote support sessions.

In 2010, DCI expanded the scope of their internal auditing requirements to include access related areas such as user privileges, password rotation policies, review of access sessions, and access history. To address compliance requirements, the team also decided to lock down the development, test and internal business servers to protect vast amounts of sensitive data. This meant that they had to fully restrict root access, reset all passwords after each use, and periodically rotate them — whether they were used or not. Even SSH access had to be limited. To fulfill these needs, DCI required a procedure to delegate and authorize specific limited functions on each server, when access was required. They also wanted different login IDs for different functions on each server, plus a workflow whereby two managers could grant access to specific functions at particular times. Activity on the servers also had to be tracked by ID, including the functions allowed by each ID.

JMC IT, a company that provides IT support and expertise to companies and organizations across the UK, was looking to expand its remote support solution. The company's clients are primarily located within the North of England, but often have remote or satellite offices around the UK, Europe, US and Asia. Changes in IT, like greater calls for staff flexibility, the evolution of remote working and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) initiatives, have all had an impact on IT support requirements. Keeping pace with these dynamic IT changes means that JMC is continually looking at its own support services and how they meet customer requirements. Prior to implementing Bomgar, remote access to customer devices was undertaken on an ad-hoc basis and via a wide variety of different technologies. While access was always secure and conducted via VPN or Citrix Access Gateway, the ability to conduct all sessions in the same way was not possible.

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) was facing challenges with its IT remote support solutions. The existing solutions were not meeting the organization's rigorous security standards and were unreliable, leading to session-connect failures 25% of the time. This was causing frustration among users and resulting in unnecessary onsite visits. The annual downstream costs due to these failures were estimated to be $100,000, equivalent to the cost of two full-time employees. The ITSD team at the lab decided to improve their IT services in terms of security, reliability, and cost.

The IT support team at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health was struggling to provide high-quality support to the growing number of students and faculty conducting research in remote locations around the world. Traditional support delivery methods were proving inadequate, particularly for researchers in areas with slow and inconsistent network connections and limited phone access. The team was also grappling with the challenge of supporting researchers' access to data stored on secure portals on the university's network via Microsoft SharePoint. The existing remote control capabilities included with Windows and their systems management solution were insufficient to meet the increasing demand for support.

La Salle University, a private Roman Catholic institution of higher learning, was facing challenges in providing IT support to its growing number of faculty, students, and staff across multiple campuses and online programs. The main campus was spread out and the university had recently acquired additional real estate, making it difficult for the IT support technicians to service classrooms that were a considerable distance away. The growing online and international programs presented another challenge as the university needed a way to support those remote users. The university's IT department was in need of a remote support solution that would allow them to expand their IT support capabilities affordably.