It’s time for your business to enable work from anywhere. All you need is the right technology.
Remote desktop solutions enable employees to access their work computers, files, and projects from anywhere, on any device. But before your company embarks on its remote work transformation, it’s important to ensure your IT infrastructure is ready.
With that in mind, what can you do to seamlessly integrate a remote desktop solution into your IT infrastructure? Let’s explore…
Understanding Your Current IT Infrastructure
Before you can integrate anything with your IT infrastructure, you must first understand it. Assess your IT systems, network capabilities, and security protocols to understand your requirements and limitations, then find a solution that matches them.
It’s particularly important to ensure you use a solution that’s compatible with your infrastructure and that your available resources can handle. If you use incompatible software or a resource-intensive solution, you won’t be able to gain all the value and efficiency that remote access can provide.
Choosing the Right Remote Desktop Solution
Once you understand your IT infrastructure, you can start looking for a remote desktop solution that meets your business and technology needs. When you choose a remote desktop solution, be sure to keep these factors in mind:
1. Features
First, consider what features the remote access solution provides. While any remote desktop worth its salt will allow you to connect to devices remotely, that’s just the start.
Look for other productivity-enhancing features, such as file transfer, remote printing, chat, and multi-monitor support. These help make remote work more efficient by giving employees full access to tools and capabilities to collaborate and work seamlessly from anywhere.
2. Ease of Use
No matter how powerful or feature-rich a remote access solution is, it won’t matter if it’s too complex to use. An easy installation, high-quality UX, and user-friendly interface go a long way to making a great solution.
You’ll want a remote desktop solution that can easily be installed on any device and provides clear controls for seamless connectivity. The easier it is to get set up and connected, the smoother and more efficient your remote work will be.
3. Device Support
What computers and operating systems do you use at your business? What kind of devices do your employees use? Typically, there will only be a small overlap between the two. For all the rest, you need to find a solution that works across devices and systems.
Look for a remote desktop solution compatible with a wide range of devices, including computers, phones, and tablets. It should encompass multiple operating systems so that employees can use their Mac, PC, iOS device, Android device, and more. This will help ensure that no matter what devices your teams use, they’ll be able to work without difficulty or interruption.
4. Scalability
Your business is constantly growing – you need a remote access solution that can grow with it. When looking at solutions, see how easy it is to add new users and devices; a good solution should be able to scale up and down as needed to match the size of your workforce.
5. Security
When your teams start working remotely, you must ensure their devices and accounts remain secure. Be sure to use a solution with multiple advanced security features, including device authentication and multi-factor authentication, to ensure secure remote work across devices.
6. Cost Effectiveness
A remote desktop solution could be the most powerful and user-friendly software in existence, but it won’t matter if you can’t afford it. Be sure to consider the cost you’re paying for the solution and the value it brings.
Be sure to look at the functionality, support, features, and security of your solution and how much you’re spending for it. Some options may have expensive add-ons pile up, while others are cheap but lacking functionality.
Look for a feature-rich solution with plans available at price points for businesses of all sizes, like Splashtop, which has the same great features as the competitors at a fraction of the price. This will ensure you get the most value out of your solution.
Ensuring Data Protection and Compliance in Remote Desktop Setups
As mentioned, security is vital for any good remote desktop solution. When looking at your options, make sure you keep these security factors in mind:
1. Regulatory Compliance
Many industries, such as healthcare and finance, have strict security requirements to protect sensitive and personal data. Look for a solution that abides by security standards such as GDPR, SOC 2, FERPA, and so on, so you can maintain IT compliance with your security obligations.
2. Encryption
Data is at its most vulnerable when it’s in transit, but encryption protocols scramble data while it’s being sent, so it can only be accessed on the correct devices. Make sure you use a solution that keeps data encrypted, so unauthorized viewers won’t be able to get their hands on it.
3. Secure User Authentication
The last thing you want is for unauthorized users to access an employee’s account. A good remote desktop solution includes secure user authorization tools, such as multi-factor authentication, to verify user identities when they log in. This helps keep employees’ accounts and company data safe even when accessed remotely.
When you’re looking for a secure remote desktop solution, consider the security features Splashtop offers. Splashtop is designed to meet a broad range of industry and government standards and regulations, including GDPR, ISO/IEC 27001, SOC 2, and more.
Plus, Splashtop includes several remote access security features, such as two-factor authentication, multi-level password security, remote connection notifications, and more. All these ensure that accounts and data remain safe from prying eyes and remote access stays secure.
Key Preparations for Integrating a Remote Desktop Solution
Once you find the best remote desktop solution for your business, the next step is to ensure you’re ready to integrate it into your IT infrastructure. Proper preparation will help improve efficiency while reducing downtime during the rollout.
Consider the following when preparing to integrate your remote desktop solution:
Assess your network to ensure you have the bandwidth for the software
Backup your data in case of the off-chance that something goes wrong
Ensure software compatibility to make sure your infrastructure is up to date and will work well with the solution
Prepare your teams by giving them training and clear instructions on how the remote desktop solution works and how they’ll be using it moving forward
Once your network, systems, and employees are ready, it’s time to integrate your new remote desktop solution.
Step-by-Step Guide to Remote Desktop Integration
Different remote desktop solutions will have their own distinct installation methods, and individual organizations will have distinct IT infrastructures and use cases for remote desktop technology. As such, there’s no one specific set of instructions that will cover all integrations. However, there are a few aspects that remain consistent across platforms.
First, a reliable internet connection is necessary to ensure the remote computers and devices your employees connect from are set up properly.
Additionally, you’ll need administrative access to the computers you want to control remotely to install the software, configure settings, and grant permissions for remote access.
As mentioned, you’ll want to ensure you’re using compatible devices and operating systems. Splashtop, for instance, supports multiple operating systems, including Windows, Android, macOS, iOS, Chromebook, and more. Make sure your systems are fully updated to avoid compatibility issues.
Beyond that, the specifics will vary based on your solution. Splashtop, for instance, is straightforward to install and integrate, requiring only a few simple steps:
Create your Splashtop account, which allows you to manage devices and launch remote sessions.
From the Splashtop downloads page, download the Splashtop Business app on the local devices you plan to use to access the computers remotely. This will require installing the app on multiple devices, but the process is quick and straightforward.
Install the Splashtop Streamer app (also on the downloads page) on the computers you want to access remotely and configure your settings, including security preferences and access permissions. It’s recommended that the Streamer be set to run at startup for ease of remote access.
Users then log in to their Splashtop accounts on the devices they want to connect to and from to ensure they're linked to the same account.
From there, remote access is just a click away. Users can open the Splashtop Business app on their devices of choice, select their remote computers, and launch the connection.
Once users are connected, they can control their computers remotely from their devices as if they were right in front of them, giving them secure and seamless access to their work documents, projects, and programs from anywhere.
Optimizing Your Remote Desktop Solution: Post-Integration Tips
Once you’ve integrated a remote desktop solution into your IT infrastructure, your teams can easily and efficiently work from anywhere, on any device. However, if you want to ensure optimal performance, there are a few steps you can follow:
Update regularly: keeping both your systems and software up to date helps ensure you’re getting the latest features and security.
Monitor your systems and performance: watch for any signs that performance is slowing or technical issues so they can be addressed as quickly as possible.
Scale as needed: a properly scalable solution will make it easy to add accounts and devices as soon as needed so that you can set up new users quickly and easily.
Ensure ongoing maintenance: support and maintenance are vital for avoiding and correcting technical issues as well as maintaining consistent updates. Ongoing support is a must for a consistently seamless and efficient experience.
Get Started with Splashtop Remote Desktop Software: Seamlessly Integrate With Your Existing IT Infrastructure
If you’re looking for a powerful, user-friendly remote desktop solution that seamlessly integrates with your IT infrastructure and can be used across devices and operating systems, Splashtop has everything you need.
Splashtop gives organizations and employees the power to access their work computers from anywhere and on the devices that they like most. This makes it easy to work from anywhere, improving efficiency and productivity across the company.
Additionally, Splashtop is easy to install and run. Users simply install the Splashtop app, log in, and connect, no matter what devices or operating systems they use. All the while, Splashtop’s advanced security features keep accounts safe and comply with industry and government security regulations.
Experience Splashtop for yourself with a free trial today: