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Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) today announced plans to release Apple Remote Desktop 2, an asset management, software distribution and help-desk support software platform for managing Macintosh and other platforms.
Apple Remote Desktop, which adds over 50 new features from its previous version, becomes available in July through Apple and its resellers for a retail price of US$299 for managing up to 10 systems and $499 for managing an unlimited number of systems.
The software lets administrators carry out desktop management tasks, such as installing operating systems, applications and other software packages; and running asset management reports on more than 200 hardware and software system attributes.
Remote Desktop also includes real-time desktop screen sharing for support tasks, which allow technicians the ability to access a user's desktop remotely for troubleshooting and control Linux and Windows systems that are set up for virtual-network computing (VNC).
Updates and Updating
According to Tom Goguen, director of servers and storage software for Apple, the new Apple Remote Desktop software, if installed on an OS X server, will continuously update the inventory of desktops and notebook computers while the systems are on a local network.
"We've included an optional server agent for administering OS X server, including Xserve," he said. "We've dramatically improved screen sharing, including tools for dealing with low-bandwidth environments," Goguen added.
Goguen said the screen-sharing service in Apple Remote Desktop is based on the popular VNC software and allows for the screen sharing, observation or control of Mac and non-Mac systems alike, such as Windows and Linux.
"It is based on VNC, and several quality open-source clients are available for non-Macintosh platforms for use with Remote Desktop," he said.
Enterprise-Level Issues
Forrester senior analyst David Friedlander told MacNewsWorld that systems-management software is a very crowded market to enter into and does not believe tech managers will give Apple Remote Desktop a second glance -- at least at the enterprise level.
"It is a little late in the game to enter the enterprise with this," Friedlander said. "There are a dozen or more vendors with fairly comprehensive suites for managing desktops."
However, he did feel that Apple's traditional markets would find substantial value in the improvements.
"The small- and medium-business markets and educational institutions will see value in this," he said. "Especially if they can also manage Linux servers along with Macintoshes."
For his part, Fred Broussard, senior research analyst who monitors the systems management software market for IDC, said that Apple is moving in the right direction with this release.
"Anything they can do to support heterogeneous environments helps," he told MacNewsWorld. "These environments have more PCs and [fewer] Macs in some cases."
Apple's Preparation
In preparing for the redesign and relaunch of Apple Remote Desktop, Goguen said that teams from Apple spent time with hundreds of customers over the last two years, identifying features critical to running an IT department.
Virginia Tech, home of the 1,100-node Xserve G5-based "X" supercomputer, provided Apple access to its "Math Emporium" test lab, made up of 500 iMacs. According to Goguen, Apple used this environment to redesign the Remote Desktop's user interface for the way IT managers work.
The emporium serves as a center of math studies for the university, Larry Hincker, associate vice president for university relations at Virginia Tech, told MacNewsWorld. "It was founded seven years ago to advance our capabilities in math instruction. We have thousands of students studying math and using the lab."
Apple's Next Steps
An advanced feature of latest version of Apple Remote Desktop includes the ability for administrators to create and execute Unix shell scripts and other commands on remote systems, such as insuring files are copied to backup servers from user's local hard drives.
"We believe this is where users will expand on the software -- writing their own scripts to accommodate [their own] needs" Goguen pointed out. "We also have added command-line tools for tasks such as managing energy settings, putting systems to sleep, all which impact the total cost of ownership of desktops."
For his part, Friedlander noted that patch and software management has converged with asset management, and the ability to distribute updates is critical to IT managers.
"Many enterprise vendors now offer [software] distribution and reporting for desktop management," he said. "The next step may be reporting on other software such as antivirus -- 'Does everyone have the latest virus update?' or 'Are their firewalls all turned on?'"
Meanwhile, Broussard said that all of the vendors in this sector need to start thinking about handhelds as well, which are often a weak link in a company's information security and management systems.
"The next step is to support handheld PCs in the inventory process," Broussard said.
