In this article, we’ll look at the challenges SMEs face in maintaining their desktop environments and computing devices. We’ll also review some of the best tools that are useful for maintaining an SMB desktop environment and how SMBs can benefit from implementing desktop management software or tools. Finally, we’ll look at how SMBs can choose desktop software to manage their computing device infrastructure. Manually maintaining a company’s desktops, laptops, tablets, smartphones, and other assets means high effort utilization, cost involvement, and human errors.
What is Desktop Management Software (DMS)?
In short, desktop management software is used by businesses to fully manage IT systems and related services to reduce the complexity of technical activities.DSM handles the following activities:
Management: Installation, up-gradation, patching, inventory Security: virus and spam protection Troubleshooting: drive space, utilization of resources, etc. Helpdesk: User and Password management Access management: Assigning privileges to users, applications, etc. Reporting: Various types of bookkeeping for audit, presentation, senior reporting, etc.
Challenges Faced by SMEs
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) face various challenges, such as those faced by large companies. Large companies are well placed with the resources to solve technical problems, while SMEs do not have enough resources to overcome difficulties. The below section highlights the top 4 challenges that small and medium-sized companies face when maintaining a desktop environment or IT system.
Budget: Costs for IT and IT experts are limited for SMEs. The challenges of maintaining, upgrading, and servicing IT systems for small businesses are both cost-oriented and complex. Lack of Skills: Skilled IT engineers are required to maintain end-user equipment, but engaging and employing skilled engineers may not be a cost-effective solution for SMBs. Security and compliance: lack of appropriate firewalls, inefficiency with regular security updates, lack of measures to allow authorized access to data and programs. According to a research report by Infrascale, 49% of top SME executives say cyberattacks are their biggest privacy concern. Scalability: Due to the lack of hardware and software and the lack of asset management, upgrading or expanding the existing infrastructure in the course of the company’s future growth will be a difficult task.
In a nutshell, there are several technological barriers that SMEs must overcome in order to build a stable IT infrastructure in the long term. Whether your business is driven by technology or another sector, acquiring a foundation is a great idea. Still, it takes a solid framework to steer the company’s vision and mission in the right direction. Let’s look at the top 6 desktop management software that small and medium businesses can adopt for value addition to their IT infrastructure.
ManageEngine Desktop Central
Desktop Central product of ManageEngine was awarded a gold medal for its achievements. It was also named a champion in the UEM Emotional Footprint Quadrant by the Info-Tech Research Group. It is complete end-to-end management for all SME computing devices (small and medium enterprises) as well as suitable for large businesses. You can use the free edition, which supports 25 computers and 25 mobile devices and can be upgraded to professional and corporate versions for further coverage and benefits. All mobile platforms, including iOS, Android, and Windows smartphones, are managed from one central console. Features
Patch Management: Automation of regular activities like patch installation, software, and operating system deployment Hardware and software: Asset inventory and management of software licenses and monitoring its usage statistics Troubleshooting: Helps in troubleshooting remote desktops with multi-user collaboration, file transfer, etc. Mobile Platform: Management of all Mobile devices to deploy policies, configure devices for Wi-Fi and VPN Security: Protection against the installation of an application, browser restriction, and securing your devices by a passcode.
ManageEngine Desktop Central is perfectly blended to support small to medium businesses looking for end-to-end hardware and software assets management. The large enterprises looking for enhanced management can also implement this complete IT Asset Management software.
Logmein Central Software
Logmein Central Software is one of the most popular software for small and medium business users for its ease of use and operation. This software has served more than 3.3 billion remote sessions. It is the most reliable remote control software for Windows and Mac computers, IT asset management, and automation. This software allows you to manage and monitor all your computing devices from a central dashboard. The control panel displays device status alerts for thresholds and deploys the software packages on all devices. The software comes with a built-in LogMein antivirus program to protect desktops, laptops, and other devices. Features
Computer segregation: Easily deploy patches and software based on location, department, or availability. Feasible for remote deployment of software packages from a centralized dashboard Routine activity automation, setting up of alerts, and in-depth reporting. Troubleshooting: Monitor the entire IT infrastructure to identify critical issues and critical updates.
Logmein software can be used by internal IT teams, managed service companies, and even kiosks and point of sale (POS) support.
Connectwise
Connectwise software is fast, flexible, and secure remote control software to access any device from anywhere. This software is one of the most secure in this category. It has AES-256 encryption and two-factor authentication. It is also the most compatible software that supports Windows, macOS, ChromeOS, Linux/Unix, etc. Based on the needs of small and medium enterprises and even large enterprises, their existing support platforms such as Freshdesk, Solarwinds, Acronis, Zendesk, and others can be integrated. Features
Ability to assign proper access rights to programs and hardware. Its premium plug-in (ConnectWise View) allows you to connect remote systems and troubleshoot faults in real-time. Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) authentication for faster connections
This software can be used in small and medium businesses regardless of industry like technology, education, government, etc. This software can be used either by internal teams or by managed end-user support services.
Splashtop
Splashtop offers remote support software and, according to its website, serves more than 200,000 companies and 30 million users worldwide. It can safely establish RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) sessions on different devices without installing additional software on this endpoint. It protects systems and networks from intruders by adopting the best industry standards of security mechanisms. Features
Mobile remote assistance: Connect to remote mobile platforms like iOS, Android to troubleshoot issues Easy connection: Easily establish a remote connection from within the ticket. Integration with other world-famous tools like Autodesk, Freshservice, Jira Service Desk, and more Support Windows, Mac, IOS, and Android platforms
This software can be used to provide remote IT solutions, help desks, and support activities. It is one of the economically priced software in this category, and its starts at USD 17/month.
Goverlan
Goverlan is the most scalable remote software used by small, medium, and large businesses to provide remote infrastructure support with secure connectivity. It is one of the oldest in the industry, has been in use since 1998, and supports 3 million devices. This software provides remote support, manages hardware and software, and provides IT services to other companies, known as managed services. It provides Addon tools to support end-to-end infrastructure activities such as Active Directory management and IT process automation. Features
Hardware-based remote control engine for faster connectivity even supports 4k monitors without delay. Find and connect system users with partial usernames or computers that support VDI, Citrix, and RDP sessions. Centralized audit reports for remote sessions Its installation engine requires very minimum hardware
A leading tool that can be used by small and medium-sized businesses and large internal IT companies or to provide managed services to other companies. In short, it is used to manage all consumer computing devices at the same time. It also has all the functions of the help desk.
Ninja Software
Ninja Software has won numerous awards from various organizations for best features and functionality, usability, customer support, value for money, and easiest setup. This cloud-based software is designed for remote monitoring, management, and support activities. This helps simplify complex IT operations, leading to greater efficiency and higher productivity. It is possible to apply software patches on a large scale and set up crash warning mechanisms—a unique data protection function for all devices and automatic ticket generation. Features
You can monitor, maintain and manage all IT assets centrally from anywhere Remote access to attended and unattended systems Ticket management by accept, assignment, and workflow automation Possibility to archive data
Ninja Software offers a comprehensive solution to maintain your entire IT infrastructure. The software interacts with the whole platform and provides high-end visibility into user issues, device health, and network security without the need for a local server and VPN.
Dameware software
Dameware software offers both on-premises and cloud solutions. Easy to use and affordable remote maintenance and troubleshooting software for Small to large organizations. This software is recognized by PC magazine for remote maintenance and Trustradius award for remote management. Dameware has four sections: Remote Everywhere, Remote Support, Mini Remote Control, and Help Desk Pack. All these sections are designed to handle complete remote control, maintenance activities, asset management, and hardware and software troubleshooting. Features
Complete solution for remote assistance and help desk Connect the remote computer using command line Enhanced security with multi-factor authentication or smart card Integration with one of the best SolarWinds software to initiate remote access from an open ticket
Dameware remote support is fast and secured through TLS 1.2 protocol. It can be well adopted by SMB and large enterprises for end-to-end remote support activities and management.
Benefits to SMEs
In this section, we will look at how SMEs (small and medium enterprises) can use DSM software to achieve efficiency and smooth IT performance. Desktop management software or tools play an essential role in managing IT equipment, services, and applications in a central console. IT administrators can easily control, manage, update, and troubleshoot end-to-end computing devices. Even businesses can automate and schedule frequently performed activities to reduce administrative costs. We will see top value additions that DSM software could bring for the SMB sector.
Device management: The entire lifecycle of a computing device can be managed end-to-end. Detection, tracking, customization, management, asset inventory, operating system implementation, configuration updates, warranty status, etc. Remote administration and troubleshooting of entire IT systems Application Management: Full control and management of applications and programs. Access to the application can be maintained in accordance with company policies and regulations. Issues like unauthorized access and data breaches can be avoided. Identity and access management: This ensures that only authorized users, devices, and applications have access to enterprise resources. Enhanced security: Using industry best security practices, SMB ensures devices are less vulnerable to hacking, malware attacks, and ransomware. Reporting and Auditing: One of the tasks that IT staff prefer to delay is reporting. However, using the DSM software makes it easy to download various types of reports for seniors and presentations.
All these factors will dramatically improve productivity, centralized administration, reduce risk, and bring down the total cost of ownership.
How to select the best Desktop Management Software?
The choice of desktop management software depends entirely on the business scope and usage, as most enterprise environments have different types of devices with varying levels of security and compliance. On a broad scale, one should look into the following points and try the trial or free versions before finalizing the software edition.
Easy to implement, administer, and user-friendly. Software is on-premise or cloud-based Scalability: Should support the current and future requirements of the organization. Scope: The types of assets you manage and their diversification, such as laptops, desktops, smartphones, and tablets, as well as support for multiple operating systems. Security: Patching, anti-malware, device-level security, application-level, and user-level security. Provision for Automation Additional functions: Patch management, operating system rendering, and deployment, user profile management, enterprise mobility management, configuration management, reporting, integration with other tools and software
Conclusion 👨🏫
Desktop Management Software (DSM) is an industry-standard framework that is a valuable management product for maintaining IT systems, including but not limited to desktops, laptops, tablets, and more. As mentioned above, DSM is used to manage, maintain, inventory, and track hardware and software applications from a single central console. Automation is another part of DSM that is valuable in a network or remote environment where multiple computers are managed. By implementing DSM, small and medium-sized businesses and even large enterprises can significantly reduce person-hours, human error, and, most importantly, cost. In addition, IT equipment audits are also carried out smoothly (which is one of the annoying activities for IT administrators) by downloading various reports from the DSM software. You may also be interested in Best Remote Desktop Software.
