SolarWinds Dameware Remote Support (DRS) vs. Microsoft Intune

I feel like this is a very robust solution that I would recommend to anyone who relies heavily on remote support. Most of the colleagues I work with already use SolarWinds products to one extent or the other. I feel the price for the solution is very fair and a good value for the product.

Incentivized

Windows Autopilot makes provisioning user Windows PC laptops a breeze. A user only needs to turn on the laptop, join it to their local WiFi, login with their O365 account then sit back and let Windows Autopilot handle the app installations required for work, configure the laptop settings to meet my organization requirements. I have seen this all completed in less than 30 minutes depending on how fast the internet connection is. Where Microsoft Intune needs to improve I think is the part where it can push out software updates to 3rd party apps. Right now I have to use Automox to fill in this gap.

Incentivized

• DameWare Remote Support allows us to connect to the desktop of a user very easily and quickly. It can be configured to use different levels of security making it both fast and secure.
• DameWare Remote Support can be deployed to all computers in the environment quickly using the built in capabilities of DameWare.
• DameWare provides the ability to get system information as well using the full client not the mini remote control. This is handy in finding running services, events logs, etc and all based on our AD structure.

Incentivized

• [Microsoft Endpoint Manager (Microsoft Intune + SCCM)] helps to speed up the deployment of patches/software throughout our environment. I can easily build a package and then deploy across all endpoints.
• The ability to supercede software is also quite handy. This automates the removal of old versions and replacing them with newer versions.
• The Intune Autopilot option is very useful if you want to deploy software to devices straight out of the box. You can configure them to download software when a user opens a new PC and turns it on for the first time.

Incentivized

• Connecting to last session is not always the last session.
• Saving your position in the Personal Host List would be helpful. I have a folder structure 3 levels deep and when I'm going through a list of computers it is frustrating to have to browse down through the same levels each time.
• When connecting to a host, an entry is saved in Saved Host List (even duplicates). I would be nice to have an option to save or not save like a quick connect option.
• DameWare Mobile has separate password than desktop and cannot be linked to Active Directory password like desktop.

Incentivized

• Installation is very laborious and complicated. The number of things to manually configure during the installation is incredible.
• OS deployment is hard to configure and troubleshoot. The Microsoft article on deploying Windows 10 via System Center Configuration Manager in a test environment takes 44 minutes to read (Microsoft's estimate, not mine -- check here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deployment/windows-10-poc-sc-config-mgr). If something goes wrong, there are multiple log locations to check on both the server and client, making troubleshooting difficult.
• The management console looks old, and its performance isn't great. It is often hard to find settings in the console, and it refreshes slowly. The old name for System Center Configuration Manager, SMS, comes to mind often. "Slowly Moving Software."

Incentivized

We like DRS for remote support and have been using it for several years. It has made it easy to support our on network users when "hands on" support is required. We currently don't use DRS to its fullest simply because there are other tools that are easier to use, for instance we use AD Manager Plus to handle our AD tasks. I've not found DRS to be all that intuitive to use for anything other than remote support with the Mini Remote Control.

Incentivized

Mascom Wireless is a Microsoft shop and SCCM has proved to be helpful in keeping our Microsoft products up to date every month without fail. We also have a Microsoft Enterprise Agreement which we renewed for three years ending 2022. The remote access utility works wonders for the organisation and have saved travel bills including subsistance allowance. We have been able to fulfill security audits both internal and external. We have been able to keep a robust inventory of our computer assets and nothing falls of the cracks

Incentivized

It's effective and easy. It'll do what you want it to do as long as you don't expect the world. I expect it would be even better if you were a Solar Wind shop; for us this is the only thing we use from them, mainly due to price point on other components

Incentivized

Overall, Microsoft Intune is very usable. While help documentation can be lacking, once setup and configured, Intune does all the work that used to be manual. There is a lot of automation and advanced features and manufacturer integrations you don't get anywhere else. These are absolutely game changers when managing IT workloads.

Incentivized

Yes, always available.

Incentivized

The application always seems responsive to me

Incentivized

It's a 'heavy' system, which demands a lot of resources form the datacenter perspective. So, make sure you followed the requirements to avoid frustration in the future. From the 'client' perspective, it's fine. I've never had any issue with that.

Incentivized

I use a Samsung mobile device; DameWare Mobile was working and then after an Android update it started crashing. I reported the issue to DameWare and worked with the technicians and developers to gather data for them to correct the issue. They quickly published a beta release for me to test (which corrected the crashes) and then published an update to the Google Play Store.

Incentivized

Being a Microsoft product, support was good. Out interaction was limited to our in-house IT team which was installing the Intune app in our mobile device. The installation was smooth and we haven't faced any difficulties with the app while using it. Provides a smooth and secure access to all Office 365 apps in mobile while separating the personal and professional data.

Incentivized

It was excellent

Incentivized

The videos were more than sufficient to learn the product

Incentivized

It helps greatly if you know someone already using DameWare Remote Support. I was fortunate as my tech support guys were using it at their hospital and assisted me through the purchase, download and implementation of remote support. As well as, knowing how many licenses to purchase at the time. You have to make sure that anyone assisting in IT can have access to the program with their own license.

Incentivized

Work with a "test group" of users who you have a good relationship with so that when things don't work properly they understand! Work with your partner nicely without forcing things especially timelines as you are bound to make mistakes and create oversights in the project Management can also interfere with the implementation (which can cause delays) if you make too many mistakes which takes me back to having a "test group" where you have good relations

Incentivized

SCCM is pretty decent as a Remote Support tool, the main difference is that, as SCCM is much more, it takes long time to load and uses u lots of resources that are wasted if you only uses it to Remote. Dameware Remote Support is specialized software, so it is powerful enough for all your needs, while being light enough to barely make a dent on the system resources.

Microsoft Intune is more robust as far as fine-tuning security controls. It also allows for software installs, folder access controls, updating PCs, and other features simply not found in previous products we have used. Because it is rolled into MS 365 it's very cost effective. It's also a single pane of glass for managing user PCs and personal devices

Incentivized

You get an 8 because of the constant initial freeze on most connections. Takes a reconnect to have it work.

Incentivized

• DameWare has allowed us to maintain our non-traditional approach to IT support. It allows our administrators to work from anywhere and has extended their reach to clients domestic and abroad.
• Return on investment was realized as soon as we purchased the licenses. We don't have to maintain a large office space or overhead costs due to the flexibility it allows our administrators.
• First call resolution has increased drastically since implementing DameWare company-wide. The user no longer has to wait to reproduce an error. We can screen share and view it as it happens and mitigate the issues.

Incentivized

• The positive impact it's had was it has been really beneficial in having an all-in-one Systems Management solution to be able to manage all endpoints across the organization. This has saved both time and costs from having to search/setup/manage other System Management applications and also have saved money from having to purchase a license for other commercial products.
• Another positive impact it has had was in being able to easily remote into computers/endpoints, and also being able to provide remote assistance to end-users.
• The negative impact has been it is not being fully utilized by most of the IT staff, as it is a more complicated platform to learn/master. This would require funding for IT staff to take training in learning the product, or require time to consult the documentation in the use of the product. As a result, this may hurt productivity in being able to have to work on other things.

Incentivized