Thank you Seattle!

Last week we completed the NorthWest Workshop and I have to say, you guys were great!  Thank you to all of you who attended the workshop for making it completely enjoyable as well as very productive.  I hope you all took home some knowledge that's helped you to create solid, usable solutions to use for your existing (or new!) offerings.  I know y'all taught me a thing or two.  ;)  So Cheers, Seattle!  I look forward to our next Workshop!

LabVNC Rocks!

I've a confession:  I've always hated the LabVNC button.  Why?  Well, in a small part because it breaks the true MSP model but mostly because it just sucked.  Ok, maybe 'sucked' is too strong an adjective, perhaps it was somewhere between 'Eh' and 'sucked' but nonetheless, the operative word here is was.

That's because with 2011, the improved LabVNC is a new animal.  It is fast, Fast, FAST!!  If you're like me, spoiled by the response rate given my Citrix, LogMeIn, etc.. you're used to a certain speed and anything less is unimpressive.  Well now LabVNC provides the kind of response your (and my) impatient butt is used to.  Add to that the ability to choose which session to control - from the console to a specific user's session (yes, this works on terminal servers) and you've a fantastic solution to an age old problem built right into your LabTech console.

When in Seattle, I asked who amongst the upgraders noticed a marked improvement in LabVNC and was met with an near raucous approval.  So if you haven't tried it yet, go ahead and run some tests and see for yourself.  And if you have, feel free to share your experience in the comments section.  Happy LabTech'ing!

Technology is pretty good

I'm on the way to Seattle for the next LabTech workshop and I couldn't resist posting from 40,000 ft.  :)  See all you NorthWest LabTech'ers tomorrow!

Thank You Chicago!

Scott and I just got back from the Windy City where we led the LabTech Workshop on Tuesday.  We spoke to a capacity audience to teach LabTech Scripting, Hotfixing and Probe usage and by all accounts, our trip was a great success.  It was fun to have Scott there as he's the guy who actually wrote the SNMP portion (and lots more) of the new probe and he knows it like no one else.  His considerable knowledge of and passion for this technology really came across during his presentation, which I can only describe as fantastic.  Judging by the feedback, it seems you all agree!  So Thank You Chicago Attendees!!  It was a real pleasure to bring a little LabTech know-how your way and we look forward to the next time.  :)

LabTech 2011 Released!

I'm proud to announce we have just officially launched our next version of LabTech - version 2011!  In it you'll find some fantastic additions including a totally revamped Probe, a new Patch Manager and Alert Templates as well as a slew of bug fixes.  Remember, before you upgrade - make sure you've backed up your LabTech Server!!  Then head on over to http://www.labtechsoftware.com/support-home.html and grab the latest version of your MSP Software.  Enjoy!

Policy Number One

One of the most effective desktop policies available to an admin is to shut off browser access to the Internet.  Where access is required to perform a job function, get a specific list of domain names that the user needs to be able to navigate to and allow access to only those sites.  With this one small move, you will have eliminated the biggest security threat to that desktop and created a much more reliable environment.

"My customers will never go for that!", you say?  Well they may, if you present it in a manner that demonstrates value to their bottom line.  While the advantages of doing so may be obvious to us, very often the business owner doesn't fully understand them and is instead focused on the downside of telling his employees they can no longer browse the Internet from their desktops.

But if your MSP offering is priced based on risk, you can offer a "safe driver" discount to customers that allow you to enable this policy.  With this move, you've given your customers a powerful incentive to help you, help them.  This, in turn makes for a much safer environment and one that will require less management on your part.

There is a 'have your cake and eat it too' option.  Just enable a secured wireless access point (secured being DMZ'd from the production network, firewalled, etc...) that allows guest access to the Internet.  Now your customer can opt for the Internet-less option for their business machines but 802.11 devices like phones and iPad's will have Internet access.  Another option is to enable a secured Terminal Server for browser usage.  While not wholly risk free, this option mitigates many of the risks inherent with open browsing and can be used on policed desktops transparently.

Technical Realization: Build a desktop policy that blocks Internet usage using direct registry writes.  Use LabTech scripting to apply those writes.  Associate with group (as with any other offering) and use Extra Data Fields on the Computer Object and the Client Object to allow for exceptions.

Business Alignment:  As said, this product provides direct incentive to customers to make their desktops more secure.  More secure = more reliable = less costly = Win.  Who knows.. perhaps they'll even like it!

Off Topic

I'm halfway thru the Battle 360 series and it is absolutely fantastic!  10 episodes document the USS Enterprise and her encounters with the Japanese in the Pacific.  While the narration is perhaps a little overboard, it is appropriate considering the tale that ship and her sailors have to tell.  This series truly is a great story, well told and comes highly recommended.