November Poll Result: What Answers Do You Want from Devolutions Central Online 2021?

WOW! Devolutions Central Online 2021 was an even bigger success than we had hoped — and it’s all thanks to our special guests Troy Hunt and Cory Michaelis, and of course: YOU! We welcomed hundreds of attendees from around the world. For a recap of the day’s events, please check out this new blog post.

Last month, we asked you: What answers do you want from Devolutions Central Online 2021?

We hope that we answered all your questions during the presentations and interactive sessions. But just in case we didn’t — or if you’d like a little refresher — here is a rundown of your questions along with our answers:

Question: Regarding the integration of all Devolutions’ products as a single product with the same interface, is this a goal to be reached or not?

Answer: Yes, we have standardized the UX across all three of our flagship solutions: Remote Desktop Manager, Devolutions Server, and Devolutions Password Hub. We know how precious time is for IT pros (because we’re IT pros, too!), and this consistency makes usage more intuitive and efficient. It is also much easier and faster to integrate new solutions. For example, people who have been using Remote Desktop Manager for many years will find it easy to add Devolutions Password Hub to the mix.

Question: In Remote Desktop Manager, is there anything you've faced that is really challenging to implement with current technologies?

Answer: Great question! We thought long and hard about this one. We would have to say that, to date, the most challenging technology we had to integrate into Remote Desktop Manager involved refactoring our local encryption into the latest version (2021.2). This was handled directly by our Security Team instead of our Development Team because we had to ensure that Windows Hello or 2FA would be secure on the local machine. At the same time, we wanted the local encryption to be FIPS compliant, and for the key to encrypt offline data and the data source configuration. As you can see, this was a very complex project!

On the same topic, we can also add that we split the configuration file into three different files: the encryption key, the configuration as it is, and the data source configuration encrypted. After that, we have all the different files (e.g., offline).

Question: What are the biggest challenges in creating a relationship of trust to get organizations to fully implement the password vault?

Answer: Another very interesting question! We would have to say that the biggest challenge is getting access to experts within organizations so that we can start building the relationship. One thing we experience very often is that once an expert connects with us, they are usually highly impressed that we are extremely honest. We never exaggerate what our solutions can do, or over-promise and under-deliver. We will even suggest that an expert explores a non-Devolutions solution if we truly feel that it is in their best interest to do so.

Question: Microsoft has started using passwordless logins so that passwords don't have to be used anymore. The Devolutions’ products are heavily about securing passwords, so what's Devolutions’ view of passwordless logins?

Answer: We are committed to supporting the main SSO technologies within our products. However, for IT pros passwords are not going anywhere. That is why we help companies establish a hybrid approach to password management. In this approach, accounts — which are tied to the company’s Identity Provider (IdP) — are used to authenticate to a Privileged Access Management (PAM) solution. This enables users to connect to accounts for standalone non-federated assets (e.g., printers, network equipment, specialized machines, etc.). For a deeper look at why passwords have not disappeared and what IT pros can do about it, please check out this article.

Question: Where are we going with passwords — face/finger recognition and MFA? What are the best practices? And why is one option safer than the other?

Answer: The trend right now is to move away from traditional password management, since most people (i.e., basically anyone without an eidetic/photographic memory) cannot remember a bunch of long, unique, and complex passwords. This is where password managers, MFA, and password-less technologies can help solve the problem.

The recommended best practice now is to apply a defense-in-depth approach and combine technologies to provide an additional safeguard in case one is compromised. For example, companies can use a password manager to generate and store very complex and unique passwords for every system or application and protect access to the password manager with MFA using a security token or biometry (face/finger).

Also, for each system or application, MFA should be enabled for additional security. Or companies can use a password-less approach where biometry or a PIN serves as the key (while still relying on passphrases for admin or non-typical changes). The key concept here is to not rely on one single technology.

Question: Are you planning any great new features?

Answer: YES! We are continuously improving all our products. Our most recent releases, Password Hub Business 2021.2 and Remote Desktop Manager 2021.2, offer dozens of new features — including many that were suggested to us by the amazing members of our community. Also, in early January, our CEO David will be publishing his annual Devolutions Roadmap 2021, which will highlight our major product-related plans for the year ahead. Please stay tuned!

Question: I want a page with some basic questions to try and calculate ROI for the cost of RDM licensing, and so I’m generating a nicely worded form letter to send to your boss and/or finance department to help justify the cost. Help me give you my (company's) money!

Answer: This is a GREAT IDEA! We will definitely work on putting something together. In the meantime, please download the new Devolutions State of Cybersecurity in SMBs in 2021 survey report, which contains advice on how to convince decision makers to increase the cybersecurity budget (specifically, please refer to Recommendation #14).

Question: Is there a plan to support multiple languages?

Answer: Yes, there is! We use our very own translation tool called Devolutions Localizer to make our products available in multiple languages. Recently, Remote Desktop Manager was translated into Japanese. If you speak multiple languages and would like to contribute to our translation efforts — and possibly win $500 — please contact us!

Question: Is it possible to integrate RDM with Veeam Backup & Replication console?

Answer: For this question, we could need more information from the person who asked the question. We would like to know if you have an API or a command line we could use. Please do not hesitate to share more info in the comment section.

Question: Is it possible to create a best practices/tutorial on moving from using RDM as a single user to implementing secure team usage — not so much how to do any single step, but a walk-through of the possible choices at each step and why you would choose one over another in common environments or use cases? This would help those of us who know RDM works for us to build a team environment and convince the Powers That Be to give you our cash. I can't go back and change behavior after the whole IT team buys in.

Answer: In a famous scene in the 1990s movie Jerry McGuire, Renée Zellweger tells Tom Cruise that “he had her at hello.” Well, the moment we read “a best practices/tutorial” we are all in! We love this idea and will put it on the roadmap. Thank you!

Question: How do I connect to a virtual machine using Remote Desktop Manager? And what is the first thing we need to do to establish a remote desktop connection between two different computers?

Answer: When starting with Remote Desktop Manager, the first step that you can take right away after installation is to create a session. The most common session is Microsoft Remote Desktop (RDP). If you want to connect to a Windows Host, this is the type of session you need.

For additional guidance, in our Remote Desktop Manager “Getting Started Guide”, we have created a detailed video to that provides step-by-step instructions on establishing your very first session: https://help.remotedesktopmanager.com/gettingstarted_creatingnewentry.html

The Winners Are…

You’re ALL winners because you motivate and inspire us to do better each day. We cannot express how appreciative we are to have the BEST USER COMMUNITY IN THE WORLD.

Now, let’s reveal the two poll participants who were randomly selected to each win a $25 Amazon gift card: congratulations Mateus Wolff and Hans! Please email me at lcadieux@devolutions.net to claim your prize.

Please also stay tuned for the December poll. I don’t want to give too much away, but let’s just say that this will be a special holiday poll for “all the good little IT pros out there.”