Now I have to admit I have always had a bit of a soft spot for RemoteScan, it is one of those venerable SBC add-ons that always made a Citrix deployment easier especially in the Legal market space. That said, I was under the impression that they had disappeared as their marketing machine had been very quiet these past 18 months.
So what does RemoteScan do? RemoteScan provides the ability to scan documents into a remote session. There is something elegant about taking one simple task and producing a functional program and RemoteScan did that very well.
But what about the Quest acquisition? I feel that it makes a lot of sense. there is a lot of synergy between virtual desktops and remote scanning, remember almost every assistant or secretary in the world at one time or another has had to scan a document.
Doug Garn (CEO Quest Software) has made a canny purchase here, this is another addition for vWorkplace that will move the broker further up the stack. vWorkplace is starting to get a lot of traction in the VDI space with its large array of desktop support and now with the purchase of RemoteScan, they are adding to the functionality of the product by expanding its ability to manage remote peripherals. This is always a weak spot in any SBC or VDI deployment. I wonder what other tools are in Quests sights, they do seem to be in an acquisitive mood again. Perhaps I could recommend a printing solution. There are plenty of companies still out there, UniPrint, TriCerat, or ThinPrint or the could look at a remote USB over IP product too, which would be handy. One thing is certain, this acquisition has made vWorkplace a little more rounded and a little more compelling if correctly integrated.
Read the full press release.
I agree entirely .. RemoteScan great product – beats all the competition .Quest’s acquisition is very sensible. Legal & Medical are the two markets that spring to mind – but as you say could be anything. Its interesting to note neither Citrix, Ericom, Microsoft or VMware have an in-built scanning solution to stand up to RemoteScan. I wonder if that will change?
What will happen to Citrix customers with RemoteScan? Citrix customers who may or may not be wanting to renew their licenses? Its a useful acquisition by Quest on a number of levels.
Still, “remote printing”?
I don’t agree on your purchasing options. Thinprint is perhaps too large to buy- uniprint too much the same. TriCerat is perhaps too big because they are an excellent print solution sure, but it’s like saying “David Beckham has a tattoo”. Fundamentally its true, but it misses the fact that he can play football, he’s an ambassador of sport, he was invited to the royal wedding and wore his OBE medal on the incorrect lapel.
TriCerat is more pervasive than simply “a printing solution” for desktop services, and as such unlikely to be bought out by Quest
In my opinion obviously.
Quest vWorkspace currently offers a printing solution for both local, network and remote based printers. I would get into all the ins and outs here but it is a strong solution and typically ticks the box. I am not disagreeing that some of the other products out there are more feature rich but I would need convincing that we, I work for Quest, need to acquire a printing solution. Where do you see the limitations of the Quest solution today?
Also a minor point on Tom’s article, it is vWorkspace and not vWorkplace :-).