FAQ

A: Viewfinity offers uncomplicated systems and privilege management solutions to manage, support and control desktops, laptops and Windows servers. Viewfinity is a single platform used for supporting both on-network PCs and mobile users through which IT administrators can manage and control any computer over the WAN regardless of worker location. Viewfinity offers true native remote systems management capabilities with absolute network independence; there is no reliance on corporate network connectivity or VPN.

We offer a better method for mobile workforce management for patch management, software and OS deployment, manage user privileges, troubleshoot and resolve problems faster, and more. Viewfinity also complements traditional systems management, like SCCM and SMS, by offering the ability to flexibly manage administrator rights for locked down computers. The software is intuitive and easy to use, and no training is required.

Viewfinity systems and privilege management solution can be delivered from a cloud hosted platform or installed on premises.

Practical Features and Benefits of Viewfinity Systems and Privilege Management

• Deploys software using only an Internet connection, no server is required



• Reaches and supports mobile workers who are disconnected from corporate network



• Provides OS image deployment



• Supports locked down, least privileges environments with management of privileges through granular regulation of administrator rights



• Centrally manages all laptops and desktops on the application-level, even if the machine is located outside the firewall



• Provides central management of securing and patching all systems in the organization



• Remote desktop capabilities connect to remote computers locally or through the secure HTTPS tunnel



• Asset management prepares for software audits, reconciles purchases and helps forecast future software license needs based on real-time usage information



• Saves money through automated power management policies

A: Through the use of automated policy settings, corporate guidelines can be established and applied for multiple dimensions of configurable, logical groupings: departments, applications, end users, connectivity status, time of day and more. Our Viewfinity Privilege Management offers a rich set of features that help IT and Business Managers ensure their organization is operating within a least privileged environment and according to legal parameters of software license agreements. Our software helps you to automatically manage your Windows application control policies dictated by corporate management and your legal department.

The following features are available to help meet your corporate compliance and security needs:

• Application Lockdown: Ability to reset changes to the individual applications to corporate standard. Provides IT department with ability to set protection on critical applications which should not be updated even if user posses local administrative rights. If Viewfinity detects that application configuration files, registry setting, dlls, or executables for any of these protected applications are modified, Viewfinity will automatically rollback the application to its protected state.
  
  
• Block Application: Using Viewfinity, the IT Administrator may establish policies that identify applications (by group if needed) that should be blocked from executing on corporate desktops and laptops. For example, the Brokerage division has a specific policy that prohibits any Instant Messaging software form executing. Viewfinity automatically enforces this policy for members of the Brokerage group, ensuring that these PCs are intact with corporate compliance regulations. Policies can be set for multiple combinations software such as Skype, ICQ, Yahoo Messenger, AOL, etc. Policies can also be flagged to unblock usage of specific applications while the end user is not connected to the corporate network.
  
  
• Elevate Privileges Certain applications and desktop functions (ActiveX, application, and printer installations) require local administrative privileges in order to run and function properly on a desktop or laptop. Most organizations consider this practice to be a security risk. Viewfinity solves this problem by elevating security rights to administrative levels per specific process. There is no need to jeopardize your network by granting full administrative rights to users just so they can run a business application that requires administrative privileges
• Activity Recording: Our real-time monitoring and recording of laptop, desktop and application events provides the administrator with a auditable record of all changes being made on the laptop or desktop. Viewfinity's precise activity recording feature provides a picture of all meaningful user/application activity for every laptop and desktop in easy-to-identify format.
  
  
• Policy Management: Viewfinity's policy management provides built-in, preconfigured capabilities for granular application-level control and policy customization to help control your desktop environment. Many conditions that formerly required complete lockdown in order to be enforced can now be implemented without creating excessive limitations on the end user machine. Supports multiple configurable options, by department/groups, time of day, connectivity status and more.
• Policy Auditing & Reporting: To ensure compliance, Viewfinity has built-in audit reporting that provides automated confirmation of delivery and enforcement of policies. Viewfinity provides detailed reporting on all administrator privilege policies, including an audit trail report that provides confirmation that a policy has been delivered and activated on endpoint devices. This includes validation of policy delivery to mobile and remote users, single or group of computers and/or for a specific application.

A: Viewfinity supports auto notification upon installation of specified applications. Administrators may create a policy containing a group of applications which are not in compliance with internal corporate policies and receive notifications if these applications are being installed or launched.

A: There are several ways to address this problem. Viewfinity's Block Application or Hide Application Policy can be enforced. For example, an Administrator can create group of Instant Messenger Applications (AOL, ICQ, Skype, etc.) and block/hide execution of these applications either permanently or based on time schedule/connectivity status/group.

A: Yes. Any policy can be created to elevate privileges for applications requiring administrative rights and applied to groups of computers. There is no need to grant admin rights to the end users. Viewfinity will raise security rights only for the individual application requiring such privileges.

A: Viewfinity supports a variety of management functions for which privilege elevation can be applied. Among these options are: Printer installations, Microsoft Management Console, Power Options, ActiveX installation, Approval of certain application installations, and many others.

A: When permissions are raised, the elevation is performed directly within the security token of the user account. The application or process is started using the current user credentials as opposed to using RUN AS which needs the Administrative account in order to raise privileges. The RUN AS method potentially introduces security risks if administrator's password is provided.

A: No. Any Viewfinity policies, including Privilege Management, Lockdown, and Block are delivered in real time and do not require users to logoff/login in order to take effect.

A: Yes. Polices can be delivered over a standard internet connection.

A: Yes. As long as the policy was delivered, the Viewfinity Agent will make sure that the policy is always functioning, even on a disconnected PC.

A: Yes, Viewfinity supports all product functions for both Active Directory and workgroup clients.

A: Viewfinity provides detailed reporting on all administrator privilege policies, including an audit trail report that provides confirmation that a policy has been delivered and activated on endpoint devices. This includes validation of policy delivery to mobile and remote users, single or group of computers and/or for a specific application.

A: Yes. Viewfinity's Activity Recording feature records on a desktop level all activity generated by users including file copy, move, and delete events, using external devices such as USB, installation of software, etc.

A: Yes. Viewfinity allows for very flexible application policies. For example, a block policy can be created to block usage of certain software only when a computer is authenticated against the internal Active Directory or network. At the point when a computer is disconnected, applications can be automatically unblocked without any manual steps from the IT team.

A: Yes. Viewfinity supports a "white list" mode in which the Administrator can create a policy and list approved applications. All other applications will be automatically blocked.

A: Yes. The Lockdown feature supports the ability to reset changes to individual applications to certain standards defined by IT. If the Viewfinity software detects that application configuration files, registry setting, dlls, or executables for any of these protected applications are modified, Viewfinity will automatically return the application to its protected state.

A: Viewfinity supports several methods of software delivery. One option provides the ability to push the package from an internal UNC path (for internal users). The package can also be uploaded to Viewfinity's web-based computing platform and then scheduled for delivery to external clients via an internet connection.

A: Viewfinity's Package Task Delivery option supports time scheduler for software delivery and also has an option to configure Retires of software delivery. When disconnected computer will appear will connect to internet the software package will be delivered.

A: Presently Viewfinity does not generate MSI installation files but it does work with existing packages (MSI, EXE, VB, BAT) and supports delivery of these packages.

A: Viewfinity tracks the status of software packages at all phases of delivery. Real time reports can be executed which will show the current progress of the delivery task and final status, whether it succeeded or failed.

A: Yes, we have an Asset Inventory module built-into the Viewfinity product. Our inventory metrics generate meaningful reports needed by IT and business decision makers so you can make informed decisions about your IT investments. Asset Inventory includes records about Applications, Hardware, Network, Service, Drivers, user group, etc.

A: Yes, Viewfinity's Application License & Usage Report can generate real-time statistics which will display frequency of usage of selected applications by time period on a group of computers.

A: Viewfinity Patch Management enables an organization to fully manage the distribution of updates that are released through Microsoft Update to computers that are on your network as well as mobile computers not connected to the internal network.

A: Viewfinity Patch Management enables IT administrators to deploy the latest Microsoft product updates to both Microsoft Windows Servers and Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 client operating systems. By following Microsoft’s lifecycle support for operating systems, Viewfinity ensures that the all supported operating systems and applications can be secured through patch updates.

A: Yes. Viewfinity provides stock reports for patch management, including existing patch levels, and patch distribution and status, but also includes the ability to create new reports and customize existing ones. Also, Viewfinity Systems Management provides a Dashboard technology that gives the ability to create on-screen real-time status updates for vulnerabilities, unpatched systems, and overall patch process status.

A: Yes. Viewfinity supports both type of clients: AD members or clients outside of AD.

A: Yes. Viewfinity Dashboard supports 2 options how information can be updated. The updates can be automatic based on real time changed or updated can be manually updated by a system administrator.

A: Yes, Viewfinity's Application License & Usage Report can generate real-time statistics which will display frequency of usage of selected applications by time period on a group of computers.

A: Yes. Viewfinity License Management provides detailed information regarding the actual usage of applications and cross-references usage with the amount of licenses owned. With this side-by-side display of licenses owned compared to actual usage, companies can control and administer software license allocation based on application usage activity and eliminate the need to pay for licenses that aren't being used.

A: While we believe that specific activity screen recordings and thumbnail screenshots are great troubleshooting tools (and help with compliance) we realize that privacy is critical for some situations. The product is configurable to meet your specific requirements. Screen recordings can be enabled or disable for a single user or group of users.

A: Yes. Viewfinity tracks activity related to changes in the user profile and supports restoration of changes related to local settings such as: mapped drives, network printers, desktop look and feel, customized application settings, etc.

A: Viewfinity allows flexible, configurable options by client or group that control the rollback capacity based on time or allocated disk space.

A: Yes. Viewfinity offers a Central System Restore feature, which is integrated with Microsoft System Restore. Because of Viewfinity’s HTTPs secure tunneling model, a direct connection between the user and the administrator is not required. System Restore procedures can be executed over an internet connection without needing to establish a Remote Desktop session.

A: Yes. Viewfinity has built in Remote Desktop capabilities that connect via a HTTPs tunnel. Your client PC can be located inside or outside of the corporate network.

A: Viewfinity's Remote Desktop uses default ports 80 and 443 for establishing a connection. There is no need to open any additional ports unless the default HTTP ports 80 and 443 are blocked.

A: Yes. Viewfinity's Remote Desktop establishes a HTTPS tunnel connection between the administrator and client machine and allows copying files between local drives.

A: In a few simple steps, Users Migration easily captures user personal settings, application settings and user data files to prepare for and perform the migration from Windows XP or Vista to Windows 7. All this can be done from a central location; no need for the IT staff to get involved in desk-side visits or to establish remote desktop sessions.

A: Viewfinity User Migration provides out-of-the-box automation and centralized management. Using Viewfinity User Migration software, administrators can create Migration Projects for multiple AD users and monitor the results of the User Personality Collection process. Users may perform the Personality Collection and Restore process at their convenience without posing any constraints on their daily activity. Viewfinity User State Migration tool works with the Microsoft User State Migration (one-to-one) scripting tool and adds out-of-the-box automation for multiple-user migrations and all from a centralized status and monitoring console.

A: Yes. Viewfinity User State Migration allows you to specify the time when the Collection and Restore will begin. In addition, Administrators can select which OS platforms will be available for Migration.

A: Viewfinity User Migration consists of several steps:

• Administrator's need to install the User Migration software (small package).
  
  
• Create a migration project and select which user settings, application settings and data will be collected for migration and select users or a group from Active Directory.
  
  
• Viewfinity User Migration will automatically create a new domain group policy which will activate the migration upon user login.
  
  
• The collection of user settings/data from source computers begins after the user logs in and allows the collection process to start. Collected information is transferred and stored on the dedicated network share.
  
  
• • Restoration of user settings/data occurs after the user logs into the Windows 7 PC and accepts the option to start the Restore process.

A: Viewfinity uses Microsoft‘s USMT, which is designed for one-by-one migration. Please refer to the Microsoft documentation for full list of supported applications and settings: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd560792(WS.10).aspx.

A: Viewfinity User State Migration performs the Restore process within standard user privileges. There is no requirement to assign local admin rights to the end-user.

A: No, you have the ability to reset an individual user's Collection of Personal Settings and initiate the Collection process again to preserve his latest changes.

A: The central management console will monitor the most current migration status for each user. The Administrator can view the status in real time.

A: Viewfinity User Migration is a valuable add-on to image deployment software. Simply enable a Migration Project some time in advance before migration. Once Windows 7 images are deployed and users log into clean PCs, they will be prompted to Restore Personal Settings. Automating this process for large group of users will save a significant amount of time on the post migration configurations tasks.

A: We deploy a very small and light footprint agent on every desktop managed by Viewfinity. There are no additional processing and memory requirements outside of the standard Microsoft best practices. In order for Activity Recording to function effectively, space must be allocated on the local client disk to store the changes. The best practice requirement is 2GB (or more if you want to maintain an extended log of changes).

A: Performance impact on the client PC is nearly negligible.

A: Currently Windows XP 32 bit and Vista 32\64 bit, Windows 7 32/64, Windows 2003/2008 32/64 bit are supported.

A: Yes. Our solution is complementary to desktop configuration management products that you may already be using, such as SMS (SCCM) and other similar products. Our features further extend your ability to exceed your customer service expectations by using innovative and new approaches to providing the best service available.

A: Viewfinity offers a "web-hosted" delivery model where the Viewfinity application and database is hosted on Viewfinity web servers accessible via the Internet. By eliminating the need to install and run the application on the customer's own infrastructure, this model alleviates the burden of software maintenance, ongoing operation, and support. Using this model can also reduce the up-front expense of software purchases, through less costly, on-demand pricing.

A: Implementing Viewfinity is a transparent process. In four easy steps, you will be up-and-running and managing your desktops in less than 10 minutes. Viewfinity's products are deployed using your existing AD and network infrastructure and will reach any and all end-points from a single point. Viewfinity's agents are installed only on-demand, thus no manual intervention is needed for deployment, upgrades, maintenance and uninstall of the agents.

A: Viewfinity uses advanced technology for Internet security. When you access the Viewfinity Site using a web browser, 128 bit Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology protects your information. Using both server authentication and data encryption, SSL ensures your data is safe, secure, and available only to registered Users in your organization. Viewfinity servers are hosted in a secure server environment that uses a double layer firewall infrastructure - a physical firewall at the data center and another software firewall on Viewfinity server. Other advanced technologies to prevent interference or access from outside intruders are also utilized. Note: the Viewfinity Web-hosted Service is not used to host customer data other than what is necessary for user authentication and basic computer inventory information.

A: Yes. Viewfinity supports 2 types of deployment. 1) Web-hosted delivery platform where server infrastructure is hosted by Viewfinity; 2) On-premise installation where the Viewfinity software is hosted internally within your organization.

A: Typically you need Windows Server, SQL Express or Full version of SQL, IIS and Viewfinity program. Please contact Viewfinity for more information.

A: Yes. The Viewfinity server can be placed in DMZ zone and as long as long as the IIS server is a public internet-facing server, mobile clients can be supported and managed in the same fashion as our fully functional web-hosted delivery model.

A: Administrators simply generate a web link and email it to the remote end user. The end user would then click on the link, download the client agent and install it on the remote computer.

Viewfinity also supports other methods of client deployment:

• Automated discovery of your Active Directory, Network subnets and client installation
• Administrators may download our agent and deploy it using other methods that are already in place for software distribution

A: Yes. Using the Viewfinity cloud-computing platform, Viewfinity can be up and running quickly to provide management, support and control for desktops, servers and laptops the moment an internet connection is established. This makes it extremely cost effective and easy for IT to support local as well as mobile workers.

A: The Viewfinity Web-hosted infrastructure can scale to manage the number of clients you have in your organization.

A: No. All laptop and desktop activity and event changes are stored locally on the client PC. This protects the organization by ensuring that all activity remains locally secured and that bandwidth is not highly utilized. When an end user requires assistance, the IT administrator will access, via the Viewfinity management console, all details related to a specific computer and will perform corrective actions directly on the desktop without transferring data over the internet.

A: Viewfinity uses advanced technology for Internet security. When you access the Viewfinity Site using web browser, 128 bit Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology protects your information. Using both server authentication and data encryption, SSL ensures your data is safe, secure, and available only to registered Users in your organization. In addition, other advanced firewall technologies are utilized to prevent interference or access from outside intruders.

A: No. It is not necessary to always be connected. The Viewfinity agent running locally on the desktop/laptop will enforce polices and maintain its encapsulated state.

A: Yes. Internal implementation of the Viewfinity product is available. Please contact Viewfinity Sales for more details at info@viewfinity.com.

A: Viewfinity offers a central point management console which manages multiple companies. From one central management console, over an internet connection, Managed Service Providers can support multiple clients without needing to establish direct terminal connections or conduct in-person client visits.

A: Absolutely. Viewfinity supports laptops and desktops outside of the corporate network reach and without the need for VPN.

A: Sure. Evaluation of our product is very simple process. Simply create an account and follow the steps to select the product you wish to evaluate.