Remotely Running Training Centers with Splashtop

Like many companies, Bechtle IT System House Chemnitz was disrupted by COVID19. This was particularly disruptive to the company training centers shut down due to the pandemic. Johann Geßner, Service Desk Agent at Bechtle IT System House Chemnitz, explained how and why his company leveraged Splashtop Enterprise for remote labs to quickly and cost-efficiently reinvent the way they provided IT training during the pandemic.

The Challenge: Ensuring Continuity of Training Centers while Keeping a Low Operational Cost

Bechtle IT System House Chemnitz has training centers in Chemnitz, Dresden and Cottbus. Each of these centers is equipped with computer rooms and accompanying training software. Up until COVID, this set-up worked great for providing training to secretaries, PAs and IT administrators on the cloud, servers, networks and other IT topics.

With the lockdown, the on-site training centers could no longer operate due to social distancing and other safety measures. “For a training center that would like to make some revenue, shutting down was not an option,” said Geßner. The training centers also operated at a high cost since they required investing in labs with data centers.

Geßner thought there must be a cost-efficient way to remotely operate the training centers during the pandemic, so he started looking around for solutions. He first looked into remote software products familiar to him but these products turned out to be expensive and complicated solutions. “For these solutions to work, it would have required that we buy a lot of expensive hardware and internet access,” explains Geßner. “We are talking about an investment of almost 150,000 euros.”

He further explains that these solutions were also very complicated and were not as user-friendly as Geßner had hoped. “They required every user to start downloading some complicated software and implement some certificates, which was not practical in a lockdown,” said Geßner.

Geßner then turned to VPN and RDP and tested about nine solutions that did not work out. “These solutions were semi-good,” he said. “The challenge was that we needed to be careful because according to data protection laws, we are not allowed to pass on the addresses of our customers anywhere, and we were not happy with the security risks of implementing VPN.”

That’s when Geßner discovered Splashtop for remote labs.

The Solution: Splashtop Enterprise for Remote Labs – Affordable, User Friendly and Reliable Remote Access Software

Splashtop Enterprise for remote labs is a remote access software that allows users to access and take control of lab computers from any other device, including Windows or Mac computers, Chromebooks, iPads, Android tablets and more.

Splashtop Enterprise offered everything Geßner was looking for in terms of cost, manageability and running the training centers remotely.

“I don’t want to click around wildly in any portals,” said Geßner. “With Splashtop, it is simply clear; I can complete what I need to do within a few minutes, and the customers have their accesses without me having to search in any submenus. Furthermore, everything is clearly laid out on one nice level. I can easily implement everything I need to prepare, like assigning passwords and permissions.”

Splashtop also enabled him to solve the privacy challenge around not sharing personal customers’ addresses. “Splashtop allows me to set up accounts with our own email addresses, change the passwords every time before the training session and make them available to participants as needed,” explained Geßner. “This is a functionality that only Splashtop offers as I could not do this with any other product!”

Additionally, compared to other remote access software, Splashtop Enterprise had more functionalities at less than half the price. “This is what convinced everyone, “ said Geßner.

Ultimately, with Splashtop Enterprise for remote labs, Geßner and his team could:

• Enable students and teachers to remote into the training centers’ lab computers and use the applications as if they were physically there

• Schedule time slots and set permissions to ensure a smooth remote access experience for students and teachers

• Remotely support and manage lab computers and provide quick on-demand remote support to any computer or mobile device, as well as support students and teachers at home or on-campus

The Results: Splashtop Saves the Year and Opens Up Possibilities for Hybrid Training

After testing more than 10 tools, Bechtle IT System House Chemnitz chose Splashtop for remote labs to support their remote training centers. Splashtop stood out among all solutions due to its key functionalities, reliability and affordability.

Geßner said that ultimately, Splashtop helped his team save the year-end.

The implementation process also went smoothly. The IT team installed Splashtop on 67 windows clients, enabling up to 24 students to remotely access the training centers PCs for their training sessions. After providing just two trainings, Bechtle IT System House Chemnitz was able to get a positive return on their Splashtop investment.

Bechtle IT System House Chemnitz now has participants who can take training sessions from anywhere in Germany as they don’t have to travel to any of the company’s locations. “This represents savings on travel time, hotel costs and on our own organizational expenses from the training department,” said Geßner.

Due to this success, Geßner and his team are planning to continue using Splashtop even after the pandemic and potentially offer a hybrid training solution. “I now assume that we will continue to offer online training even after the pandemic simply because we have all found it to be pretty cool and reliable thanks to Splashtop,” he said. He adds that online training is also sometimes considered higher quality and more convenient for customers, which is an added bonus to going remote with Splashtop.

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Splashtop Enterprise for remote labs is the ideal solution for educational and training institutions looking for a high performance, easy to manage, and secure remote access tool that students and teachers can use to access on-campus machines. Contact us to get started for free and schedule a demo.

About Bechtle Gmbh It-Systemhaus Chemnitz

Founded in 1993, and located in Germany, Bechtle Gmbh It-Systemhaus Chemnitz is a leading IT service provider offering IT consulting, managed services, and comprehensive IT training programs in Chemnitz, Dresden and Cottbus.

About Splashtop Enterprise for Remote Labs

Splashtop Enterprise for remote labs enable academic and training institutions to enhance and support their learning programs by enabling students and teachers to remotely log into and use computer lab machines just like they were sitting at the computers.

• Access Windows, Mac and Linux computers from any other Windows, Mac, iOS, Android or Chromebook device.

• Remotely control computers with ease over fast connections (streaming in 4k) with HD quality and sound.

• Get the top features needed to stay productive while working remotely, including drag-and-drop file transfer, remote print, remote wake, remote reboot, chat and more.

• Save up to 80% or more when you choose Splashtop over other more expensive remote access products.

• Use the scheduled remote access features to schedule open lab hours and specialized lab sessions enabling different groups of students to remotely access the computer lab during their scheduled class time.

Learn more about Splashtop Enterprise for remote labs.