The Upload with ControlUp

Does supporting remote workers ever feel like you are supporting employees in space? In this episode, Jeff and Eugenia discuss how ControlUp would support aliens using Microsoft Teams or Zoom. We look at Unified Communications troubleshooting with ControlUp for Physical Endpoints & Apps (aka Edge DX), how to improve calls and meetings for earthlings, and, potentially, how Edge DX would help aliens off-planet.

Live events are BACK! While there might not be as much hugging as in years past, the energy at VMware Explore—VMware’s first live event since 2019—was incredible, and ControlUp was there in full force. In this episode of the pod, Eugenia and Jeff talked with Tom Fenton, Trentent Tye, and Joel Stocker about the event, the technology, the sessions, and what it all means for the future of work.

In this episode, we discuss where device management stops and ControlUp starts. Jeff surprises Eugenia with a pop quiz to test her knowledge on how device management stacks up against ControlUp. Tune in to learn the differences between device management and DEX management (SPOILER ALERT: it’s a “better together story”). ControlUp for Endpoints and Apps helps technology teams lower support costs by finding, fixing, and preventing issues that traditional device management software just can’t.

In this version of The Upload, we talk to ControlUp experts, Dianna Marks and Trentent Tye, about ControlUp’s integration with Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop. Microsoft AVD is fantastic. It’s flexible, scalable, and affordable, and with ControlUp Real-Time DX, we not only make finding and fixing AVD problems easy, but we also lower the cost of an AVD deployment. This episode is a must-listen. We hope you enjoy it!

In this episode, we talk to Ray Davis, who was a ControlUp power user for years. He recently changed jobs and has not used ControlUp in a year as a result. See how he reacts when Jeff and Eugenia discuss all the new ControlUp features, capabilities, and products released this last year.

In this episode, Eugenia and Jeff discuss Digital Employee Experience (DEX) management with Joel Stocker, Sr. Director of Product Marketing at ControlUp. Joel talks about the importance of DEX and the solutions ControlUp has developed to manage digital employee experience. Basically, we talk about DEX management for EUC, endpoint devices, SaaS and web apps, and Unified Communications (UC) tools.

Ray discusses the challenges of moving from a company that used ControlUp to its fullest potential, to one that doesn’t use it at all. Ray details what he goes through to unravel a problem with, for example, a customer’s Citrix VDI / DaaS problem and how time-consuming it can be vs. using ControlUp, where he could spot the problem and fix it in just seconds.

Your IT department spends too much time troubleshooting home networks—throwing virtual darts, trying to hit the target of the problem—because home networks are IT’s biggest blind spot.

In this episode of The Upload with ControlUp, Eugenia and Jeff discuss the problems with supporting work-from-home networks and how ControlUp gives IT line of sight into both physical endpoint devices, like laptops and desktops, as well as Citrix, Horizon, and Azure (AVD) virtual desktops

In this episode of The Upload, we talked about feelings. OK, that’s not entirely true. More specifically, we talked with ControlUp’s Edge DX Product Owner, the magnificent Andy Poulter, about what’s new—today, tomorrow, and sometime in the not-too-distant future—in Edge DX. There’s a much-requested script library, user sentiment scoring (this is where Jeff got kind of sentiment-al…), and one other HUGE new feature that absolutely blew Eugenia’s mind (it might just blow yours, too). Want to know what it is? Well, listen to this episode and find out! 😀

In this episode, we’re bringing you The Upload, but with a twist! We’re broadcasting LIVE from the floor at the Washington VMware User Group (VMUG) and chatting with Eric Aguila, our Commercial Accounts Executive. We dive into what was discussed in the keynote and Eric gives us the scoop on the happenings at the ControlUp booth and the questions people ask most often. But that’s not all! Tom Fenton, ControlUp’s Edge DX SME, joins Jeff and Eugenia. Tom gives us the dish on VMware project Monterey and other cool things, such as his book on how to install ESX on a Raspberry Pi.

What is DEX? DEX stands for Digital Employee Experience, and it’s, essentially, everything that remote workers deal with throughout the course of their work day—applications and desktops, the status of their home or work network, how strong their internet connection is, and everything else you can think of. It’s everything that makes or breaks the work from anywhere experience, and it’s something you hear ControlUp talk about a lot. The ControlUp Digital Experience management platform brings together a suite of solutions that make it possible for IT to spot problems in remote workers’ environments, no matter where they’re working, so employees stay productive and have a frustration-free experience.

What is a DEX report: The DEX report is data about a customer’s after a POC. It compares their environment to two million VDI computers in the ControlUp global community.

Why would someone want a DEX report: The digital employee experience (DEX) is a key performance indicator in understanding the impact of technology on employee experience. Many customers rely on subjective feedback to determine an employee’s DEX. ControlUp offers objective feedback that compares the customer’s environment to over two million virtual machines.

Listen in as we interview Spencer Pitts, Digital Workspace Chief Technologist at VMware. Have fun and gain some insights into his views of the Digital Employee Experience.

Starting in v8.6, ControlUp will integrate with Microsoft Azure, to allow real-time monitoring and management of Azure and AVD resources. You’ll be able to see the relevant metrics displayed in the Real-Time Console and Solve. This long-awaited new integration automatically discovers and collects comprehensive information such as Cost, Health, Configuration and other metadata on each of the following new objects

• Subscriptions
• Resources Groups
• Virtual Machines
• Virtual Disks

In addition to offering a wide range of new metrics, predefined actions, and drill-down relationships for easier troubleshooting and navigation, our Azure integration supports seamless association between Azure VMs and entities from different ControlUp extensions, virtual machine management, and more!

Support for AVD in ControlUp Remote DX!
“Previously available only for Citrix and VMware Horizon environments, this release will add support for Microsoft RDS and Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) environments running on Windows.”

Scheduled Triggers
ControlUp v8.5 included the basic functionality for this feature, but with v8.6 there will be even more scheduling options, including:

• Monthly
• Weekly
• Daily
• Per minute
• One-time

Additional Features/Enhancements
An email can now be sent when an Automated Action fails to run.

• When ControlUp agents are deployed from the ControlUp Real-Time Console, the agent is signed by default.
• In the Real-Time Console Controllers pane, you can now select Automatic Delay as an option for when selecting to Start a Service.

Remote work is now a business imperative
Millions of us are living the work-from-anywhere life now, and we wouldn’t want it any other way. Remote work is here to stay; IDC projects that the U.S. remote work population will be nearly 60% of the total workforce by 2024.

Security and compliance are meaningless when it comes to the digital employee experience
Device management tools lack visibility into a user’s experience. Deloitte states that a compelling workforce experience creates 22% higher engagement, 12% greater job satisfaction, with people 4x more likely to stay in jobs longer than other organizations.

ControlUp Edge DX improves the work-from-anywhere experience.
Edge DX understands employee experiences on physical endpoints no matter where in the world people are working.

Experiential data can help IT detect any issues impacting an employee’s experience, so they can improve or fix problems quickly and get employees back to what they want to do: a good job. Edge DX can even automate recurring problems before help desk tickets are created.

1. Expanded ControlUp + VMware partnership!
2. Interesting announcements and what they mean
3. EXPLOSIVE sessions (including our own pyrotechnics)

• Tom and Trentent’s VMworld session
• Some other not-to-miss sessions
• Delivering virtual labs in a virtual world

• Real-Time DX
• Remote DX
• Edge DX

1. Introduction: Pete, Jeff, and Eugenia catch up on all things ControlUp, EUC, and more. We set the stage for the episode.
2. Fixing Slow Logons in EUC Environments: Jeff takes us through a recent eBook he authored covering how ControlUp monitors and optimizes logon duration. Download eBook here
3. Tales from a CSM: Eugenia talks about how she got into IT and what she loves about being a CSM at ControlUp.
4. Five minutes or less: We highlight the recent release of ControlUp 8.5. Release notes here

1. Introduction: Pete, Jeff, and Eugenia catch up on all things ControlUp, EUC, and more. We set the stage for the episode.
2. Interview with Tom Fenton: Vdoppler AKA Tom talks ControlUp, VMware, his journey, and more.
3. Digital Employee Experience Discussion (DEX): We discuss DEX, what it is, is it subjective or objective, and how ControlUp can help. A fun discussion focused on the problem and not the product.
4. Five minutes or less: We close the episode with what is coming and some fun conversations around jobs. You need to listen to find out…

1. Introduction: ControlUp is introducing a new podcast. This podcast will feature ControlUp updates, industry topics, blogs, and more. This episode highlights the official GA of ControlUp 8.5 and talks about some new ebooks.
2. Interview with Yoni Avital: Yoni talks about why and how ControlUp was founded, digital employee experience (DEX), the ControlUp journey, and a peek into what may be coming in 2021 with ControlUp.
3. Interview with Chris Rogers, the Citrix Jedi: Chris takes us through his EUC journey, why he joined ControlUp, EUC changes, and his favorite ControlUp features.
4. Five minutes or less: We talk about a new eBook launching focused on analyzing logon duration and answer a customer question around the community.

1. Introduction: ControlUp is introducing a new podcast. This podcast will feature ControlUp updates, topics, blogs, and more Industry updates, topics blogs, and more. Customer insights, stories, and real-world feedback. Partner insights, stories, and cool integrations. Fun, banter, and random topics our goal is simple… we won’t bore you to death!
2. ControlUp Release Updates w/ Joel Stocker: Joel will take us through the recent product updates and launches that will help you optimize your end-users digital experience and in turn, minimize helpdesk tickets.
3. Summer Giveaways w/ Katie Hance: It is summer time and why not give away some cool stuff. Listen in to hear what we are giving away!