The Ivanti Workspace Control 2020 release that occurred in August included Ivanti Neurons for Edge Intelligence, an innovative new feature which enables administrators to query endpoints and get real-time intelligence from across the enterprise in seconds. A function that works regardless of whether endpoints are on or off the corporate network. An essential feature considering the number of employees working from home.

Now that customers have been using the feature for a few months, we’ve asked them what they find most useful.  Here’s what they have told us.

Logon Performance

The number one feature Workspace Control customers find most useful is the Logon Performance query. Achieving a fast logon performance experience is always a key goal for organizations. When users complain of slow logon performance, administrators need a quick and easy way to troubleshoot to understand what’s causing the issue so that they can remediate.  The Edge Intelligence logon performance query includes a graphical breakdown of the logon duration including both the Windows component of the logon along with a detailed breakdown of the Workspace Control component.  With this information, it is very easy to see where the problem is, to validate what the user is saying about the logon duration and also to immediately see whether other users are experiencing similar issues.

logon session details

Device Uptime

When a user complains that something is not working as expected, the ability to quickly see how long since the device was last rebooted is helpful.  As one administrator described it, “when a user is having an issue, one of the first things I check is the device uptime.  If they haven’t rebooted in several days, it is often one of the first things I get them to try to see if it resolves the issue.  Having that immediate visibility is invaluable rather than having to rely on the user remembering when they last rebooted”. 

Security Dashboard

Many customers commented on security use cases and how Edge Intelligence really helps solve these challenges.  Different customers provided different examples but, in all cases, customers liked being able to quickly find the information they needed.  One of the most common examples was being able to see Missing Patches, as an additional validation step on top of other patching tools being used.  One user also commented they use the Device Uptime query to identify pending reboots, whereby a system might still be vulnerable until the reboot has completed.  Other users liked using the Local Admin Users query to identify systems with local administrators, which would be considered a security risk.  And yet another user commented that he liked the User Logon Failures query so that he could proactively reach out to users that were having difficulty logging on.

Simplicity & Shift-left

Edge Intelligence is simple to use.  Customers have expressed their appreciation for a clear and simple view for normal Help Desk users.  In order to get the information they need to investigate an issue, these users often need to contact a 2nd or 3rd line technician.  However with Edge Intelligence it is already there for them, laid out in a way that makes it easy for them to use.  One administrator told us that he had been looking at using APIs to provide the required information to the Help Desk users and now he no longer needs to do this.  These users can now get this information for themselves (shift-left) which frees him up to focus on other, more important tasks.  Another customer told me that Edge Intelligence allows him to gain insights that would require multiple other tools, so having this all in one place makes things more efficient.  He went on to say that their management team preferred the user-friendly graphs created by the program vs. the detailed reports they were previously creating.

Have you tried out Edge Intelligence yet?  If not, go ahead and upgrade to Workspace Control 2020 and enable it. Please provide any thoughts or feedback on the product directly to [email protected].

DAVID MURRAY

Director, Product Management