Go to my PC: The Secret Sauce for Virtual Labs

GotoMyPC is the perfect companion to the outstanding GoToMeeting Virtual Classroom solution I reviewed earlier.

GotoMyPC allows the Virtual Trainer to setup real world, hands on labs on servers sitting right in the office. Virtual students use GotoMyPC to "take control" of these "Lab Computers" directly from a browser window on their desktop. When combined with GotoMeeting, these two fantastic tools from Citrix create an amazingly powerful Virtual Classroom that can be directed and control by one instructor from the comfort of his office.

After searching and trying other solutions such as "Access Remote PC" (Review to follow), I found nothing that could meet TrainingCity's long term needs and provide attendees with the assurance that we were using technology from a well established, security conscious, vendor.

At first I passed over GotoMyPC because I (mistakenly) thought it required the student to have access to the GotoMyPC user name and password. Given that this information allows the user to access the assigned credit card information, the idea of "handing over" a user ID & password to every TrainingCity Virtual Class attendee was a non-starter.

Fortunately, just before closing the file on GotoMyPC I decided to call their technical support line to confirm that users would indeed have access to my account information. The call was an eye opener. I was informed that GotoMyPC supports the setup of “Guest” accounts, exactly what I needed to allow TrainingCity students to use the service without being able to access our private account details.

Since setting up a corporate GotoMyPC account a few months ago TrainingCity has saved thousands of dollars in shipping fees. Rather than shipping a laptop to everyone who registers to attend a Virtual Class, we can now simply ask them if their existing hardware supports GoToMeeting and GoToMyPC.

In conclusion, I continue to be more and more impressed with the Citrix product line. My only complaint is their lack of support for the Apple Mac platform.