COST-EFFECTIVENESS
ENHANCED SECURITY
EASY REMOTE ACCESS
Key benefits of the Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) platform and the Reseller SPLA program is that we can offer our clients advanced secure remote access solutions at an affordable price. Managing the licensing is done through a simple self-reporting usage-based process, therefore reducing the need for IT resources and maintenance.
“We are very happy with our Parallels RAS partnership. The portal is easy to work with and the product is very reliable.”
CEO, ACE Technology Group
The Challenge: Finding a tech partner that aligns with company goals
ACE Technology Group is a remote IT service and support provider with enterprise-grade IT department capabilities serving small and medium businesses. The company currently has 10 employees.
The company’s goal is to provide the highest quality IT services to small and medium-sized businesses at an affordable price. Right now, their main challenge is making sure they have a technology partner whose goals align with their need for responsive, reliable, and affordable proactive IT services.
In addition, the company is currently finding that Microsoft’s cloud and subscription licensing changes put a tremendous burden on them, as a reseller. Microsoft reseller margins are too small, inflexible, and can result in significant financial impact to the reseller when their client's needs change.
For example, the reseller is responsible for the entire duration of the Microsoft contract. If the end user doesn’t comply with their part of the contract (such as not paying), the burden and responsibility of the licensing fees falls on ACE Technology Group.
As a result, they have found that it's better to discontinue reselling Microsoft cloud services directly and instead subscribe their clients directly to Microsoft 365 licensing.
The Solution: Cost-effectiveness and enhanced security with Parallels RAS
They provide cloud hosted desktops to their clients using the flexible and affordable licensing model of Parallels® RAS, which also aligns with the company’s overarching goal to have a partner that provides responsive, reliable, and affordable IT services.
ACE Technology Group became a Parallels RAS partner in 2011. They chose Parallels RAS over Citrix because the former was more cost-effective, especially for small businesses.
The single license model of Parallels RAS single provides access to a host of enterprise-level features, such as:
- Application and desktop delivery with RDSH, VDI and Azure Virtual Desktop
- Load balancing
- Multi-cloud ready
- Monitoring and reporting
- Universal printing
- Remote PC
- FIPS 140-2 encryptions
- 24/7 customer support
This solution also allows the company to offer a more secure remote desktop option for their customers with less reliance on Microsoft subscription licensing applications.
“We use Parallels RAS every day, it’s how we operate” explains Chris. “We believe in using the products and services we sell because it helps us get to know those systems well.”
“Knowing our systems well also helps us identify issues quickly. If a tool is not working for us, it may not be working for our clients either.”
The Results: Partnering with Parallels RAS provides reliability, efficiency, and affordability
ACE Technology Group has seen results with their customers reporting the Parallels RAS product as reliable, efficient, and affordable.
The flexible usage-based licensing that Parallels RAS provides allows the company and their clients to scale up or down quickly and easily, whenever they need to.
One example of this took place in September of 2021, when a client suffered a significant flood from Hurricane Ida. Their entire first floor and server were several feet underwater. ACE was prepared for the disaster with offsite cloud backup and cloud hosting. The flexible usage-based Parallels RAS licensing and virtual desktops allowed for quick operational recovery. Within 24 hours post-flood, ACE had restored their servers and with Parallels RAS, were able to provide secure access to desktops and applications from any internet connected computer.