Remote Working User Guide

Overview

Understand the needs, work habits, and user experience of your remote workforce. Discover how remote workers connect to the corporate network, and assess how this connection impacts productivity, user experience, and security risk. Determine hardware and software needs for remote workers.

Value Proposition

This analytic tool is highly effective for distinguishing between office-based and remote users. It features built-in logic to identify systems that are not physically connected to the corporate network. While the tool is presented as a dashboard, configuration is necessary to customize it and display the relevant data.

Organizations can leverage this tool to gain insights into remote systems’ performance when they operate outside the corporate network. By adding and analyzing IP-range inclusions, the dashboard can pinpoint which systems are accessing the network from non-corporate addresses—systems that do not belong to the standard corporate structure.

This tool is invaluable for analyzing the productivity and performance of remote workers, providing actionable intelligence. Typically, it is introduced as a secondary or tertiary DEX (Digital Experience) Pack after organizations have implemented more traditional monitoring solutions, such as those focused on Wi-Fi performance. As companies start to explore more advanced infrastructure enhancements, this tool becomes particularly useful.

In hybrid work environments, it helps isolate corporate network users from remote users, offering precise analytics on performance and response times. Notably, remote workers sometimes experience better response times than office workers, as they bypass corporate infrastructure bottlenecks. Additionally, the tool can identify USB devices connected during remote work sessions and conduct security analysis sweeps.

The “Office Subnets Setup” section, outlined in the Remote Working Installation Instructions, is critical for configuration. This setup allows organizations to harness the full potential of the tool, delivering valuable analytics for both performance monitoring and security assessments.

Remote Connectivity

Understand how remote workers connect to your corporate network. Quantify what resources are being consumed. Qualify how concerns such as latency, bandwidth, and other factors impact user experience.

End User Equipment

Discover the hardware in use outside of the office. Identify external USB devices in use and users that may benefit from additional external monitors.

Productivity and Collaboration

Assess the performance and usage of communication software and Microsoft 365 apps. View data organized by app, version, and system.

Security and Compliance

Identify apps and operating systems in need of updates, as well as systems lacking antivirus protection.

Remote Connectivity

Summary

Remote Connectivity	Assess the network security and performance of remote connections.
Profile Types	Assess the distribution of your enterprise’s remote and in-office employees. Learn which types of remote connections are most frequently used.
VPN Use	Investigate how frequently users connect to a VPN.
Remote Session Intelligence	Review performance metrics across a variety of remote session protocols. Pinpoint dates and systems with performance issues.

Home Connectivity

Office Subnets	Enter a list of your office subnets here, separated by commas. Systems within these subnets will be excluded from the data below. To permanently save this list as the default, open this Dashboard in Dashboard Builder. Click the blue Page Context box, modify the list under Default Value, then click Apply. Note that there is a 1,000-character limit for this text box.
Network Type Summary	This chart shows the network type for those working remotely: Wired, Secured WLAN, or Unsecured WLAN. Hover over a section of the pie chart to view the number of systems on each type of network.
Network Type Breakdown	This table displays the percentage of time systems were connected to different types of networks. Systems connected to an Unsecured WLAN could be a security risk. Click a system in this pane to populate the data in Network Details (Selected System).
Network Details (Selected System)	This table shows the health of network connections made by the system selected in Network Type Breakdown. This includes data for every network connection made in the past 30 days. If a cell under WLAN Secured is blank, then that connection is not WLAN.

Profile Types

Office Subnets	Enter a list of your office subnets here, separated by commas. Systems within these subnets are considered in-office for the data below. Any systems outside of these subnets are considered remote. To permanently save this list as the default, open this Dashboard in Dashboard Builder. Click the blue Page Context box, modify the list under Default Value, then click Apply. Note that there is a 1,000-character limit for this text box.
Profile Type Summary	This Dashboard organizes employees into different profiles based on how they worked in the past 30 days: in-office, remote, or hybrid. Remote workers are further split up by connection type. Some VPNs (especially uncommon VPNs) are not detected by this Dashboard. Thus, some workers listed as Remote No VPN may actually be Remote VPN workers.
Users Summary	This table shows the amount of time users work remotely or in-office. This data is summed from the past 30 days. Click a user in this pane to populate the table in Session Details (Selected User).
Session Details (Selected User)	This table shows network sessions for the user selected in Users Summary. This includes all usage data from the past 30 days.
Profile Types Over Time	This graph shows the number of users of each profile type each day for the past 30 days. For example, if your employees normally work remotely, but they come into the office every other Monday, then you’ll see a spike in the Office graph on those days. The Mixed graph indicates users who worked via multiple methods within the same day. Click any point on the graph to populate the table in User Details (Selected Date).
User Details (Selected Date)	This table shows session data for all users on the date selected in Profile Types Over Time. This includes the amount of time each user spent on each type of connection.

VPN Use

VPN Use Summary	This graph shows remote systems with or without a VPN connection. Use the drop-down to either show the number of systems or the number of hours connected. Hover over a section of the pie chart to view the exact number of systems or hours. The Non-VPN category includes any remote systems without a VPN or VDI connection. The VPN category includes remote systems with a VPN connection. Some VPNs (especially uncommon VPNs) are not detected by this Dashboard. Thus, some systems in the Non-VPN category may actually be VPN systems.
VPN Use Trend	This graph shows VPN use over time. Use the drop-down to either show the number of systems or the number of hours connected each day. Hover over a point on the graph to view the exact number of systems or hours that day.
VPN Use System Details	This table shows the amount of time individual systems spent on or off the VPN. Use the dropdown to view only VPN or Non-VPN users. If a user spends only a few minutes on a VPN, their Time on VPN will be displayed as 0. However, they will still be considered a VPN user. Thus, when using the Show VPN Users dropdown, it is possible to see users with “0” Time on VPN.

Remote Session Intelligence

Global Filters	Use the Technology drop-down to specify remote connection software for the data below.
Performance Summary	This table shows a variety of performance metrics for remote protocols. This data is averaged over the past 30 days. Click a metric in this pane to populate the data in the Performance Trend and Session Details panes.
Performance Trend (Selected Metric)	This graph shows the metric selected in Performance Summary over the past 30 days. Click a point on this graph to populate the table in the Session Details pane.
Session Details (Selected Metric and Date)	This table shows the worst performing sessions for the selected metric and date. By default, the worst 25% of sessions are shown. Use the slider to adjust this value. Double-click a system to view the performance trend for this specific metric, date, and system in Resolve.

End User Equipment

Summary

Device Assignments	Gain insight into devices used outside the office.
External USB Devices	View a full inventory of USB devices used by remote workers.
External Monitors	Identify users who may benefit from additional monitors.

Device Assignment

Office Subnets	Enter a list of your office subnets here, separated by commas. Systems within these subnets will be excluded from the data below. To permanently save this list as the default, open this Dashboard in Dashboard Builder. Click the blue Page Context box, modify the list under Default Value, then click Apply. Note that there is a 1,000-character limit for this text box.
Manufacturer Summary	This chart shows remote systems grouped by manufacturer.
OS Summary	This chart shows remote systems grouped by OS and OS version.
CPU Clock Speed Summary	This chart shows remote systems grouped by CPU clock speed (GHz).
Memory Summary	This chart shows remote systems grouped by memory capacity (GB).
System Details	This table shows details for each remote system with the characteristics set by the drop-downs.

External USB Devices

All USB Devices

This table shows all USB devices connected to remote systems within the past day. Note that some internal devices may also appear here. System Count indicates the number of systems with a connection to that type of device. Device Count indicates the total number of connections to that type of device. If Device Count is greater than System Count, this indicates that some systems are connected to the same type of device multiple times. Click a device in this pane to populate the table in System Details (Selected Device).

System Details (Selected Device)

This table shows all the systems connected to the device selected in All USB Devices. Double-click any system to further investigate that system’s USB devices in Resolve > All Inventory.

Productivity and Collaboration

Summary

Communication Tools Intelligence	Assess performance metrics for communication software. Identify systems running outdated versions. Compare the performance of different versions.
Microsoft 365 Application Summary	Assess performance metrics for Microsoft 365 apps. Identify systems running outdated versions. Compare the performance of different versions.

Communication Tools Intelligence

Office Subnets	Enter a list of your office subnets here, separated by commas. Systems within these subnets will be excluded from the data below. To permanently save this list as the default, open this Dashboard in Dashboard Builder. Click the blue Page Context box, modify the list under Default Value, then click Apply. Note that there is a 1,000-character limit for this text box.
App Filter and Latest Version	Use the Application drop-down to limit this Dashboard’s data to a specific app. By default, the Latest App Version drop-down is set to Auto. This setting automatically detects the latest version of the app across all systems, including remote and in-office systems. If an app is selected in the Application drop-down, then you can use this drop-down to manually define the latest version of that app. If the Latest App Version drop-down is set to Auto, then you can further define the latest app version with the Minimum System Utilization slider. If less than x% of systems are using a specific version, then it will not automatically be set as the latest version. By default, this slider excludes app versions used by less than 5% of systems.
Communication App Summary	This table shows version installations and resource usage for communication apps. Click an app in this table to populate the rest of this Dashboard with data for that app.
System Details (Selected App)	This table shows data for all systems using the app selected in Communication App Summary. Outdated app versions (as defined in App Filter and Latest Version) are highlighted in red.
Version Details (Selected App)	This table shows performance metrics for all versions of the app selected in Communication App Summary.

Microsoft 365 Application Stability

This Dashboard functions like Communication Tools Intelligence, except that this Dashboard uses data from Microsoft 365 apps.

App Filter	This drop-down can limit data in this Dashboard to a specific app.
Latest App Version Definition	Use the Application drop-down to limit this Dashboard’s data to a specific app. By default, the Latest App Version drop-down is set to Auto. This setting automatically detects the latest version of the app across all systems, including remote and in-office systems. If an app is selected in the Application drop-down, then you can use this drop-down to manually define the latest version of that app. If the Latest App Version drop-down is set to Auto, then you can further define the latest app version with the Minimum System Utilization slider. If less than x% of systems are using a specific version, then it will not automatically be set as the latest version. By default, this slider excludes app versions used by less than 5% of systems.
Microsoft 365 App Summary	This table shows version installations and resource usage for Microsoft 365 apps. Click an app in this table to populate the rest of this Dashboard with data for that app.
System Details (Selected App)	This table shows data for all systems using the app selected in Microsoft 365 App Summary. Outdated app versions (as defined in App Filter and Latest Version) are highlighted in red.
Version Details (Selected App)	This table shows performance metrics for all versions of the app selected in Microsoft 365 App Summary.

Security and Compliance

Summary

Windows Updates	View patches on different versions of Windows operating systems. Identify systems with outdated patches.
Antivirus Status	Assess if antivirus software is installed, running, and updated on each system.
Outdated Software	Identify software with outdated patches. Determine which systems need software patches.

Windows Updates

Global Filters	Use the drop-down or calendar to filter out older patches from this Dashboard. This may decrease load times for this Dashboard.
Office Subnets	Enter a list of your office subnets here, separated by commas. Systems within these subnets will be excluded from the data below. To permanently save this list as the default, open this Dashboard in Dashboard Builder. Click the blue Page Context box, modify the list under Default Value, then click Apply. Note that there is a 1,000-character limit for this text box.
OS Patch Summary	This table shows the number of systems using each OS version, as well as the number of patches available for each version. Click an OS in this pane to populate the table in Available Patches (Selected OS).
Available Patches (Selected OS)	This table shows every available patch for the OS version selected in OS Patch Summary. Click a patch in this pane to populate the table in Unpatched Systems (Selected OS and Patch).
Unpatched Systems (Selected OS and Patch)	This table shows which systems do not have the patch selected in Available Patches (Selected OS).
Search Patch History	Use the Patch Search box to show all the systems and OS versions that applied a specific patch. Use the System Search box to view all patch installations on a specific system. This data is not affected by the OS or patch selections above.

Antivirus Status

Antivirus Summary

This chart shows antivirus data grouped by status. Each status describes the antivirus installation: Running, Updated Running, Outdated Installed, Not Running Not Installed Hover over a section to see the number of systems with that status. If this Dashboard is filtered to show All Products, then these statuses can be satisfied by any AV. For example, if a system has Windows Defender running and updated, but McAfee VirusScan is not installed, then the overall status will be “Running, Updated.”

Antivirus System Details

This table shows the antivirus status of each individual system.

Outdated Software

Software Filter	This drop-down can limit data in this Dashboard to specific software. To search for a specific software, type part of the name into the drop-down.
Software Filter and Latest Version	Use the Software Package drop-down to limit this Dashboard’s data to specific software. By default, the Latest Software Version drop-down is set to Auto. This setting automatically detects the latest version of the software across all systems, including remote and in-office systems. If a software package is selected in the Software Package drop-down, then you can use this drop-down to manually define the latest version of that software. If the Latest Software Version drop-down is set to Auto, then you can further define the latest software version with the Minimum System Utilization slider. If less than x% of systems are using a specific version, then it will not automatically be set as the latest version. By default, this slider excludes software versions used by less than 5% of systems.
Outdated Software Summary	This table summarizes updated versus outdated software. Click a software package to populate Version Summary (Selected Software) and System Details (Selected Software).
Version Details (Selected Software)	This graph shows the number of version installations for the software package selected in Outdated Software Summary. Hover over a section to see the number of systems using that version.
System Details (Selected Software)	This table shows version installations for every system using the software package selected in Outdated Drivers Summary. Outdated software versions (as defined in Software Filter and Latest Version) are highlighted in red.