[bromcom] Bromcom staff access to school systems

[speckytecky]

SIMS is our MIS and now primarily to gain use of Bromcom’s Teachers Web Folder we have signed up to that to run alongside SIMS which will allow staff secure access to the school system from home or elsewhere; we understand this will allow registers etc to be securely taken using an iPad.

 

I can’t say I’m very comfortable with the arrangements to set up the TWF, where if I understand it correctly, Bromcom want me to install Logmein for them to use with a local admin account on the SIMS server to allow access. I must say I’m much more comfortable with the SIMS Lan Desk where I have to allow the access.

 

Am I just being paranoid or am I misunderstanding the situation?

[matt40k]

Bit surprised it's logmein personally. I've found historically Bromcom to be more proactive then Capita. Capita you log a call when it goes wrong where as with Bromcom they do a much more, it's a managed service - so they remote in and do maintenance and upgrades. It's all about trust, do you trust them not to mess it up, to not abuse the power? I'm sure they won't, but it isn't my system. I'm pretty sure Bromcom work out-of-hours, so unless you want to let them in at 4 in the morning

[speckytecky]

Thanks Matt40k, just the sort of reassurance I was looking for. Clearly they rely on rep to prove their worth and comments like yours do just that.

[Bromcom_John]

Plus, if you want to, the service that drives "whichever" remote software the helpdesk are having to use to connect to your system (they have a selection) can be managed from your end.

This means that prior to any remote support provision the technical support team will have to contact you to activate the service.

They would be contacting you (the school) anyway to confirm authorisation to undertake any work on the system, so this sort of thing does not cause them any undue delays and if this would provide you with the additional peace of mind that you require....

 

just contact the helpdesk to let them know that you'd like a little more direct control and oversight on system access, they'll be more than happy to co-operate.

 

oh and just so it's 100% clear, the remote access isn't a requirement for the operation of the software, just for the delivery of our remote support service.

 

John

[Achandler]

speckytecky, we just disable LogMeIn unless there is a need to have it enabled, I.E. we have rung up to get a problem resolved. LogMeIn does also log every time someone connects to your computer so you can check when they have been working on it.

 

My other trick is, if you have Virtual machines, then I watch my MIS server through Virtual Machine Manager, so I can see what they are doing anyway.

Edited July 19, 2012 by Achandler
Typo, thanks John

[matt40k]

We use Bomgar at work, that records your session so they can be played back later, it's so got a fair bit of auditing that keeps P&C happy. Also you buy the solution rather then renting it.