Google Remote Desktop - The little Chrome App that could change the world.

One year after launching Chrome Remote Desktop (Beta), Google has just announced that Chrome browser app is now available as a stable release.

Soon after the release of Chrome Remote Desktop came a very nice article about the future prospects of this little Chrome app from Justin Gale. Following is the article written by Justin:

"The announcement of Google Remote Desktop coming out of Beta and into production status came out on October 29th 2012, a week after its official launch, and without much ado or fanfare...so little in fact, that "the press" really has not even acknowledged it. I think this is one of the better game-changing apps Google has unleashed in quite awhile (certainly up there with the latest versions of Adobe Reader (on all platforms), which allows you to digitally sign a PDF and save it.) Anyway, Google Chrome Desktop (no longer Beta)...What is it really? Why do I think it is game changing, and who is the target audience?

What is it?

Google Remote Desktop is a Chrome Application akin to the ever-popular Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), allowing either remote assistance (remote help) or remote control of a computer with the Chrome and the Remote Desktop Client (Remote Connections) software installed. Ok, so the concepts are quite familiar of what it is, but if that is all you see, I think you missed a few subtle yet key features. In the Beta version, Google allowed Windows 7 desktops to be remotely and without intervention accessed from the app. The online documentation stated this "remote connection" could only be to Windows 7 devices (from almost any Chrome browser)...In the newest version, that endpoint can be a Mac or Windows XP/2003 and above. The "remote connection" option lets you sign into your remote computer (unattended) - but you don't have to remember anything but PIN number to access it. Yeah I know it just came out of Beta, but this is one to watch.

Why do I think it is game changing?

As the world moves toward BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) the first hurdle for most of us to pass through is the dreaded application compatibility issue. We have an old/special application that only runs on Windows or Mac, and yet we have newer or other devices that we are using more and more (personal desktops, personal laptops, etc) This is like other applications out there that provide access from those "other devices" to our main computer. Yet while it may be like other apps out there, the most key point is that it is part of my "Internet Experience" (with Chrome), and I don't need to remember the actual computer name (it defaults to the actual name, but I can give it a more friendly name). So know I can use my Mac, Windows 7, Chromebook, or friend/neighbor/family computer not only to get to my "Cloud" stuff, but I can use that same Chrome browser to connect to that legacy computer too.

Who is the target audience?

My first thought was the more tech-savvy consumers, to access their home "computers", then I thought they may turn it around and use it to access their "work computers"...that's when things start getting interesting. Accessing work computers, typically you use "connection or user-licensed" technologies like VPN (traditional or SSL-based), Citrix, Microsoft TS-Gateway, or others, which while "fundamentally" providing access to something on your company network gladly does so at both a "cost per user" or "cost per connection" and also typically requires more stuff to manage like a server or appliance. Google's Chrome Remote Desktop doesn't require any of that. No CALs, No servers to setup/patch/administer. What a concept for small businesses to exploit. The larger businesses and enterprises can surely see the potential of this app when it matures a little bit...it also must scare the heck out them, imagine if employees started to just say "no" to that new corporate heavy, expensive corporate laptop loaded with "old stuff", and instead they take a desktop, add Chrome and bring their Macbook Air, Windows-based Ultrabook, Chromebook or other new device of choice.

My Conclusions.

I've got to confess to using the beta version for almost a year, and it has certainly matured in that time (now supporting more than just Windows-7 as an unattended host). The current reality is that it still has room to improve to be more business/enterprise ready (maybe some deployment/config tools, a Window GPO, the ability to manage/set who can remote connect unattended to a computer, possible integration into my Google Apps CPANEL for some management, etc.) before I would insist on rolling it out everywhere in a large enterprise. For now, I can easily see this in small companies, and certainly see this being tested in larger organizations. If the things that Google has been doing with Chrome and Chromebooks are any indication of what is to come, then expect great things from this app in the future."