CommandCTRL is Liquidware’s new SaaS real-time remediation solution, and features both a DVR-like function that is more effective than snapshots and new ChatGPT functionality that was built in after the beta began almost a year ago.
Jason Smith, VP Product Marketing and Alliances at Liquidware
LAS VEGAS – Today at the VMware Explore event here, Liquidware, which makes digital workspace management solutions, has announced the General Availability of Liquidware CommandCTRL, their first SaaS solution and first new product since 2011. The solution has been in beta for almost a year.
“The beta took longer than expected,” said Jason Smith, VP Product Marketing and Alliances at Liquidware. “Some of it was because of feedback from the beta participants, but there was also innovation we wanted to add. We wanted to come out of the gate with three things that no one had seen in a similar product, and we wound up with four unique things. You might be able to do that elsewhere by switching around, but we have made it point-click easy.”
The feature innovation is the same one that was highlighted when the offering originally went into beta, a unique playback mode which captures 30-days history so admins can see exactly what occurred in the environment at specific dates and times, and can go back and make changes if required.
“The DVD Playback Mode is still unique,” Smith said. “It has 30 days history, so admins can see exactly what occurred in the environment at specific dates and times, and then use the solution itself to fix it, rather than people. It’s better than snapshots because of the ability to actively go back in time and remediate the problem in real time.”
Another feature available since beta is the CommandCTL Switch which allows users to switch and navigate seamlessly between two distinct environments: the local desktop and the cloud-based desktop.
“The main developer had done this naturally in the product, which made it perfect for work from anywhere,” Smith indicated. The other original innovation is protocol mirroring, which displays the protocol to the physical machine endpoint.
The new addition since the beta is the addition of ChatGPT-based AI integration for process identification.
“With ChatGPT exploding this year, we wanted to put some of that in to show where we were headed,” Smith said. It will also tell you what the process does.”
Smith said that the feedback from the beta was highly positive.
“The role-based access that we provide really resonated with partners,” he started. “The ability to support multiple accounts through multiple admins also make it very partner friendly. It means that while it will be used by organizations, it will also be used by third party consultants.”
When Liquidware CommandCTRL went into beta, Smith said that they were optimistic that it would play broadly in the market, from SMBs to the enterprise. While that’s still broadly true, there have been some surprises.
“We find that we play very well in larger organizations, and have seen a significant amount of interest from there,” Smith stated. “We also had a surprising amount of interest from our own customers.”
In addition to the commercial product, Liquidware is introducing a free Community Edition.
“Community Edition is the same solution, but is licensed for five machines and the DVD Playback is limited to 24 hours,” Smith said. “We expect this to be used by SMBs and home networks, and it is also a good way to trial the solution. There are no limitations on using it commercially beyond the fact that it is limited to the five machines.”
The Commercial Edition is available for purchase now through Liquidware channel partners.
“It is very complementary to our core Stratusphere UX, and together forms a comprehensive DEX [Digital Employee Experience] offering for VMware,” Smith stated.
