UK’s leading equine charity uses remote-assistance software to provide technical help across four continents

Chalfont, UK – February 12, 2008 – Brooke, the UK’s leading charity helping working horses, donkeys and mules in some of the world’s poorest countries, is using Citrix® GoToAssist® to provide cost-effective IT support to some of the outmost regions of Asia, Africa and South America, as well as its head office in the UK. Using the remote-assistance technology, the charity’s IT team is supporting more than 700 staff by virtually accessing their computers and, in doing so, instantly fix any technical issues as if they were there in person.

The Brooke’s UK team comprises of just two IT technicians, providing comprehensive support to a user base whose IT knowledge varies from beginner to expert. The charity wanted to give these users instant access to help with hardware and software problems, and upgrade issues and system errors, regardless of location. With GoToAssist, the Brooke can ensure that every member of staff is able to get online, send and receive emails, and download files relating to the animals in their care at any time.

“Employing on-location IT support in the nine countries we operate in was not an option for a charity that is always mindful of expenditure,” commented Parit Shah, IT Manager, at the Brooke. “Flying our London-based technicians around the world was also out of the question. By deploying GoToAssist, we can provide a top-class remote IT service and keep costs to a bare minimum.”

GoToAssist’s ability to work with either broadband or dial-up was also key to the Brooke’s decision to purchase the remote support service. Parit adds, “In many locations users don’t have access to broadband so they have to rely on dial-up for online access. GoToAssist was the remote-assistance product available to work on both, and even though remote support on dial-up is really slow it’s a life-saver for many users.”

“Like all our products, GoToAssist is delivered via Software as a Service, which means no installation and no costly upgrades or maintenance for the Brooke,” commented Bernardo de Albergaria, Vice President and General Manager E-commerce, Citrix Online. “By opting for a licence-based pricing structure, the charity can give users access to a blue-chip standard service at a price that is friendly to the third sector.”

GoToAssist provides companies with fast, secure, highly scalable and reliable connectivity to desktop applications, enabling businesses to engage in support sessions with all of their customers and employees, even those with connections as slow as 28.8Kbps. Redundant systems and 24/7 monitoring helps ensure that GoToAssist service is always available. No investment in hardware or software is required, eliminating costly deployment expenses and implementation time. The service incorporates strong security and data privacy with 128-bit, end-to-end Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) data encryption as standard protection for all sessions. To learn more about the award-winning GoToAssist, visit http://www.gotoassist.com.