By Jeff Barr, Amazon WorkSpaces

AWS customers are deploying Amazon WorkSpaces at scale in medium and large organizations. For example, health care company Johnson & Johnson is using WorkSpaces to realize the long-promised security and efficacy benefits of virtual desktops, in a world populated by a diverse workforce that would like to use their own computing devices if possible (also known as BYOD – Bring Your Own Device). You can view their recent presentation, Deploying Amazon WorkSpaces at Scale, to learn more about what they did and how they now support BYOD for 16,000 contractors and employees, along with zero clients for another 8,000 users.

New Metrics

In order to help our customers to monitor their WorkSpaces deployments, we recently added additional Amazon CloudWatch metrics for WorkSpaces. These metrics are designed to provide administrators with additional insight in to the overall health and connection status of individual WorkSpaces and of all of the WorkSpaces that belong to a particular directory.

Like all CloudWatch metrics, these metrics can be viewed in the AWS Management Console, accessed via the CloudWatch APIs, and monitored by CloudWatch Alarms and third-party tools.

The new metrics are enabled by default and are available to you at no extra charge.

Here’s what you get:

• Available – WorkSpaces that respond to a status check are counted in this metric.

• Unhealthy – WorkSpaces that do not respond to the same status check are counted in this metric.

• ConnectionAttempt – The number of connection attempts made to a WorkSpace.

• ConnectionSuccess – The number of successful connection attempts.

• ConnectionFailure – The number of unsuccessful connection attempts.

• SessionLaunchTime – The amount of time taken to initiate a session, as measured by the WorkSpaces client.

• InSessionLatency – The round trip time between the WorkSpaces client and WorkSpaces, as measured and reported by the client.

• SessionDisconnect – The number of user initiated and automatically closed sessions.

Here’s how you create an alarm that will fire if a user cannot connect to their WorkSpace:


Available Now: The new metrics are available now and you can start monitoring them today!

Source: https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/new-cloudwatch-metrics-for-amazon-workspaces/

The Cloud for Productivity and Mobility Ebook is a guide for small and midsize businesses. As mobile work becomes the norm, turn to cloud-based solutions to extend productivity, collaboration, and business management tools to employees on the go.

Mobile means business. During the past decade, mobile devices have become ubiquitous in our lives, performing a range of activities that were formerly limited to desktop and laptop computers. Now, mobility is an essential tool for startups and smaller businesses to empower workers and connect with customers.

If you’re hitting the road for business this summer, you’re going to want to arm yourself with some must have travel apps and tech for your devices.

That’s right, thanks to new and useful travel apps, as well as the latest tech for your devices, you can get more work done on the road than ever.

Must Have Travel Apps for Your Devices

Whether you’re planning your trip, packing your bags, arranging for local ground travel, or looking for a the best spots to eat, work out and shop, there’s an app to help.

Start Here …

If you’re looking for a few good apps to make travel simpler and easier, this post is a great place to start. Apps covered include:

• TripIt: a free app that allows you to easily keep all of your travel information in one place;

• FlightTrack: an app that keeps you up to date on every detail of your flights; and

• Curb (formerly Taxi Magic): an app that lets you book a nearby taxi with just the tap of a button.

… then Check Out The Latest Travel Apps

When you’re traveling for business, use:

Hopper for Cheap Flights

When you work for a small business, getting the best price on a flight is pretty important. Hopper enables you to do just that by providing two important pieces of information: the best time for you to fly and the best time to buy the cheapest tickets for that flight.

Roomlia and Hotel Tonight to Find Cheap Accommodations at the Last Minute

Both Roomlia and Hotel Tonight enable you to find and book accommodations within 7 days of your stay, making it much easier to plan affordable spur-of-the-moment business tips. Both apps offer travelers and hotels a win-win: travelers receive special discounts and hotels fill empty rooms.

PackPoint to Figure Out What You Need to Bring Along

Like a personal concierge, PackPoint will organize what you need to pack based on length of travel, weather at your destination, and any activities planned during your trip. Now that’s handy!

LoungeBuddy to Find a Place to Work or Take a Breather While You Travel

Airport lounges are comfortable oases in the stress and frustration of business travel. While they used to be closed to the general public, many have recently opened their doors to those who wish to buy access. That’s where LoungeBuddy comes in. The app helps you discover available lounges near you and then enables you to purchase access directly from their app.

Uber to Find a Local Ride

Uber has grown into one of the leading apps for ground transportation. Whether you want a taxi, a limousine or some other mode of transportation, you can find and arrange all the details in minutes using this handy app.

TripLingo to Navigate a Foreign Culture

If you’re traveling to an unfamiliar country, then TripLingo is bound to become your new best friend. This versatile app offers a whole host of features including:

• Over 2,000 phrases per language in 13 languages;

• An instant voice translator in 19 languages;

• An intelligent tip calculator & currency converter;

• A “culture crash course” to get familiar with local customs and etiquette; and

• A “Wi-Fi Dialer” that allows you to call any international phone number.

Localeur to Discover the Spots that Locals Love

Whether you’re looking for someplace to eat, work out or shop, Localeur will dish on the spots that the locals love most. Though it’s not in every city yet, this app can make travel to many major metro areas feel like you’ve never left home.

Must Have Travel Tech for Your Devices

Back in the day, business travelers kept a close eye on their devices’ power level, strained their eyes trying to use small screens and shut their eyes in frustration when trying to get work done in noisy spots like airports.

Thanks to the latest must have travel tech however those days are long gone.

When you’re traveling for business, use:

Globalgig Mobile Wi-Fi Hotspot to Stay Online

Sometimes the most frustrating part of business travel can be connecting your devices to the Internet. Well, if you’re traveling through the US, Europe, China or Northern Africa, that frustration is a thing of the past thanks to the Globalgig mobile Wi-Fi Hotspot.

A Travel Monitor for Collaboration and Presentations

While screen sizes have grown, certain types of professionals such as designers, presenters, video editors and photographers can’t always work on their smartphones, tablets or laptops. In addition, it’s hard to gather everyone around a laptop screen when you want to share information.

That’s why you might want to look into a travel monitor. Both lighter and smaller in size than the monster screens most of us have on our desktops these days, a portable monitor such as this one is the way to solve both of the issues above.

A Micro Projector for Making Larger-than-Life Presentations

If a monitor’s not your thing, or if you need to present to many people, then a portable projector like the Kickstand Micro Projector from BEM Wireless is the way to go. Small and light, this projector would not look out of place in any boardroom.

Extra Long Charging Cables

Have you ever plugged your phone in to a hotel outlet only to find that you can’t work where you want because the charger cable’s too short? This must have been a problem for many folks as there are tons of longer cords for sale at Amazon. Problem solved.

Conclusion

From planning through traveling, lodging, dining, doing business and coming home, this list of must have travel apps and tech for your devices covers the basics.

Source: http://smallbiztrends.com