Parallels, a hosting and cloud services enablement and cross-platform solutions provider, today introduced Parallels Access for Business which enables IT admins to centrally assign, manage and secure remote access to their users’ computers. Designated admins can create a business account, manage access to corporate computers, grant or revoke permissions, and manage users.

Before Parallels Access, mobile phones and tablets were basically consumption devices, the company said, because traditional remote access apps shrunk a large desktop—which was not designed for a touch interface—onto a small screen. “Parallels Access transforms every application on a PC and Mac…into a touch-friendly experience,” explained Jack Zubarev, President of Parallels, in an interview with SiliconANGLE. “[Now your users] can truly be productive with full-featured desktop applications and get more done on the move.”

Today’s announcement of Parallels Access for Business isn’t the first time Parallels has addressed the needs of enterprise IT. In the spring of 2011, the company launched Parallels Desktop Enterprise Edition, which gives IT professionals a secure, scalable way to deploy licenses to their Mac users.

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Addressing security concerns

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Parallels Access for Business enables IT admins to implement multiple layers of security. From within the self-service portal, IT admins are able to manage users, permissions and other settings.

“Parallels Access encrypts all data on phones, tablets and computers before it is transmitted,” Zubarev explained, “through a direct connection if they are on the same network or through Parallels’ secure proxy servers…and then the data is decrypted on the receiving device.”

Jack Zubarev, President of Parallels

Zubarev said the Parallels Access app also requires login credentials to use it, and every PC and Mac it connects to can require its own separate logon credentials for the computer and each user profile. He said the remote computer’s screen can also be blackened out when accessed, and the app can automatically lock the computer when the remote access session ends.

Parallels Access for Business supports the iPad mini and iPad 2 or later running iOS 7, the iPhone 4s and later running iOS 7, and most Android tablets and phones running Android 4.0 and later. Remote computers can be a PC running Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 8.1. They can also be a Mac running OS X Mavericks (10.9), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8) or OS X Lion (10.7).

Parallels Access for Business is available now, for free, for unlimited users and computers until July 31, 2014. After that, subscriptions will start at $49.99 per year for five computers. Additionally, Parallels Access for Business customers with more than 100 computers get 24×7 email support. “Phone support will be made available shortly,” Zubarev said.

Parallels also announced today that it has updated the Parallels Access app, which lets employees log into their PC or Mac remotely. Previously only available for iPad, the Parallels Access app now supports Android and iPhone. The company said the app allows IT to help make mobile employees more productive because they can now use their preferred Android or iOS device to access files and applications on their PCs and Macs. “Even proprietary business applications,” Zubarev added.

Photo credit: mansikka via photopin cc

Photo of Jack Zubarev courtesy of Parallels