How do Existing Cloud Customers Use VRL (Vista Remote Link) and/or SSO? I want VRL and SSO!

Author: Eric Vasbinder

Vista Remote Link (VRL) was released in December of 2019 and is a powerful, easy to use mechanism for experiencing cloud-hosted Vista. In many respects, VRL is dramatically easier to use than previous cloud-hosting technologies, such as RDP Published Apps (a.k.a. VEC+RDP or VFC). In addition, VRL is now the default way that new customers to our cloud will experience cloud-hosted Vista.

Relatedly, our Trimble ID Single Sign On (SSO) capabilities that we are rolling out is extremely powerful and provides a way for customers to integrate their Azure Active Directory (AD) user authentication with Vista and other Trimble Viewpoint products, hosted in our cloud.

Based on these benefits, we have been hearing from an increasing number of customers that they would like to "move" from VEC/RDP or VFC to Trimble Construction One (TC1) (formerly sold under the name Viewpoint One). TC1 uses the Vista Remote Link (VRL) mechanism as its method of connectivity to the Vista database.

However, both of these solutions are not natively available in our Viewpoint Enterprise Cloud (VEC) or Viewpoint for Cloud (VFC) solutions; they are tied to our newest, TC1 offering. To take advantage of these capabilities, customers must convert from their older cloud contracts (VEC and VFC) to TC1. In addition, in some cases, customers must also convert back-end architectures to the standard TC1 architecture.

Please see below for answers to some commonly asked questions about such a move:

How Do I Get VRL?

To determine how to proceed, you will first need to determine which variant of our cloud you are hosted upon: Viewpoint For Cloud (VFC) or Viewpoint Enterprise Cloud (VEC)/RDP (a.k.a. RDP Cloud).

• VFC was sold until 2016/2017 and consisted of a packaged Desktop as a Service (DaaS) model, that focused on IT Outsourcing, allowing all of a construction company's servers and workstation profiles to be hosted in our cloud. If your users use Vista where the entire desktop is hosted in our cloud, you are very likely on VFC.

• VEC/RDP was begun to be sold in 2018 and continued to be our focus until the end of 2019, when VRL became the primary way to experience cloud-hosted Vista. VEC/RDP uses RDP Published Applications, otherwise known as RemoteApps, to serve Vista and associated Viewpoint applications to customers. This Published App experience hosts the client applications in our cloud, like VFC. However, the end user sees the apps appear seamlessly on their local workstation, appearing as if they are running local. VEC/RDP was a stepping stone to VRL.

A. Viewpoint For Cloud (VFC) Customers

If you are a VFC customer, moving to Viewpoint One with VRL is different than for VEC customers, requiring a number of architectural changes on the backend of your environment. This process requires close coordination with the Trimble Viewpoint cloud engineering and transformations teams.

For more details on moving to VP1 with VRL for VFC customers, please see the following URL:

Moving to Viewpoint One / VRL for VFC Customers

B. Viewpoint Enterprise Cloud (VEC) / RDP Published Apps Customers

Customers of our most recent cloud solution, VEC, can more easily convert over to TC1 and start using VRL and SSO much more rapidly. To that end, all that is really required is a conversion of your commercial contract relationship with Trimble Viewpoint to that of TC1, followed by our team implementing the SSO components along with the VRL Proxy Server. Once that is done on the back end, with no intervention needed by your teams, you may then begin to slowly consume the new, added functionality at your convenience.

Please see the following article for more details and an estimated timeline on how to move to TC1 from VEC RDP: Switching to Trimble Construction One (TC1) from VEC RDP

• If you are already on a Viewpoint One contract, please proceed to Section "C", Below.

C. Viewpoint One (VP1) / Trimble Construction One (TC1) Customers - Requesting VRL

For customers of VP1 and TC1, you should already, automatically have been given access to Vista over VRL. If you are not using VRL, please reach out to your Viewpoint Cloud Support representative and/or your account manager to find out why.

Common Customer Questions About VRL

Are There Any Differences with VRL? Any Downsides?

For the most part, the end user experience of using VRL is significantly more seamless and easier than using RDP for experiencing the cloud. However, in a few forms with heavy data validations, such as PR Timecard Data Entry, AP Entry, and Purchase Order Line Item Detail, performance will likely be slower in VRL. The difference is not extensive, usually amounting to an increase in 1-1.5 seconds for performing certain operations in these forms. If however, your staff is used to extremely rapid data entry, we do recommend checking out our web extensions for Vista, known as HR Portal and Field Management (for time entry) and Financial Controls for AP data entry and approval. These tools can significantly augment the capabilities of Vista in more way than just performance and are available for all Viewpoint One customers in our cloud.

For more specific details on the differences for end users, see the following link: What are the differences for the end user between RDP and Vista Remote Link (VRL)? RDP vs. VRL

I Really Need VRL! How Can We Make this Happen?

If you are in VEC / Published Apps RDP Cloud, please follow the steps above, reaching out to your account rep first, to ensure you are on a Viewpoint One contract.

I'm Getting Ready to Go Live with VRL, How Can I Help Move Things Along?

The easiest way is to follow the instructions to download the Vista rich client from our support download site. Here is a link to some instructions on how to prepare your client PCs. Each client PC must have the Vista rich client installed on it in order to proceed with using VRL. If you already have the Vista rich client installed on your PCs, please uninstall both it and the Crystal Reports libraries first, using the Windows Control Panel Add/Remove programs, prior to installing the new Vista rich client.

tl;dr: All Customers need to be on a Viewpoint One contract and then request VRL through cloud support. VFC customers must follow the instructions at the linked page above. VEC/RDP customers must switch fully to a Viewpoint One contract if not already on VP1. Once on Viewpoint One contract, former VEC/RDP customers should submit a support request to have the VRL infrastructure installed.