Managing remote access to Cubit and Global Estimating amid the COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19, or coronavirus, has been a major global health concern over the past few months. The pandemic has impacted many of us and changed the way we need to look at and perform our work. 

Working remotely, or working from home, is now the expected approach for many businesses to take. We understand that enabling employees to work from a remote environment has many challenges, including being able to use the software you need to perform your work. 

In an effort to assist you with planning and undertaking your work with Cubit or Global Estimating, we have put together some information to help you understand the options that are available to you. 

What not to do

Firstly, it’s important to understand that we recommend against creating local databases on your machine if you are currently using Cubit in a network environment, due to the potential complications that may occur during the export and import of data.

What you should consider doing

There are a number of things you can consider doing if enabling your employees to work remotely during the COVID-19 situation. Here are a few considerations:

1. Speak with your IT Team

We recommend discussing any plans to change the way you currently use Cubit or Global Estimating with your IT Team. Your IT team will have their own procedures and security protocols for working remotely.

Due to the various different configurations each company can have, both within Cubit and within the network environment, it is difficult to recommend a single solution that will accommodate all of our customers.

There are various solutions that can be implemented with the assistance of your IT team. Some commonly used solutions for working from home practices include;

• Encrypted Access to the Network (such as a VPN)
• Remote Desktop Connection (Microsoft RDP/Terminal Services)
• 3rd Party Remote Tools/Programs (A popular 3rd party remote tool is TeamViewer)
  
  
  

2. Understand the options for your licences 

There are a number of options available when it comes to working remotely with your software, depending on the type of licence you are using. 

If you are working on a network

If you are working on a Server Network or Terminal Network, please speak to our Support team to let us know you would like to work remotely, and include the following information:

• Your company name
• The version of Cubit or Global you are using
• Your licence type (Server Network or Terminal Network)
  
  

You can contact our Support team in the following ways:

• Email - [e-mail]
• Submit a helpdesk ticket
• Phone - [phone] from within Australia; or [phone] from outside Australia
  
  
  

If you have a Floating Licence

If you are working with a Floating Licence (Cubit or Global/Offsider), you have the ability to install the software on multiple computers with a single activation key. 

For instructions on how to do this in Cubit, please read our article on Transferring a Cubit Floating Licence to another machine, or watch our instructional video on How to release your floating licence in Cubit. 

For instruction on how to do this in Global or Offsider, please read our article on Moving Global/Offsider licence from one device to another.

If you have a Fixed Licence

If you are working with a Fixed Licence (Cubit), you may deactivate and uninstall the software from your work computer, and reinstall and reactivate on an alternate computer. 

For instructions on how to migrate a Cubit Fixed Licence, please refer to the Migrate Cubit Fixed Licence

Alternatively, you can upgrade from a Fixed Licence to a Floating Licence by contacting one of our Product Consultants ([e-mail]).

If you use the Cubit and Bartender integration

If you use the integration between Cubit and Bartender, and you’re looking to work remotely with your Cubit Jobs linked to Bartender, you will need to take special care when looking to change the way you work with Cubit. 

Please see our article on Backing up and restoring a Cubit job linked to Bartender. 

If you have any additional questions related to Bartender-linked Cubit Jobs, please contact our Support team.

 

Further information

Below is a list of articles that may help you further prepare for working remotely with your software.

Please note: 

• These articles are assuming that you will be returning to your previous configuration, we DO NOT recommend restoring the complete database (*.CBK) to multiple standalone machines as once you are looking to return to the standard configuration there is no easy way to consolidate these databases.
  
  
• With standalone installation, all your work will be saved on your local computer and we recommend using Job backups (*.CBX) to ‘share’ jobs with your colleagues. 
  
  

Articles for working with Cubit:

• Preparing your data to work remotely with Cubit
• Backing up and restoring a Cubit job linked to Bartender

Articles for working with Global Estimating or Offsider Estimating

• Preparing to work remotely with Global/Offsider